Some people want fresh eggs or poultry, others just want a quirky pet. Whatever the reason, just about any U.S. resident can get live young chickens in the mail.

"If you have a zip code, we can get them there," said Murray McMurray, owner of the McMurray Hatchery in Webster City, Iowa.

"That's the advantage we have. The U.S. Postal Service will carry our product to these people in a timely and effective manner. And we're able to guarantee 100 percent live arrival because of the service we get through them and Mother Nature."

During the hatchery's busiest time of year—the weeks leading up to Easter—the company mails about 200,000 one-day-old chickens a week, McMurray said.

He explained that a baby bird forms and