Bad duckling purchasers thread

[schellie69]

people do and say strange things. I want ducks but have to wait until next spring.

 

[loopy12]

Great thread

I've been quite lucky so far. I've rehomed a few roosters on craigslist and they've all gone to good homes, and I ask about their setup and check they know how to introduce new chickens to a flock etc. I specify they are not for eating and I sometimes ask, particularly with rare breed chicks, that if they don't mind, I would love it if they could send me a photo of them when they've grown up so I can see how they've turned out - and most people do.
My ducklings I specify they must have a brooder set up before they come to get them and I make myself available by email if they have any problems. Some people have become repeat customers and even a few I would count amongst my friends now!

I have had them come to pick them up with some strange containers - one guy brought a laundry basket and a bed sheet to take a huge rooster home in (I gave him a better box...had visions of the rooster escaping and attacking him in the car while driving). Another brought a fishing net to take ducklings home in!! I now make sure I have a supply of suitable boxes with breathing holes already cut in them before people come.

I've only really ever sold my 'extra' ducks and chickens but last time I listed ducklings they were so popular that I decided to put a few more eggs in the incubator just to sell. Like, um, 40+ eggs

I'm running the incubator to get a few rarer breed duclings out for me, so no difference if I have 6 eggs in there or 42...They are due to hatch next week and I've had the odd mini panic attack that no-one will want to buy them and I'll end up with a garden full of 40 more ducks

Still, I'm not in it for a profit, but it'd be nice if I can sell enough to help with my feed and treats bill for the others...

 

[Parrotchick]

I read this thread before going to bad, then had bad dreams about the fates of little duckies paddling their feet as they got taken away in sacks to uncertain fates. My ducks get spooked over a new food dish so I can't imagine their terror.

Good luck and don't be afraid to go with your gut. You will sleep much better. There are people who prey upon others and are practiced at it. You do not owe them anything. Be strong.

You never know what sort of oddball things can happen or people will appear when you post something for sale. I posted some sheep for sale last week on CL. I got a few legitimate responses, but also got emails that responded with my exact subject in their text: Do you still have your beautiful jacob sheep (location) for sale? Half asleep, I responded that I did, then got a pre-fab paragraph that I wasn't selling my stuff for enough money and to follow such and such a link to find out how to get more. So it was at least obvious phishing, if not trying to unleash who knows what virus if I opened the link. I'm not especially savvy, nor am I paranoid, but you really have to be alert to these possibilities.

As far as the actual humans who do respond, there are a range of idiots. Although I explicitly stated I wasn't selling the sheep for slaughter, people still asked about them for meat. For those who seemed genuinely interested in having the sheep as pets/lawnmowers, I tried to be fair in my responses, and even make everyone happy by not selling them all to one person. Of course this could leave you in the lurch.

It's not just buyers who can be clueless or unscrupulous. A lot of sellers seem to try to get as many buyers lined up as possible, then when you go to get your item, tough luck it's gone. I responded to an ad about a picket fence that required that I remove it from the ground and haul it. After I few days, I got an email saying it was still available (gotta be super quick on some of these things!) I figured their first offer fell through thus the delay. I said I'd give them exactly what they asked and I was completely flexible with time to come at their convenience. I began making arrangements for getting the fence out and hauling it. When all my arrangements were set, I emailed yet again asking what time was good for them. Three days later they emailed back that the fence was already sold, even though I thought it was offered to me and always got back to them IMMEDIATELY

 

[17roses]

I had a guy call me from Craigslist and tell me that he wanted ducks to train his bird dog. "The dummies arent good enough, I want the real thing." I told him a call had already come in for them but I would "call him back

" if they didnt show.

Hey, at least he told the truth

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
WOW! Unbelievable!

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

I am new to ducks, only owned them for a year, so I have noduck selling stories, HOWEVER, I did see on my local CL, an Ad a woman had placed wanting a Rooster to wed to her chicken. She a picture of the hen in the ad, wearing of all things, a little chicken wedding dress. She talked about how "Betty" (her hen) was a spoiled member of the household, and felt her time to settle down with a "man" was running out.

She ended the ad with, "Don't leave Betty at the alter, sell me your rooster!" Or something like that. It was INSANE, my husband and I laughed our heads off for days. Some people amaze me. Sounds like she loved her animals, but perhaps one can love them....too much??

 

[GrannySue]

I have to add a couple of funny stories here;

Before I started giving my duck eggs to a restaurant in town I had too many eggs. Food Bank said they really didn't want them because their clients weren't interested so I offered them up for $$ on our community email list. In the message I mentioned that the eggs were fertile, said to tell me in the reply whether they wanted them for hatching or eating. So a guy called me back, said he wanted 1/2 doz hatching eggs. He came to collect them, paid for them, then said, "so how do I hatch these things? Just put them under a cushion or something?"
I suggested that maybe he should get a book about ducks, read it, then buy an incubator.

About containers. In April I got 6 dayolds. 1 was dead in the morning so I went back to get a replacement. To carry it I took a little takeout container that had held a chicken already. Actually it had held an individual chicken pie

Oh, and of course I got 2 more chicks instead of just 1.

 

[NYREDS]

Quote:
Sounds like a lot of BYC posts!