I Need Advise Please

[organiceggs]

I have an issue, maybe someone here could help...I receive 12 (expensive) eggs from a breeder via USPS. They sent 2 extra, so I had 14 in all. One was destroyed in transit, so I had 13. I place these into the incubator and 2 began to weep 2 days later, so I removed those. I then had 11 left. At the end of incubation, I had:

- 4 unfertilized
- 5 chicks, one of them needed to be culled since it had neurological and gross motor problems (and very small eyes) and wouldn't eat or drink and began to suffer, and 1 was very small but normal otherwise.
- 2 died late in development, one of which was facially deformed with a crossed beak (didn't even want to look at the other one). Is this bad genetics, poor handeling during transit (or x-ray machines), or is it from incubation even though I had no extremes what so ever? Do I complain? Do I ask for a refund?

Thanks

 

[Guitartists]

Well, shipping is a real gamble.....especially if they have a long distance to travel. Sometimes you get lucky and you get an 80% hatch or better.... but honestly.... if I get 2 or more to hatch I'm happy considering the stresses of shipping.

If they are fertile (The 4 unfertile ones..... did you check them or did they just not develop? They were most likely scrambled in shipping...it's VERY common) and packaged safely..... that's really all a seller can do.

Sometimes there are problems during incubation that we cannot foresee or sometimes even know occurred. It doesn't sound like the seller did anything wrong.

I would be ecstatic about your 4 new chicks

That's 4 to add to your flock that can hopefully make more eggs/chickies for you down the road

 

[organiceggs]

Quote:
Thanks for your reply. I feel better knowing it is a common occurance when shipping eggs. I think I'll try to hatch my own eggs next time. And your right, I should focus on my new little babies. They are happy and healthy. My avatar is one of them.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I would be sure they know about it. I know I ordered from the same person you did and got 2 dozen (45.00 each dozen)...MOST of those were infertile (I DID crack them open after day 7 and seen that to be true) and I ended up with four growing eggs all the way to finish. 2 did not hatch or pip and I have two live chicks who both seem to be healthy. I do think that I should have gotten some sort of refund but havent' yet. Good luck to you

 

[rancher hicks]

Organiceggs, where are you from in NY and what kind of eggs did you order? I wouldn't think deformed chicks were the cause of the USPS but genetics. I would post to the response/survey part of the buyers post, with a negative comment. One it's alot of money and two they should have been packaged better. I would not order eggs from them again.

 

[miniwhipkey]

I agree with saying something. They don't need to be sell eggs that are geneticly wrong. I don't think UPS did it!!!

 

[Katy]

I have both bought a lot of shipped eggs and sold a fair share of eggs. I've never expected a refund from poor hatches, nor do I offer one. I wrap my eggs well, but have had two boxes this spring that were smashed and had part of the eggs broken ...one person had 3 hatch and the other has 2 developing.

As far as eggs being non-fertile, I don't think after a few days of being in the incubator you are going to be able to tell whether they were fertile or not. By that time generally when I've opened eggs up the yolk is very unstable and most often breaks when I open the egg.

As far as complaining I would let the seller know....I like to keep up with how the eggs I've sold do and I also generally let the seller of eggs I've bought know how they did.

Trying to hatch shipped eggs is a gamble....sometimes you win, but most often the odds are against you from the moment they hit the PO. I post on all my auctions that I'm not responsible for the buyer's hatch rate once they leave my hands....I have no control over how they're handled or incubated so I don't feel like I should be expected to do a refund. I am incubating my eggs at the same time I am selling them so I can keep tabs on fertility. Often I have 100% hatches from eggs laid during the same period while the shipped eggs only hatched 2 or 3.

 

[organiceggs]

Quote:
I am from Westchester and I ordered wheaten and black copper marans from a reputable breeder, or so I was led to believe. They packaged them well; each wrapped in bubble wrap and they were surrounded by peanuts. Either it is normal to have some deformed or some with problems, or it was very bad genetics, or was caused by the postal service x-ray machines. I'm sure those can cause some DNA damage. Could inbreeding have caused it? I've read that the genetic diversity of this breed is very limited.

 

[Guitartists]

There are deformities that occur DURING incubation. Different factors are involved for each issue.... but it doesn't seem uncommon to have chicks hatch out with problems due to some unforseen issue with or in the bator. Just as with any other animal... things can go wrong, it is not always a genetics issue. The only way to say that would be to hatch eggs with a broody.... determine if she also has problems hatching the eggs out to happy healthy chicks. Split the eggs into two different bators and see if you had as high an instance of problems in both hatches. Hatch eggs from another seller alongside the others and see if they hatch better/healthier. And also, some of it will be determined by the breed you are hatching. Some ARE more difficult than others and will have a higher instance of problems..... kinda like purebred German Shepards and Hip Dysplasia(sp?).

But yes, do let the seller know the results of your hatch. If they have gotten similar feedback in the past, this will help them to determine if maybe some of their breeding hens/roos need to be eliminated from their breeding program.