The chicks were left abandoned due to a "misdirected" shipment, according to the Delaware Department of Agriculture.

A Delaware animal shelter is trying to care for and rehome thousands of chicks that survived being left in a postal service truck for three days. Trapped in a warm enclosure, without food and water, thousands died before they were discovered on May 2, CBS affiliate WBOC reported.

For more than 36 hours, the chicks had no food or water as temperatures rose to the mid-80s, according to First State Animal Center and SPCA, the animal shelter now caring for the