Hatch rate on shipped eggs and leaving feedback for seller

[hayley3]

I'm trying to leave feedback on the seller of my eggs.
The eggs were individually packed in a piece of bubble wrap, but my hatch rate was only 16%, and I feel that it is kinda low. My 1st hatch rate was 50%.
Since I didn't candle the eggs, I don't know if I should give the seller a bad feedback or not.
What do you all think? She gave me 4 extra eggs too, so I'm ambivalent about giving her bad feedback.
Any thoughts welcome!

 

[dragonlili]

Eggs were not meant to go through the US Postal Service. It's the risk we take to try to get some new breeds/blood inn our flocks. I have spent a fortune on eggs, without much to show for it. There are too many variables, a major one being S&H. There is no way to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the seller was at fault. In these cases, I leave no feedback at all.

 

[speckledhen]

If the eggs were fertile and packed well enough, and it seems they were since you got what was a hatch rate, albeit low, for shipped eggs, then there is no reason to leave negative feedback. She even sent extras, which is not required. If you think about it, she can't know for sure if every egg she sends is fertile, even if she has a healthy rooster in with the hens. That plus the P.O. gorillas at work, it's always a gamble. You also did not candle so you have no way to know that they were NOT fertile, if you know what I mean. Now, if you had candled at several days and found that NONE of the eggs were fertile, or even if the shells were so porous, they had little chance of hatching, then you may have a right to complain that she sent you a bad product, see what I'm saying? Even when a package looks intact, you can never know how much it was shaken or vibrated in transit.

 

[hayley3]

Thanks for the advice.
I've never seen any kind of business to have no type of accountability. Seems like it is an open invitation for scam artists.
Heck you could just get a chicken and sell the eggs saying they were fertile. Unfortunately in this day and age anything is possible. So how do you help protect yourself from the disreputable sellers if everyone gives them positive feedback because they wrap the egg well.

Susie

 

[Poison Ivy]

I know how you feel I bought eggs off eggbid and out of 25 had 3 hatch. One lady did send me 4 replacements one broke and I just candled the 3 last night and they have been in the incubator for 12 days and they are not fertile. So I googled her name and found her address so I'm shipping the eggs back to her. I'm sure she thinks I making it up but want her to see it's not me that doing anything wrong it just her eggs are not fertile. It's a risk we take when we order from someone we don't know. I'm hoping the new eggs I ordered from mypetchicken have a good hatch rate. I just put them in last weekend so I have a few more days to wait before I can candle them.

 

[silkiebeginer]

Have you contacted the seller and tried to work out somethinng with her? I would not leave negitive feed back. Your eggs arrived in good condition. Alot of sellers do replace eggs if they were not fertile. But with out candling you wouldn't know weather they were fertile or not. But I am sure in her listing tht she stated that you were taking a chance. That she could not garuntee hatch due to conditions out of her control. So I wouldn't do negitive feedback on her. Now i am not saying you did ANYTHING wrong, but hatch rate could have been on your part, maybe something was a little off. I am not saying there was, but with out knowing the fetility rate, we just don't know. By the way, i don't know if you buy eggs from hatcherys but Meyer has free shipping on all fertile eggs. And they will replace broken or not fertile eggs. They don't give you a hassel about it either. i bought 24 they sent me 25 and 5 were broken. I hatched 16 out of the remaining 20 and they are replacing 9 eggs. I would have been happy with them replacing just the 5. 2 out of the remaining 20 were not fertile so they told me they would replace those as well, and even replace the other 2 that didn't hatch. i have thought about ordering some showgirl eggs but am undecided because i know i will be taking a chance. I would have to order those from Ebay or Eggbid. Not sure if i am reading to take that chance.

GoodLuck, Jennifer

 

[speckledhen]

Scam artists have happened-they are in every walk of life. As far as no accountability, take the P.O. They have NONE. They are full of no-guarantee guarantees, for which they charge in ever increasing amounts and yet, if you say, hey my letter with a credit card payment, for example, to which I attached a Delivery Confirmation was never stamped by the receiving P.O, they just shrug and keep your money.
If the lady handed the eggs to you and none were fertile, I'd say she was being dishonest or has a rooster with a fertility problem. And maybe she was, maybe she wasn't in this case, but after the P.O. handles the package with their EXTREME lack of care, she cannot be responsible for a bad hatch rate.

On Ebay and Eggbid, you can file complaints if you feel you've been ripped off. You must remember that all you can do is try to deal with reputable people you can trust or you do take a gamble with something as fragile as hatching eggs. Since you did not candle, there is no way for you to say with any certainty that they were not fertile/clears. Also, the hatch rate is not just hinged on the original eggs, but on bator operation and other factors as well as the P.O.

I've had various rates on shipped eggs, but since most did candle as having some development at a certain stage, I would not hold the seller responsible, realizing that I am taking a chance on the outcome. Too many factors come into play. Sometimes if you contact a seller and tell him/her that you had a really crappy hatch rate, they will send you a few more eggs as compensation, even if it was not their fault. You could try that in this case. All she can do is say "no".

 

[asher]

Quote:
You just don't buy eggs and have them shipped to you. OR you educate yourself really well first and don't pay more than you can afford to "lose" if they don't hatch.

I've been on the buyer side before and I know it definitely sucks, BUT if you want a particular breed, quality or color, it's a neccesary evil sometimes.

(I've had from 100% hatches down to 0% on shipped eggs so I do completely understand. This time of year, the weather and shipping is just really hard on birds.

)

 

[hayley3]

First let me say that I am sooo happy about the two little guys in the brooder.

So happy. I'm not wanting to give the seller negative feedback. I am so happy to have two white silkies that my head is about to pop off with happiness. Now if I had gotten no chicks, it would be a different story. However, I just never imagined that the hatch rate would or could be so low. It was kind of a shock.
I've learned alot from this experience and I will be more careful about who I buy eggs from. I'm also going to learn how to candle, so that will be my next question.

 

[speckledhen]

Congrats on your little new babies! And do candle them at around seven days in the bator-it's fun and quite a learning experience, too.