Newly hatched chickens can survive without food for more than 24 hours. They only want to sleep and can travel perfectly at this age, so is the usual way for amateurs to buy fancy chicken breeds or small chicken of known sex.
So, most probably those chicken would end having a happy life destroying carefully the backyard of somebody, one scratch at a time.
There is also a special kind of fishes that lay eggs that can travel perfectly without water in an envelope.
They only want to sleep and can travel perfectly at this age...
I'm dubious. There is well-established research on the importance of imprinting for new-born chicks across a wide variety of bird species. Therefore, even if the chick spends most of its time asleep, I would want to see research saying that there is no problem due to intentionally depriving the chick of an appropriate target to imprint on.
I've never noticed anything different between chicks we raised and those that came in the mail. They all come running when when we walk into the back pasture.
I don't see how anyone could possibly know what the subjective experience of being a day-old chick stuffed in a box would be like. But I can imagine what it would be like to be a human stuffed in a box, and that doesn't seem very pleasant. I don't see how the idea that it might be better for birds (who are pretty clearly sentient creatures) could be based on anything other than rationalization and wishful thinking.
I think the assumption that the fresh chicks just hatched from an egg (or in the case of a human came out a womb) wouldn’t be too panicked about confined spaces.
I think a more apt comparison is to imagine a human being shipped in a padded shipping container with a dozen of her friends to keep her warm and help her feel safe.
I've had chicks shipped to me this way and it didn't appear to be traumatic at all for them. They grew into happy, healthy birds.
So, most probably those chicken would end having a happy life destroying carefully the backyard of somebody, one scratch at a time.
There is also a special kind of fishes that lay eggs that can travel perfectly without water in an envelope.