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It's the least I could do, you ordered them in what, MARCH of last year!!?!?!?!
16 months!!?!?!?! (Where is the emoticon for spewing coffee all over the computer screen?)
I had to read that three times to make sure that my eyes weren't deceiving me.
Surely, not everyone selling Buckeye chicks has that long of a waiting list?
There's something wrong with this picture. No. Really. I don't know what exactly.
That's messed up.
NOTE: I am not saying anyone is doing anything wrong. I'm not trying to pick a fight. I'm just registering my genuine surprise. Shock. I had no idea there was that kind of thing going on with Buckeyes.
Not really a list problem as much as a hatching problem, she ordered last spring, I was unable to ship them before the heat of the summer, she contacted me again this spring wanting her order filled.
Last spring I had terrible issues with incubation, terrible, literally throwing away 3/4 of the eggs that went into the incubator and did not ship a single chick for 9 weeks in the spring.
So frustratingly terrible.
I know I mentioned it more than once on here and commiserated with many of my fellow buckeye fanatics.
I bet I refunded 1/3 to ½ of all of the orders that I received last spring. It was that bad.
During last summer I thought I'd rectify the problem by buying a nice 8 year old used Jamesway AVN Incubator which holds 1344 eggs from Michigan State University, I mean heck it's industrial, it's huge and its what the pros use. Plug it in and let it hum away right?
Well that is when the problems really started, first it wouldnt hold heat, it would get close in the evening but would sink low at night, very similar to the issues I had with the 3 Sportsmen incubators I stopped using. So I checked the heating elements, not just one but 2 elements were bad, I get that ironed out and I walk in one evening and the very 3 Amp fuse to the heating elements melted, I called Jamesway and of course they give no tech support nor manual so Im on my own. I found a manual and traced out the wiring and there was a dead ground, 220V and it was shorting out, it shocked me so bad I nearly peed myself. So I fixed that and that ended my 2010 hatching experience, I was honestly ready to give up and sell everything, it was that frustrating. GAAAAAAH!!!!!
2011 Started off with a bang, I fired up the incubator and it was holding heat without an issue, working perfect!!! I decided over the winter to design and build a hatcher out of a standup freezer, got all of the parts together and got it up and running and found out that the fan that I was using was generating too much heat and cooking the eggs, a zero hatch rate for 2 weeks in a row. I called Earnest Dickey and had him ship a brand new hatcher, I was done with making the buckeye an endangered species. I got the Dickey up and running and had a great hatch rate for a couple of weeks and then noticed that the incubator was once again dropping heat, so I changed out the THIRD heating element!!!! DAGGUM!! 3 Out of 3 Industrial 220V heating elements failed in 10 weeks of each other!?!?!?! What are the odds? So I changed out the element and trucked along for the next several weeks until early April and then something happened that actually made me cry. Imagine a 64 350lb former defensive tackle outright crying in his basement over chicks. The temperature probe on the Jamesway incubator failed and the factory programmed the PLC if the sensor fails to go to 100% heat. 3 150 Watt 240V heating elements went full on overnight; the eggs were actually too hot to hold. The GQF thermometer was pegged, I was so distraught, more than 700 buckeye eggs were cooked, literally cooked by my huge industrial incubator. My God what else could go wrong? I called the company that manufactures the PLC heat controller and had a very long discussion with customer service on what I needed to upgrade so this would never happen again. I bought a new PLC off of
ebay, it cost more than the first used sportsman I bought. I installed it and also installed a new temperature probe. I honestly changed out every working part in the Jamesway incubator with the exception of the turner, guessing the whole way, no tech support, no outside help and I was severely shocked several times from the faulty wiring.
Since early April my hatch rate has been stellar, 85-90% of fertile eggs are hatching. Keeping things clean and sanitary, eggs in, eggs out, chicks out, chicks in boxes, calling customers, going to PO with 8-12 boxes of chicks, takes about 5 hours a week. Dealing with the chickens and feeding and collecting also takes time, I figure I have about 10 hours a week in dealing with the chickens and the emails and calls I get from all over the country and for what. Since I started this chicken hatching/shipping thing with buckeyes etc. With all of the investments in birds, insulated coop, 1,500 lbs of feed a month, etc. Once I am caught up with the list I am still well past $3,000.00 in investments and losses without any compensation for my time. At this point I have a couple of refunds I still need to send and will send once I get it, but for the most part everyone has been more than understanding, only a handful have been truly upset and I can't blame them, I'd be ticked off too. I truly love chicken owners, most are incredibly understanding. If things keep working well I should be caught up with my current order list by mid July.
If you are interested in perpetuating to cover feed costs I do have to warn you and would love to give some tips.
Tip #1: Buy professional and buy new, new hatcher, new incubator, new brooder, etc. Think of it as a long term investment, setup a sterile atmospherically controlled incubation and hatching room with a fridge that will keep your eggs at 58 degrees while they are waiting for the incubator (my summer project).
Tip #2: Dont, it sounds like a great idea but it is very difficult to cover your expenses and time and will cause nothing but heartache, frustration and tears for you, your spouse and your family.
For the breed my friends, for the breed.
Peace,
Dave
