D73, Despite the mistake that was made it is very nice to see that she did everything she could to make it right by you. I don't know what more she could have done than to refund your money and shipping costs as well. I had a couple of very bad experiences with some Welsummer eggs and I never would've asked for a refund of the shipping costs. That eats into their pocket and that's not right on my part. So, I think you have to give her a lot of credit for that.
Having said that, I would like to address one comments she made and it is this one: "I do not believe that the eggs sent to you were from my Easter Eggers but I of course cannot be absolutely positive.... human error can never be completely ruled out...We may have made a mistake......."
There is a way to prevent any mistakes being made however it does require much greater time and effort on the part of the breeder over just throwing a bunch of birds together and then collecting the eggs.
I have separate breeding pens for each specific hen(s) according to their line as identified by toe punch. I then put a specific rooster in with the hens. I was leaving the roosters in with the hens but there is no need to because a hen will remain fertile for 10-14 days after a mating. So to save the hen wear and tear and stress, I pull the rooster out either after I've witnessed a couple of matings or after a couple of days.
When I collect the eggs, I mark them with a pencil from the pen that the egg came from. When I ship the eggs, I send the Buyer an email telling them not only the corresponding Pen # to the egg, but the ID# for both the Mom and Dad for the egg. That then helps them with their records and their breeding plans if they so choose to do so. It also allows me to follow up with them and discuss things like whether or not all the eggs made it there without any damage and then which eggs, if any, did not hatch. Later on, after the chicks have matured I can find out other things. (i.e. How many Wheatens, Blue Wheatens, Splash Wheatens, males, and females?). Did any of the birds show any serious faults or DQs. Finally, once they start getting eggs, I would like to know how the color of the pullets eggs are compared to the ones I sent them as well as later on the size and productivity.
Unfortunately, I have not found anyone else I've sold eggs to that is willing to go to these lengths so I really have no comparison other than my own records. Nonetheless, when the above is followed, there really is no room for a mistake. I know there are breeders out there who just throw a bunch of birds of the same breed in a pen and then sell the eggs but I don't personally find that to be helpful to either Buyer or myself. And that is not to say that it doesn't work because it does. I know some breeders who have awful good looking birds - in fact, they're ahead of me in the goals - it's just that my mind evidently isn't wired to work that way.
God Bless,
Having said that, I would like to address one comments she made and it is this one: "I do not believe that the eggs sent to you were from my Easter Eggers but I of course cannot be absolutely positive.... human error can never be completely ruled out...We may have made a mistake......."
There is a way to prevent any mistakes being made however it does require much greater time and effort on the part of the breeder over just throwing a bunch of birds together and then collecting the eggs.
I have separate breeding pens for each specific hen(s) according to their line as identified by toe punch. I then put a specific rooster in with the hens. I was leaving the roosters in with the hens but there is no need to because a hen will remain fertile for 10-14 days after a mating. So to save the hen wear and tear and stress, I pull the rooster out either after I've witnessed a couple of matings or after a couple of days.
When I collect the eggs, I mark them with a pencil from the pen that the egg came from. When I ship the eggs, I send the Buyer an email telling them not only the corresponding Pen # to the egg, but the ID# for both the Mom and Dad for the egg. That then helps them with their records and their breeding plans if they so choose to do so. It also allows me to follow up with them and discuss things like whether or not all the eggs made it there without any damage and then which eggs, if any, did not hatch. Later on, after the chicks have matured I can find out other things. (i.e. How many Wheatens, Blue Wheatens, Splash Wheatens, males, and females?). Did any of the birds show any serious faults or DQs. Finally, once they start getting eggs, I would like to know how the color of the pullets eggs are compared to the ones I sent them as well as later on the size and productivity.
Unfortunately, I have not found anyone else I've sold eggs to that is willing to go to these lengths so I really have no comparison other than my own records. Nonetheless, when the above is followed, there really is no room for a mistake. I know there are breeders out there who just throw a bunch of birds of the same breed in a pen and then sell the eggs but I don't personally find that to be helpful to either Buyer or myself. And that is not to say that it doesn't work because it does. I know some breeders who have awful good looking birds - in fact, they're ahead of me in the goals - it's just that my mind evidently isn't wired to work that way.
God Bless,
