Man sends live chicks through mail to prank ex-girlfriend

A group of chicks went through quite an ordeal in what is believed to be the second day of their lives, including being sent in the mail as part of a practical joke.

A note accompanying the baby animals--which were sent from a man to his ex-girlfriend--said something to the effect of, "There are plenty of other chicks out there."

The Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary posted on its Facebook page that the chicks are safe and sound now.

"All the chicks are doing great," Terry Cummings the director of the sanctuary, said in an email. "They are running and playing in their playpen!"

It is believed the chicks were only a day old at the time, the Washington Post reports. The woman said she didn't want the chicks, so the delivery person brought the chicks to the Washington Humane Society. One of the chicks, whose leg was injured during the ordeal, stands out from the others because of its limp, so it is the only one with a name: Marcie.

Six of the chicks found a home with Peaceful Fields Sanctuary, while the rest will stay at Poplar Springs.

The most shocking part of it, the sanctuary posted, was learning that the prankster did not break any laws.

"Unbelievably it is legal to ship baby chicks in the regular mail," they posted on Facebook "and often this results in injuries or death to the babies."