The one that told me about her being banned from the Marans Club (there ARE several of them) is a well known breeder and several serious Marans breeders have been burned by her badly. Her Marans chicks were not up to quality, poor egg shell colors, etc. So she could have been banned from ONE Marans club but not the others. They private emailed me about her when I was finding out the dark side when I told them that I had some culled Spitzhaubens for sale.
Yeah, I remember those pictures, not only the Orps but other folks pictures that she put on
Ebay. Bad business to say at the least. She could have put in small letterings under the picture "taken from (name) website as an example of the breed. Flat out lying will come back and bite you in the butt (in Katy's case, it did bit Gabbard and did Gabbard correct the problem? She did after several people complained to her as well as the breeder in the UK (and US as well for other breeds). It tells you alot about the inquity of the breeder themselves and how desperate they need the money off from the eggs.
IF anyone ASKS me about the quality of her birds, how she packed her eggs, etc. I would tell them the truth AND I will ALSO say, the decision is yours and yours alone if you choose to get Gabbard's eggs and expect disappointment if the chicks or egg colors do not come out like it should be.
When I got into other chicken posts, other forums, including the breed forums, it didn't look good at all for Julie and the bad sides of it really came thru. Those were from serious breeders, not the common backyard breeders. Even with common folks, you have to take it with a grain of salt. If more people came forward, sharing the same experience as you did, then it warrants investigation on your own and you can either go with the flow or advise someone else. It's serious with BYC folks and we certainly don't want to happen to them but let them make the decisions on their own. Let them make the mistakes if things go wrong.
From what I heard on BYC threads in here, Julie has been selling her eggs and possibly chicks to My Pet Chicken. And having too many breeds and not paying attention to the standard, it would hurt her in the long run. If you read the Hatchery vs Breeders thread, you can see how we felt about breeders getting so many chicken breeds rather than being serious about it.
For those who got good birds from her, I wish you all the luck and hopefully you can keep going. Remember what I have to say about Julie, it based on my experiences I've had with her, good and bad along with the serious breeders that have bought chicks and eggs from her. YOu can say that they are very very disappointed. Including the sore black eye about her so called Ameraucanas which they are Easter Eggers and you would question EVEN they are sold to be Ameraucanas, you ended up with different colored chicks and different colored eggs, something is wrong here. She has employees so she is responsible for the mess and it would cost her customers, I'm sure. However with all those positive feedbacks, it only says what happened that the time you get the box of eggs, not the hatch rates or how the chicks developed into. I've heard it from time and time again in the last three years. I had nothing but postive feedbacks until my pullets came down with problems and dealing with her and so forth and things really came out in the open that what they had, is what I had. It's sad.
If you want to buy Gabbards eggs and you KNOW that it is a risk and KNOW that they are not the BEST exhibition or up to standard, then by all means go ahead. I, too dont like the way she packed her eggs. Her Penes I believe came from a breeder here in Illinois, so that is good quality and I love the colors of his eggs, even got one sitting up in my nesting box, very dark in color! Sheryll was the Eggbid name I believe. He was getting into the White Emproresa birds and selling the Black Penes because they were so spazzy and lay so little.
As for Bev Davis, I heard NOTHING BAD about her. She is very very nice lady and knows about her birds better than anyone else. One of the original importers?? and VERY serious about her birds and she CARES alot about them. If there is something wrong, she would let you know what may be the factor that cause this chick to be that way. She will find a way to work with you or advise you to cull it and suggest another breeder that you can rely on. Sure she has a waiting list several years long but if you are serious about her birds, you should be serious about waiting that long. Patience is a virtue! Her and I had email contacts twice and I will stand as I see, nothing but positive notes about her.
As for breeder bashing, I don't think there is any. Just experiences we had, good and bad and you as a buyer would make the decision whether or not to get her eggs or birds. What bothers me the most is this: when a good breeder started going on contract with a hatchery, it smelled of money and money only, and quality does not always follow. Quantity does. The more eggs, more chicks they send out, the more money they will earn.
Personally I have a few "DONT BUY" on my list of hatching eggs and chicks. I am sure alot of you have a "DONT BUY" list on your end too all based on experience, referrals, and the positive and negative posts on breeders. You have to weigh each one individually how they would fit in your needs and the long term in your flock.
Would I stop you from buying Gabbard's eggs? Nope! Would I suggest another breeder? Sure would! Many times the low cost wins the buyer over than the quality of a little more expensive priced hatching eggs and chicks.
It's your choice!
That is what's good about America..making choices!
