buyer beware

[fldiver97]

Sorry you had so much trouble. On the bright side, you gave those 4 chickens a good home. I know you did not getthem as 'rescues' but the breeder sure did not care for his flock well and/or doesn't know squat about chickens. Or worse, he lied. I added to my flock a few months ago as I had lost one of my original 5 girls. I did not want to add a single chicken as I was ready to quarantine and a0 did not want to have one lonely youngster and 0 figured it would be easier on the new chickens to be introduced as a pair to the 4 older ones..... I was afraid the older girls would totally gang up on one new bird. Anyway, as I can not keep roosters in town I wanted to be smart and get chickens that were sexed and older and not have them shipped. The fellow I got my older girls from had no chickens for sale at the time, he breeds smaller numbers. So I found a guy on CL and he is in a small town not too far. Advertised pullets, 4 weeks old, RIR's and BR's. So I went and got two chicks, turned out they were more like 6 weeks old, he got them as day olds from a hatchery and they were all girls. He sells turkeys and chickens processed from his flock as well as eggs. Set up looked OK, not pet like but decent. The only thing I did not like was a coop/pen that was crowded and quite a few chickens looked pretty rough, missing feathers. To my understanding these were the older hens and cockerels that would end up as stew. Still did not like the sight of the birds in these conditions. To make a long story short, the fellow went into the youngsters coop, picked up one RIR and one BR each, I put them in the pet carrier, pid and left. The chicks looked healthy enough. I quarantined them for 4 weeks.They remaned healthy but after a week or so of looking at them I was pretty sure the RIR was not a girl. Even when I got them, her wattles and comb were quite large already. I was dumb enough not to question the guy and ask for a different chicken right then. I know some RIRs have larger combs but she just did not look right to me. Eventually at age 18 or 19 weeks Lucy was rehomed. She is now known as Louie. It took me a while to find a home for a young rooster where he would be kept as a backyard bird with a flock of about 30 chickens and no plans for freezer camp. I am a sucker for lost causes, I know. But I felt bad for the roo. And of course stupid to boot! At least I was lucky the birds were healthy. But I was upset about "losing' another chicken.......No way would I have gone back though to exchange the cockerel for a pullet. Lesson learned: find a good breeder and ask questions.....

 

[Mahonri]

You've provided a great lesson for all of us.

Isolate until you know they are healthy.

 

[chookchick]

Thanks for sharing your story, hopefully you have saved someone else some heartache. I know how hard it is to leave a place like that, and not want to "rescue" a few chickens. My first batch of 4 2week olds came from not very good conditions. Out of 4, 3 were roos, so I only have one hen left from that batch, and I soooo doted on them! Life's hard lessons....

 

[technodoll]

I'm glad people are reading this and hopefully passing the word around!

Onwards and upwards, right?

 

[cybercat]

That was not a breeder but a producer just after the all might buck. This is a good lesson to all anyone one can do advetizing saying this and that it does not make it so.

So sorry you ran into this person but glad your chickens are doing good. At least these came into a good family.

 

[PhilErvin]

If we all would let these breeders know that we are unhappy and why, they should get the message and clean up their acts. I am a firm believer in telling people when I am happy and sending them a letter when I am not. The reason for a letter is that it is easier to communicate your thoughts and it is non-confrintational. Their response won't be clouded by emotions and defensive anger as it would be if you phoned them and told them how you feel. They can choose to accept the critisisim and learn from it or reject it and continue to lose business. In my business, Printing, I prefer customers communicate their displeasure with me and their satisfaction with others.

 

[technodoll]

I did phone that guy a few days after I'd gotten the birds, he wasn't home so I spoke to his wife and told her about the lice.

She didn't seem fazed at all nor was she apologetic.

Three days ago I emailed them with a factual recount of all the issues I have had (and am having) and of course, have heard nothing back.

 

[b.hromada]

I'm sorry to hear about your delema!

You know, some people just couldn't care less, making it bad for those of us who do!! Last January, I bought some really great pullets at our S. Florida Fair, from one of our members, Sunny_Side_Up, Carol, and I couldn't be happier!!! Also have bought some really great pullets from another member on here as well, Lisa, she is PeepsNBunnies. Thank you both for the best!! There is some great folks out there. Unfortunately, we need to look hard for them, I guess.

 

[SilverPhoenix]

What an unfortunate story! Really stresses the importance of paying attention to what environment your birds come from (and refusing birds if you're uncomfortable with the conditions) and isolating new flock members until you're certain they're healthy enough to join the flock. I've been lucky so far as far as disease goes (especially because I'm a wildlife rehabber and I am in contact with avian diseases fairly regularly. I practice very careful isolation and hygiene protocol!), but it's always good to get a reminder about being careful.

It's good you were able to get it all under control and you didn't lose any birds, though! And like you said, you've learned a lot about being careful with the origin of your animals. It's not worth it to go through a ton of trouble because of a poor breeder.

 

[Pathfinders]

Quote:
What she said...

Sorry you had such problems, but at least all the issues were fixable! I've known folks new to poultry who were sold birds with Coryza, and their whole flock had to be put down later. Terrible.