Is Metzer Farms a good business to buy from?

[callmekiwi13]

I bought 12 duck eggs from Metzer Farms and I received 14 which was great because I got two free. But, how does everyone feel about Metzer Farms? Has everyone, or most of everyone, received good service from them? Have most of the eggs you've gotten hatched or do you have low hatching rates with Metzer? Can you get refunded on the eggs that didn't hatch even if you candled them before you incubated them and they were fertilized and looked good? I just want to know what other people have gotten from Metzer. I've only had 2 ducklings hatch from all 14 eggs. 2 eggs rotted within 2 weeks in incubation. 10 are still sitting in the incubator and I'm doing all I can to try to hatch them... It's two days after "hatching day." It's day 30 of incubation and I've heard they can easily hatch up to 4 days after the planed hatching day. I have Pekin, Cayuga and Chocolate Runner eggs and I've only gotten 1 Pekin and 1 Runner. Should I be hearing piping, should the incubator smell a little or are the eggs rotten if they stink? Should I help the duckling with breaking the shell? What should the temperature and humidity be? Its currently 97 degrees and the humidity is 85. I know you're lucky to get 6 out of 12 eggs, but is 2 out of 14 horrible? I candled some of the eggs yesterday on the 29th day of incubation and there are some ducks in there, but should they be moving a lot right now, and piping? Because I haven't seen any eggs moving like I did the day my Oekin and Runner hatched. I heard piping when they hatched as well. Could any of the ducklings have gotten trapped in the eggs and not been able to get out because of the humidity and temperate not being perfect? If so, how did the two ducklings I have break out but the others didn't? I don't know what to do, any input on any of the things I've mentioned would be greatly appreciated. I need all the help I can get! I'm losing hope on hatching anymore and I want to do anything and everything I can to try to get a higher hatching rate...

 

[TLWR]

Metzer Farms is a great hatchery to order from.

You are working with shipped eggs which typically have a lower hatch rate just because of shipping.
If you received good eggs, there is no reason they should issue you a refund.
Sometimes eggs don't read the book on hatching and either hatch early or late by a few days. It is perfectly normal to have some that will hatch and some that don't.

Your other thread indicated a temp of 95. That's too low. What were your temps during your 4 weeks of incubating? There are many hatching threads on here with the correct temps/humidity during incubation/hatching

 

[needlessjunk]

I've gotten ducklings from Metzer and would order again from them. They have a whole section on how they refund eggs and whatnot. Per their page
"We will guarantee that at least 80% of the eggs you buy are fertile. But there are some requirements. You must candle the eggs within 14 days of our ship date and notify us at that time if the fertility is not at least 80%. If for example, you buy 10 eggs but receive 11 (we often send an extra), there must be at least 8 fertile eggs (.8 x 10). If there are only 7 fertile eggs, we will credit your credit card or refund you for one egg. However, we cannot guarantee that the fertile eggs will hatch. That is entirely dependent on the incubator and we have no control over the quality or care of the incubator. So if you phone us after they hatch (or don't hatch), we cannot help you. You must call us immediately after candling the eggs. Though we do not guarantee hatchability, we know of no other hatchery that guarantees fertility."

http://www.metzerfarms.com/HatchingEggs.cfm?CustID=7894268

 

[callmekiwi13]

It stayed at about that temperature or a little higher. I'm not exactly sure because my animal science teacher was keeping up with it and helping me with it all because the incubator I'm using is at school... But I've been working with it a lot today though. I've got the temperature up to 99 and the humidity is 84. On the thermometer in the incubator it says the high for humidity is 87 and the low is 57. And the high for the temp is 99 and that the low for the temp is 90 and so I have it on the highest temperature right now... It's two days after the 28th day, "hatching day." When will it be too late for the other 10 eggs still in the incubator? Is there still a chance they can hatch? If so, should I see movement of the eggs and/or piping? I heard piping on the 28th day from the two ducklings that have already hatched... When would the last day be for them to hatch? When should I know if and when they'll hatch, how should I know?

 

[revans2003]

I am in the middle of hatching from metzer and have no complaints. When I placed the order I spoke with john and laid out my plans and asked questions. I told him I wanted to order enough eggs to hatch 2 ducks. He said due to the winter season when fertility is lower and the well known shipping problem from any mail order vendor that 12 eggs should hatch two ducks. I got 13 eggs and three look like they are going to hatch though it is a bit early to tell.

Metzer has been good to me and what they said has been dead on accurate with regards to fertility, viability and hatchability.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

If you are wanting more ducks Metzer has also stated on their site that ordering the ducks is much more reliable than the eggs. I have personally gotten 15 ducks from Metzer and all of them arrived alive (I had grow gel added to all shipments). I had 1 that was a little constipated, but the rest were perfect. Another advantage to ordering the ducks is you can sex them to better meet your needs. I am not sure what your goal is with ducks, but anything other than eating them means you probably want to limit the number of drakes you have. This would also allow you to possibly merge the ducks while in the brooder (they are less accepting as adults) we had 1 duck in our brooder that was a week younger (Rhiannon) and she was tough enough to keep up.