ebay eggs...looking for ameraucana knowledgable input please.

[chicknadventure]

Eta: I also didn't want people who were nice but knew nothing about the breed telling me that these were fabulous birds in case they weren't. Hence my header. I hope must people got a chuckle out of it and those who were offended would accept my apology.

 

[clucking cuties]

I am by no means a "know it all", or maybe truthfully, I don't know much, but I can give you a little advice from personal experience about the seller for the "Silver Ameraucana" listing.

I purchased some of her eggs and they are now in my incubator.

Her shipping was fast and excellent, not a broken egg anywhere. She gave me tons of extras, I think I bid on 12 and she sent 18 eggs.

I candled yesterday, and all but one egg is developing nicely, which is really hard to achieve on shipped eggs, so I think that she did an excellent job overall.

I was initially surprised because the eggs were a bit smaller and not as "blue" as I was hoping for. I did email her with a question about that, and I think that I may have accidentally insulted her with the question about the egg color. Sorry about that! (I noticed she was very very careful in her description on this auction about egg color in this auction. This was because my some miracle, I had received eggs from someone else that were a lot bluer, in fact atypically blue as I now realize. (In my newbie innocence, I did not realize how lucky I had been to get eggs that color, but I only hatched 2 chicks from that batch of 8; hopefully both pullets

). I have now found out (sadly) that this degree of blueness seems to be somewhat atypical. I have since received more eggs, (from other sellers) and now realize that the silver Ameraucana seller's eggs were right on target, light sky blue with no green tinges and with excellent fertility, so I would definitely bid on her auctions if I need any more eggs.

I have not seen any chicks yet, but so far I am very pleased about winning one of her auctions. If she is reading this, I am sorry for the question about egg color,

I guess I just didn't realize how lucky I had been with the other eggs. I also want to make clear that her eggs are excellent, and I have high hopes for the birds.

I hope this helps, buying eggs especially on eBay seems to be a bit of a crapshoot, in my limited experience anyway.

 

[chicknadventure]

You probably just answered all the questions i didnt even know to ask yet. Thanks for the feedback. Your comment iz very helpful even if you arent all knowing ii cant wait to hear how they turn out!

 

[clucking cuties]

You are most welcome. When they hatch, I will try to post pictures of the babies

. I think that they are due around June 2nd.

 

[Christie Rhae]

I was not offended and figured your original topic title was sort of a joke.

The think the person selling the ebay eggs is Blumer, Susanne Huckleberry Farm. If you go to the ameraucana breeders directory http://ameraucana.org/DnLd/BreedersDirectory.pdf and go down to the state of South Carolina you will see her listed.
While that does not guarantee that she has show quality birds I would feel confident buying birds from her. In fact.... I may have tried to in the past. lol! Living in Hawaii has its limitations in regards to shipping.

 

[chicknadventure]

Are you actually trying to get some sympathy for living in hawaii? Rotflol! Here in florida we deal with tourists, love bugs and heat its not all disney world and laying by the beach thanks for the input- i feel better about assuming the shipped eggs risk.

 

[speckledhen]

Oh, Huckleberry Farm! Someone PM'd me once about blue wheaten Ameraucanas and they got back with me about a positive experience they had with Susanne. I'd forgotten, then just now, went back into my PMs to check when the name rang a bell.

 

[clucking cuties]

I just wanted to give you an update of the response I received from the seller of the Silver Ameraucanas, as it does give some insight into her bird’s background and hatching them. I have found that there are some really good people on ebay, but a few you need to watch out for. This seller seems reputable and honest, so I would buy from her again if I need to expand my flock. (Trying not to “count my chickens before they hatch” here

)



“Thank you so much for your kind words. I am always trying hard to improve upon my Ameraucana stock as well as the other breeds I raise, It is a daunting challenge to get every aspect of each breed 100% right. It takes the very best of the best breeders years to perfect a breed. I cheated with the group of Silvers that you received eggs out of and bought them as started birds because I was tired of buying eggs or day old chicks, raising them out and then only to be very disappointed in the breeding quality of the final bird. When I saw a respected breeder by the name of Heather Good offer some of her juveniles I drove a 18 hour round trip and spent a pretty penny to get them. The parent stock of my birds originated out of John W Belhem stock and out of some nice birds that Heather got out of the U.P.
I do expect my young pullets egg size to increase slightly in size as they mature out, but I do not want them as large as a Grade A large egg. I have been happy with the fertility as well. Just a little advice on the actual hatching. They are somewhat temperamental to humidity fluctuation. Try to get your bator to stay around 65-70% for these guys at hatch. They also sometimes take a extra day and a half( for me) if the temp has drop even a little bit during lock down. I take them out of a Sportsman and move them to a table top for hatching. I also candle at that time. I think they might cool a little sense they are not a jumbo egg while I am doing this and thus delays the hatch time.(just a theory) I wish you they very best on your hatch and please keep in touch as to the results.”


Anyway, I hope that helps a bit more, I will keep you updated when they hatch..

 

[chicknadventure]

clucking cuties, can you tell me which silvers ad/seller you used? I think there was more than one on ebay when I looked...thanks so much!

Speckled Hen, that is very reassuring! eggs are scary, so it helps if I know I am starting with a reputable breeder and excellent parent birds.

 

[clucking cuties]

I don’t think that she would mind,

The seller’s ebay name is “jujudesign4u”, but I don’t think that she has an auction up right now. Her eggs don’t seem to go cheap, but better to have quality if you are going to take the time and trouble too ship and incubate them, (in my mind anyway.) Good luck!