Is this too much for hatching eggs?

[newnanchic]

I also have birds from this breeder. They are very nice birds they come from Wade Jeane lines. I have been to his farm as it is a very nice and CLEAN farm . I bought BCM chics and Cuckoo chics and eggs from him. One of the nicest man that you will ever meet and He is very honest. It just amazes me how quick some people are to judge the owners of Black Copper Marans . Hey I am just a stay at home Mom who lives in the Country and I am Blessed to have these birds. Chickens are my Hobby as many of yours are too. Please do not send any ugly post just rember what your Grandma told you when you were growing up " If you can't say something nice , DON'T say anything at all !!"

 

[the simple life]

I thought you had Jesse's birds.

 

[Solsken Farm]

I bought cuckoo eggs from this person (not through ebay). The eggs were packaged beautifully and look a respectable 4. I paid $25 including shipping. His communication was excellent. I have no idea what the cuckoos will look like and did not buy them as show quality. I bought them to hatch for someone who wanted decent laying Cuckoos. So $25 seemed fair to me. I cannot speak for his Copper Blacks.


I honestly think buying eggs on ebay is a risk and you are competing with folks who are not always in the "know" and linked up to this and other breeding communities. I would caution buying from Ebay in general for dark eggs, although I know a few sellers have dark eggs.

If you do decide to buy eggs from ebay. Get the person to commit to the number their eggs are on the scale, learn what the parent stock looks like, and become very educated. If the eggs are not at least a 4, I wouldn't even consider them. If they are not at least a 5, I probably wouldn't want them. Dark eggs just are very rare. If the person is selling lots of eggs, over and over, I would wonder how dark the eggs really are.

I have waited almost 6 months to get some good Marans eggs. I had been researching 6 months before getting on lists and even then, I got impatient and bought from ebay and another breeder who sent me eggs that turned out not to be "pure". I knew better and in the end, came out ok (got a refund on the ebay and sold the stock from the other). I am on one list that will probably be at least a year or more. I am okay with that.

I know have a full bator of dark eggs. The Cuckoos I mentioned, some wellsummers and Copper Blacks. The Copper Blacks are only slightly darker than the Cuckoos and Welsummers but the eggs are huge. I know the person I bought them from got them from a highly reputable line and are pure. I have Wheatens and Copper Blues coming from two other excellent breeders. I bought all my eggs through people here or breeders that I have come to learn about through the yahoo Marans boards. Even there and here, there are some less than stellar sellers. It really takes time to find reputable folks. And even buying from a good breeder does not guarantee dark eggs or a show quality bird. These are a challenging breed to work with.

Learn before you buy is my suggestion. Don't jump into it.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Marlinchaser]

Quote:
I wouldnt think the seller is to blame here, if the market will support selling eggs for $100 a piece, and there are people standing in line to pay that the seller would be foolish not to sell at that price, Mind you I would not stand in that line, but it the buyers that are running up the price. when the buyers are no longer there, the seller will lower thier price till they reach a price that is what others are willing to pay, or they will have a bunch of $100 eggs for lunch.

Look at the prices people are willing to pay for crossbreed pugXpoodles pugdoodles/labradodles etc.... all mutts, but if someone is willing to pay a thousand dollars for a mutt, why fault the seller for the buyers bad judgement???

 

[Solsken Farm]

Quote:
I wouldnt think the seller is to blame here, if the market will support selling eggs for $100 a piece, and there are people standing in line to pay that the seller would be foolish not to sell at that price, Mind you I would not stand in that line, but it the buyers that are running up the price. when the buyers are no longer there, the seller will lower thier price till they reach a price that is what others are willing to pay, or they will have a bunch of $100 eggs for lunch.

Look at the prices people are willing to pay for crossbreed pugXpoodles pugdoodles/labradodles etc.... all mutts, but if someone is willing to pay a thousand dollars for a mutt, why fault the seller for the buyers bad judgement???

I do agree with this. However there are numerous sellers on Ebay Selling very poor Marans eggs. Unfortunately many people don't know better and are getting taken advantage of. Not all sellers are doing this of course and it is always buyer beware.

 

[lowcountrypoultry]

Yeah.. I am sure I am not going to get into this breed.

Seems like alot of work.. I'll stick to my BOs and RIRs.

 

[the simple life]

One thing to remember here though is these sellers are not really charging a set price, its an auction.
The price is determined by the people bidding and how much they want to pay really determines the price.
I would not say the seller is ripping anyone off since they are offering an item at an indeterminate amount and it goes from there
However, if you buy an item and it looks nothing like the picture or of that which was promised then they are obviously not being honest.
I would have to second what Jennifer is saying about some of the sellers on e-bay, not all of them are selling what they claim to be.
There was just a case here where someone on e-bay lifted a picture from someone here and was using the picture of this person's chicken like it was his own to sell his eggs.
That is the kind of seller you have to be careful of, but how would you actually know that.
I always worry that the pictures of the eggs are not representative of what you will really get.
My only real problem with paying this kind of money for eggs is that you have no way of knowing how many if any will hatch.
I have found eggs to be very risky and I would always go with chicks if possible, when you are talking that kind of money.
Also, if they do hatch you don't know what they will end up looking like when they are grown, if you are not looking to show or breed them then you have less to worry about.
Plus, you never know how dark of an egg a hen will lay until she is actually laying.
So if you know what you are really looking to get out of this then it can help you decide where you want to buy from and how much its worth it to you.

 

[pasofinofarm]

Quote:
AGREE!
This has happened to me and I felt really weird about it. I put up an auction and the bids just went through the roof. I felt like a crook but the winner happily paid, got a great hatch and later ordered more eggs from me... So again, it's your money, spend it how you see fit! I don't ask opinions on how I spend mine, if I want something and I can afford it I may buy it. Hatching eggs are ALWAYS risky, high demand items are usualy expensive, putting the two together increases the risk out of my personal comfort zone but maybe not everybodys!

I still say keep it fun... don't have regrets and it will all work out.

 

[Marlinchaser]

6 beautiful dark eggs arrived in perfect condition. super packing! archaeoangels ( 1020) Oct-21-08 14:55
Black Copper Marans Hatching Eggs 6 (Wade Jeane line) (#260300111683) US $84.58 View Item
Very well-packaged and shipped in a timely way. Absolutely no complaints. timnichols1956 ( 410) Oct-20-08 07:04
Black Copper Marans Hatching Eggs 6 (Wade Jeane line) (#260300848005) US $118.49 View Item
Beautiful eggs, described perfectly, very dark and perefect shaped eggs!!!! newvillageproperties ( 69) Oct-16-08 21:14
Black Copper Marans Hatching Eggs 6 (Wade Jeane line) (#260300110956) US $112.74 View Item

This from his Ebay feedback and there are more of $100 plus for 6 eggs, so I would say if you feel comfortable risking that type of money its the going price for his eggs. So I guess the price must be right.​

 

[tfpets]

Quote:
Well whats your regular offer????, Not 200, not 100 but just 3 easy payments of 29.99 and if we call right now you'll drop one payment?????????????????? Inquireing minds want to know.

Oh, sorry, I was distracted....Free

Tina