Breeders that sell .... Is it ethical?

[mississippifarmboy]

Quote:
We do, and we do.

ANYTHING hatched from your new stock Kathy would have to be a vast improvement over any others I've seen. Those are beautiful birds you are breeding from! Of course you can't know which roo / hen pairing will throw the best chicks yet, but you do know that unlike 90% of what is offered anywhere else I've seen, you have good stock to choose from.
JMHO

 

[Happy Chooks]

I agree with everyone else Kathy. And I've seen pics of your stock, you have NICE birds! Not everybody that sells does test hatches themselves. Others can test hatch for you too, and give your fertility results, etc. I know I've test hatched for others. I have also sent test eggs out as well when I could not hatch myself as I was maxed out on space at the time.

I've done a couple test hatches with my wellies, mostly because I only have 1 female at the moment, so not enough to offer for sale if I wanted to. But it's also giving me the opportunity to see what they create as a pair, to make sure it's what I want quality wise.

 

[rancher hicks]

As long as both of you know what's what, I see no problem.

Your one of the best IMO

Rancher

 

[Thunder Bay Chicken]

As someone very new to chickens here is what I think...

I just dealt with someone who gets birds from many sources... Some are better then others.

He gave me his thoughts on some of the birds I ordered, he then let me decide after I received all the info if I still wanted them.

I think if and when someone is up front with the other party, all is good. I appreciated his honesty.

BTW I took the birds knowing that this particular line of them was a little on the small side. I just wanted them.

In your case where you have excellent stock but are yet to know what they will throw as long as the buyers are aware of it, there is absolutely no reason not to sell eggs or chicks.

As far as price goes find some middle ground something both of you can live with so no matter what the result, neither party feels bad in the end.

 

[RAREROO]

I agree with some of the others. To me it would be perfectly ethical to sell birds of even the poorest quality or mixed birds as long as you are honest with the buyer and tell them that before hand and they understand that is what they are buying and still want them.

 

[phasianidae]

Quote:
x2

 

[kathyinmo]

Thanks for the replies.

As far as "test eggs," go ..... I would NEVER sell test eggs. I give those away. I have given away many "test" eggs .... test fertility, test my shipping methods, etc. In my opinion, it is unethical to expect payment for test eggs, and I will not do that.

A big concern for me, in selling eggs, has been setting a price that is fair. I don't want to rip off anyone or ask too much, yet it would sure be nice to get some help with my ever growing feed bill. I see some auctions with outrageous prices, yet others are willing to pay that. I dunno. I guess maybe going with an auction would be a good start. I will consider that.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Quote:
Sell them as described for shipping plus double the cost of your eating eggs to get you started until you know what the offspring look like.


(Or, you know, if you want to test again, Maine is a nice vacation destination for humans and chicks alike...)

 

[cybercat]

Kathy I would wait. It is not about ethics but quality and repetation. You do not know what you have for sure or how they will turn out when fully grown. There are enough bad quality out there already why add to it if you do not need too. Fact is if you have something good you will need more of it. Fact is if you sell and it is not good there goes your rep. Bad word spreads faster than good even even when truth is stated right on sell. Another fact since you are breeding one male off spring will be all related and not truly breed worth in that case. If you sell make sure they have more than one set of parents. Deversify the bloodlines a bit for buyer. But then again I would not sell till I knew what I had first and if it is worthy to sell.

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Thank you for your post. See, this is, in part, what I was thinking also!

My New Hampshires are not all siblings. I do have diversity. I am fortunate that the breeder I bought these from is so knowledgeable, and he set me up very well with this stock. That said, I still have no idea what the outcome will be with my matings. It will be quite some time before I can see what I can produce.

On the other hand, there is such a shortage of good quality New Hampshires, and I do feel mine are pretty good, should I still just keep them all to myself? Maybe I should. I think about what Bob Blosl has said many times. Not to keep all your stock in one place. Share them, and IF something should happen, you can go back to one of your buyers and get some back. I think about that, too.

At any rate, whether my birds are show winners or not, I think they should produce a good enough quality for others to use as a base to work with. That, and the fact that it is impossible for me to hatch every single egg produced here, are reasons I think for selling.

Grrrrr, the dilemma!