Ebay frustrations

[tbishop]

I have been buying eggs off of Ebay to get my flock going again and bring in some of the breeds I wanted more of. I'm running into a problem and I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem as well.

About 40% if the eggs I'm buying are coming in with the dappling that indicates shell problems. None of these eggs ever develop. I have never candled on arrival but I'm going to from now on if I try any more and address the problems with the seller immediately. I anticipate struggles with getting them to be held accountable for such a subtle but important defect.

Has anyone else had problems with this from Ebay sources? If so, how have you handled it? I'm thinking about starting a list of suppliers who send eggs with this shell problem.

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[HEChicken]

I haven't had your exact problem because I'm not buying eggs off eBay but I did want to offer up one little observation. I have some eggs in the incubator right now from my own hens and candled a little while ago. I was dismayed to find that the shells are quite porous (I assume that's what you mean by the dappling). However in my case, I could clearly see movement in all of them at 9 days incubation. It remains to be seen whether anything will actually hatch because I agree with you that they are much harder to hatch.

In my case I know it is because my hens are older. I have some really high quality heritage birds and wanted to hatch some of their eggs this year because I need some younger birds to carry on the line.

So that might be a question to ask your eBay sellers prior to bidding - the age of their breeder birds? Just a thought.....I know that most people attribute porous shells to lack of calcium but in the case of my own birds, I feel strongly it is their age vs. calcium as they are on a high quality layer feed with calcium and also have free-choice access to crushed up egg shells for supplemental calcium as well.

 

[zimrijs]

I had order a dozen egss of bearded silkies only 3 hatched out.... right now I got 48 eggs in the incubator buff Plymouth rock they are due on the 27 and there are developing good I got these eggs from,a local guy that has pure buff Plymouth Rock from Mexico

 

[Nksg75]

I have heard that as well. I also get eggs from eBay. I have a particular lady I use that is awesome! Her eBay name is mcdugallfarmandnursery
She has a mixed flock, silkies, Polish, EE, favoralle, etc...

I have done some research and have read many bad stories about the eggs that are sent from the sellers.
I wanted silkies, polish and Mille floure( sp?) had the hardest time finding anyone around me that had them. So I looked to eBay.
Wow have you seen the price of some of those eggs? Mind you, I am not including the shipping into this equation.
I agree, I would like to know who has a good rep for quality eggs, so if my lady doesn't have that breed I can have a list of where to go and what sellers to avoid!

 

[tbishop]

It's McDougallfarmandnursery. Took me a bit to find it. I'll check them out. Thanks!

 

[tbishop]

I was wrong. I cant find them on ebay but I did find them on Facebook...

 

[fbdanes]

I have been using eBay to build my flock of LF brahma's and I am hoping to obtain more Pavlovskaya's (hatched one rooster). I agree that I have seen some very porous eggs in some of the eggs received. I have had them develop but honestly I never thought to track their hatch rate. I think HEChicken has a good point. I have had very good luck with most of the seller's I obtained Brahma eggs from. There is one seller where I did not have a single Brahma egg hatch, but did have SOME success with their Pavlovskaya's (That is where my rooster came from). My rule of thumb now is to resist the urge to purchase from seller's who are offering anything less than a dozen eggs. I am not sure what breeds you have been looking for but but would be happy to share who I have had good experiences with. Keep us updated on how you move forward.
¬…≥÷

 

[tbishop]

The thing that got me thinking was seramas. I had one source that I hatched 60%. The other only one developed out of 12. Right now I'm mainly looking for black and/or lavender ameraucanas, araucanas, and seramas. Could be talked into other things as well ...

 

[fbdanes]

Hmmm, haven't had much experience with any eBay members with those breeds. Some of the members I have had excellent success with is Dustin's Crystal Poultry (eBay Seller name sfrango33) he raises show quality Belgian d'Uccle's. My hatch rate was 70%. He is in CT I believe. Shamrock farms in Wisconsin (eBay seller name nvan3877). He has Brahmas, Breda fowl and Sebrights. I hatched Brahma's from him. I have had good success with Chicken Hill Poultry out of ID. I hatched Brahma's from them as well but they raise Oringtons, Wyandottes, Cream Legbars, Black Copper Maran's and Bielefelders. Not sure this really helps you though.

 

[Nksg75]

Ok, here is her eBay user name. Like I mentioned she only sells a mixed flock. However her customer service was the best, egg packing was awesome, and shipping was really fast!
Good luck!!