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That would be wonderful. Let me know what the shipping would be, and I'll see what money I have to spare.
As for those that bought eggs off of E-Bay, I understand your anger and frustration. First I bought some Sebrights on there. Was suppose to be 6 each of Golden and Silver. Only 1 began to develop, but never got past the dark litlte blob phase before it died. The other eggs were all clear. Then, I decided to go cheaper. A lady was selling eggs for $1.99 on there, so I bid and won that auction. She packaged them really well and they arrived in perfect condition, and quickly too. Not a single egg hatched. By this point I was more than a little frustrated. I had already bid on a 3rd auction at this point, and I ended up winning it. It was some pures, and some mixes. There was suppose to be a Phoenix, some White Leghorns, Barred Rocks, and some mixes in there. Again, nothing hatched. Every egg, clear as a bell. I was furious at this point and swore off E-Bay for buying eggs. Then I turned to BYC and got some EE eggs from Atlchick. Man, I was sooooooooooo happy when ALL the eggs made it into lockdown, and then began hatching. And the birds on her page are gorgeous. The chicks I ended up with I am VERY happy with. I will definitely be going back to her later for more eggs since she has Polish and I'd like to try hatching and raising some of those. Then I got to talking to Little_Grey_Bantam and she had the FBCM that I wanted so bad, but I didn't want to spend $35 plus shipping on only 12 eggs, not with my past hatching track record, so I spent the $35 and got her assortment, but she listened and was nice and added 5 FBCM eggs in there for me, and 2 Cuckoos. I received 36 eggs. Most were Speckled Sussex, but there were some Welsummer/Sussex mixes, assorted mixed bantams (all Silkie mixes), 3 Lakenvelder eggs, and my highly anticipated Marans. I put them in my other bator and said a prayer. Of the 36 eggs, only 1 was clear, a Lakenvelder. Of the ones that hatched I ended up (after my losses) with 2 FBCM, 2 Cuckoo Marans, 2 Lakenvelders, 8 Speckled Sussex, 4 Wel/Sussex mixes, 3 bantams, and a Buff Orpington/Cuckoo Marans mix. All the birds are healthy, no crooked beaks, no bent toes, nothing. One of the little Silkie mixes is super tiny though. For awhile we didn't think it would make it, but after 4 weeks it's still feisty and going strong, so I'm not counting it out just yet, lol. Funny thing is, it's STILL almost the same size it was when it hatched! It's so tiny and cute! It's finally starting to get in some wing feathers, and they are coming in black with some copper. It almost looks like a micro version of a FBCM, except it has black skin, feathered legs, and 5 toes, lol. But I know it's a Silkie mix. I'm guessing it's mom is either one of her OEGB's, or her Golden Campine. I hope it grows up so I can see what it turns out to look like.
I just went and checked on the eggs, checking humidity and temp, etc, and I waited and watched to see if any of the eggs were rocking. It might have been my imagination but I think I saw a couple of the Serama eggs moving. I really hope so, these will be my first Seramas. I upped the temp a little since it was lowered from opening the bator to put them on lockdown, and I'm hoping that stabilizes the humidity. I really, really want these to hatch. I wonder if BYC would allow us to create a sticky regarding our positive and negative hatching experiences? Without bashing of course. Just simple facts. I know the last two hatches I had, I got 73% hatch rates on both. It's the ones before that that I kept getting zero hatch rates. Little_Grey_Bantam sent her set of eggs from Kansas. The BLRW came from Ohio, the next state over! The Cochins and Seramas came from Virginia. I am selling my own eggs (well, TRYING is the operative word), and I know as a seller that I do not want to earn a reputation as someone that can't be trusted. I KNOW my eggs are fertile, and as an honest person I would never send old eggs. I'm sure I've probably received more than I could possibly know about, and that is shady dealings. I would never do that to someone! I would also pack as safely as humanly possible to avoid breakage. I am learning who I want to buy eggs from, and who I don't. I also don't mind if people want to see my coop or run, or the adult birds. I had someone come out and buy chicks last week. I took her to the coop first to meet the parents. Why should I be ashamed? Someone not willing to show how their birds live is not really someone I want to deal with. I am proud of my birds. I aimed more for temperment in the beginning, but now I'm trying to get some with good temperment and quality. That's not easy! And with my standards, for now I am simply breeding to get more layers because the girls I have right now are awesome. 9 hens and I get 6 to 9 eggs every day. I just LOVE those ladies! And the chick I hatched out of those eggs (cause I only had room in the bator for 2 of my own standard eggs last hatch, and one pipped but didn't hatch) has the same wonderful, docile temperment that her mama and daddy have, and that's what I was aiming for. And surprisingly, she came out solid yellow! Mama is an Amber Sexlink that was suppose to be a roo, but turned out to be a hen, cause she was a yellow chick, and is now red on top and fading into white in her hips and rear, she's gorgeous, and my roo is a Silver Cuckoo Marans. The chick, Rose, has blue eyes like her daddy had as a chick, orange legs like her mom had, and the stature of a Marans. But she isn't as big as my full breed Marans chicks, so she'll probably only be around her mom's size. I'm proud of her, she's a little doll! I need to hatch more of my own eggs. I feel it's neccesary in order for people to trust that the eggs I send are fertile like I am saying they are. I know they are fertile, but for people that don't know me, how are they to know it without cracking open the eggs? I would expect the same courtesy from people that I purchase eggs from, to be honest and upfront right from the start, but I guess not everyone thinks like I do. So, I guess I'll know in 3 days whether I have any BLRW's. I'll keep everyone posted.
(So those excess boys did have a purpose after all!)
