After a truck full of young birds was left unattended at a Delaware post office for several days, staff and volunteers at First State Animal Center and SPCA in Camden went through boxes of thousands of baby chicks, looking for survivors.
“I can’t even describe the scene and the chore, to pull out the live birds from the deceased,” First State Executive Director John Parana said.
The birds, primarily chicks but also turkeys, geese and quails, left Freedom Ranger Hatchery in Pennsylvania on April 29, office manager Colyd Good said when reached by phone. They were headed to destinations all over the country, but by the time they got to First State Animal Center and were sorted, an estimated 4,000 had died, Parana said.
