Really frustrated!!! Email from breeder...

[pennie1]

Sounds like a "chick mill". The lady should be put out of business.

As angry as I would be (very tempted to send an email back

) the best thing that you can do is stay away. It's just not worth it. My bloodpressure is going up just thinking about it. Just spread the word and boycott her farm. Word of mouth can do wonders.

 

[Cluckin'Along]

Is Cocci a controlled disease as far as your Dept of Ag. is concerned? I think I would be concerned about her infecting the flocks of everyone else around!! Even if you don't pursue getting a replacement chick, at least tell her that her chicks are infected... If she shows no concern about that, or lectures you in some other way, consider reporting it.... I know there is an agency that is concerned with poultry disease spread, I just can't think of it right now..... I'll edit If I remember!! Good luck either way!!

 

[speakup4kids]

I'll have to check on the Dep of Ag requirements regarding cocci. I really only had the test done because, a) I had it done by a professor of mine so it was free and b) I was kind of thinking that the chick may have gone downhill fast due to cocci. I wasn't too surprised to see it come back as positive.

I read the comment about the rats and feed and had to laugh. When we got to the breeder's location she apologized for the smell commenting that they had just treated a large rat infestation. I realize this was another red flag but I had already driven over an hour, it was hot, my three girls were whining, and I really wanted a white silkie. I didn't pay close enough attention to what my daughter picked or it never would have made it home. Oh well, live and learn.

 

[eggcited2]

Something I am wondering about: she wanted to wait a week to make sure the other chicks were ok and not sick. I wonder if in that week's time, they did show up sick and even some or all died. When the time was up, maybe she did not want to admit to you that they had been sick. So she went on the defensive and instead of admitting it was sick chicks on her part, she attacked you and how you took care of the chick (saying your daughter handled it too much and all the rest of the stuff she laid on you).

Just popping in with a new line of thought.

 

[cracked_egg]

Ok, let me say as a riding instructor who deals with parents and their kids every day.... "Every crow thinks their baby is white as snow"...

You are now saying how terrible the place was, how much experience you have, yet you still bought chicks from her? Is it possible after over an hour in a car that your daughters were cranky and or so excited about the chicks that they may have shown their less than pleasant sides of their personality (I've yet to meet a child who doesn't have that less than perfect side...)

With your experience and noticing the problems when you got home (the 11 toes for example and this is a 4-h bird) why didn't you contact her then, before the chick died? I would have wanted a replacement/trade in even if it had lived.

I'm not saying she handled this correctly, but I'm not saying she didn't. I'm on the fence I guess. It takes a lot of guts to call someone out for their kids, usually if they do there is a reason... But there are some seriously crazy people in this world who would blame a child for nature taking its course....

Don't throw tomatoes, just an outsiders view...

 

[crossedwires]

Quote:
they may well be truth in what you say and i kind of mirrored the point in my first post. however as a proffesional breeder myself ultimately this woman was at fault and handled the situation very badly. from the description of the place its not a good representation of my industry. and lets face it once you have a long journey with kids you tend to be more than willing to drop your guard just to get done what you went for.

 

[ShrekDawg]

wow this lady sounds awful, i would just stay away from her and find a chick elsewhere. Also, I would make sure I tell people how terrible her hatchery is so that hopefully she will shut down and noone will ever have to deal with her or her sick chickens again, word of mouth is a powerful tool so use it and use it wisely. i know it can be tough though, good luck!

 

[33yardbirds]

Our 2 yr old handled all 33 of our day olds every day and they are all healthy and almost ready to start laying, even the roos are friendly and run around the yard with him. One even wades in his Kid pool with him( 3") deep.Even at 2 he understood they were to be handled gently. I would look for a new supply. Most reputible(sp) breeders have a replacement policy

 

[speakup4kids]

Trust me when I say that I am not one to let my kids off easy if something is their fault or if they had been acting in a way that was disrespectful or misbehaving in any way during our visit. My children may fight and squabble while at home

but they have been taught from birth that it is not ok, nor will it be tolerated for them to act up at all in public, and they don't. They were very polite when picking out chicks, said please and thank you and waited till invited before entering buildings. I am NOT a professional, and completely respect those that have taken on the responsibility of breeding and caring for chicks. My point was merely that I didn't feel that it was appropriate for a breeder who by her own admission had "fallen" into breeding quite by accident to treat me like I didn't have a clue what I was doing. It would have been a nice gesture to ask if I had any experience before lecturing me on all the things that I had supposedly done wrong. The one thing I have learned, especially by reading these boards, is that we all have slightly different ways that we raise our baby chicks and while offering suggestions is always welcome, trying to MAKE a person do things your way is not ok. I didn't mention the 11 toed chick after I got home because quite frankly, anyone who has children knows how quickly they become attached. I picked out 3 chicks myself so I told her that she could show one of mine.

The place was not terrible, cracked_egg, I was trying to relate that I had some concerns with a few things and probably shouldn't have ignored them. The other 4 chicks are doing well, are handled often and seem to be healthy now. The brooders were clean, if a little crowded and outside of the food issue, past rat infestation and the coops which really isn't my business anyway, there were no glaring problems. When I told her the chick died she said she has only lost 3 chicks this year and I am having a hard time believing that. It's part of hatching chicks to expect some death and with the numbers being hatched is 3 believable?

I can accept fault when I do something wrong or fail to care for a chick but this time it simply was not the case and it angers me that it was put off on my daughter.

Oh well, lesson learned... Time to look for a new chick elsewhere for my daughter...

 

[suzettex5]

Speakup4kids-

I am soooo glad you started this thread. I believe we have entertained the same breeder- its the only one advertising so much with all the silkies. They are VERY hard to find around here.

I know how it feels to want something alot and be willing to 'over look' a few red flags in our pursuit to obtain whatever it is we want. I'm guilty of it too. I for one will not be buying any chicks from that lady. I'm not saying I know first hand about her chicken keeping, but I think you have been honest and not exagerating the conditions. I have been waiting for her to email me back for over a week, so we have the 'unreturned emails' in common. This shared experience alone lends credit to your story for me.

Like you said, everyone keeps their flocks a bit differently, maybe some folks would look down on my set up, but some things are just not acceptable: over crowding, poor feed containment, lying, smelly coops/living areas. Nobody is perfect, but I think she has been very unfair to you, but I also feel you are right in staying away and looking elsewhere for chicks.

I really appreciate you sharing your experience, I was thinking I was the only one she was ignoring. Isnt it funny how her ad says- 'We will ask you if you have proper facilities for chickens, etc, And how they only want their chicks to go to quality homes?!?' The ad makes you almost feel like you are applying for one of the chicks, like you have to pass inspection to be good enough to buy one of their mass produced chicks. I would freak out if I had bought them from her and then read this post about her chicks having Cocci- I dont think my chicks have it and I havent had any loses from it I'm aware of.

I do think you should email her and tell her that you had a positive cocci test. I dont see her taking responsibility, but at least you will have done the right thing.

BTW, I have a decent hatchery stock white silkie that is about 3 1/2 months old for sale if you are interested- its another hour drive (or meet in the middle) but she's healthy and already outside.


Hope you have better luck from here on out- and thanks again for sharing!