Chicks allowed to fly on airline

Executives at a Webster City hatchery that airmails baby chicks around the country are praising a Northwest Airlines decision. The airline has decided to allow animals to travel on its planes at a higher temperature. Murray McMurray of McMurray Hatchery says there’s been a long-running discussion with the airline about how toasty the baby chicks could be in their carrier. McMurray says baby chicks are born in an environment that’s 100 degrees and his business showed Northwest Airlines that the chicks survive best in 95 to 100 degree temperatures in their first week of life — when they’re shipped to customers. McMurray says he’s like to “commend” the airline for accepting shipping containers that have temps in the 95 to 100 degree range for the birds inside. McMurray says the temperature is maintained by how the birds are packaged in a ventilated box. The hatchery puts about 25 birds in each box it ships. Each year, McMurray Hatchery ships about one-point-eight million chicks.