OAKLAND -- The Oakland Animal Shelter is trying to find homes for hundreds of baby chickens that were seized at the Oakland Airport earlier this week.

More than 400 chicks were being shipped from a hatchery in Santa Cruz County to a slaughterhouse in Washington State. Postal workers alerted the shelter, worried that the birds were in distress.

It's legal to ship birds, as long as they just hatched and are delivered within 72 hours.

Some of the birds died, which the animal care officials blame on the recent heat wave. "They are packed usually in these small boxes that do have air holes but no food or water, which is why they have to be shipped so quickly," said Martha Klien, an animal care coordinator with the Oakland Animal Shelter.

The surviving birds are currently being housed in a room at the animal shelter that has been set up to meet their needs. The next big challenge is finding the young birds homes. Currently the shelter is working with several animal rescue groups in the Bay Area in an effort to place the chicks.

Shelter officials say the birds, while very small now, will reach their full adult size within the next five weeks. Anyone interested in adopting should contact the animal shelter at (510) 535-5602 or visit www.oaklandanimalservices.org.