I went to browse...not sell. It was my first Gilmanor swap, and I must say, I was disgusted by a lot of what I saw. Don't get me wrong...I saw a lot of good stuff too, but the bad stuff...ugh, I will NEVER buy NOR sell at a swap like that...EVER.
Lemme give you guys some examples.
One guy was selling chicks (don't remember what kind) that looked to be about 1-2 weeks old. I watched as a chick took a drink, flipped its neck backwards touching the top of its head to its back, and walked backwards. Crazy Chick Disease. Told my mom that's what it was, loud enough for the seller to hear me, and he just didn't seem to care.
One vendor had ten FULL GROWN LF chickens crammed into a cage the size of a milk crate.
Someone was selling peacocks...had a male and a female in one wire cage. It was so tight in there that the poor male had snapped most of his beautiful tail feathers just by trying to move.
The guy who was selling "Manx" kittens....those babies were NO OLDER than 4 weeks. Seriously?
Did anyone see the poor donkey? Luckily it was bought by another Gilmanor seller who had a long conversation with my mom. She said the first thing she was gonna do was fatten the donkey up, and how sick it made her that it was so thin and uncared for.
Numerous vendors (and I stopped at EVERY SINGLE SELLER'S SPOT) that had no water for their animals (and yes, I know water gets spilled, and gets shavings scratched into it...but it is the responsibility of the owner to make sure to clean out shaving-filled feeders and give fresh water, and to make sure water is present at all times).
And, finally, how careless some vendors were in regards to letting anyone and EVERYONE handle their animals. Not only does the vendor run the risk of infecting their animals with something on the human's hands (who almost surely had already touched someone else's animals), but run the risk of spreading any illnesses from their own animals to someone else's. I think people tend to forget that, although your birds may be healthy and fit, they have only been exposed to pathogens/bacteria/virus' etc. etc. found on your piece of property. In other words, my birds will not have been exposed to the same things as say, someone who came from south of the James River. Common sense, people.
Although I did enjoy myself by visiting with some friends, and meeting new friends (mostly from PCOV), as stated before I will never buy nor sell at a big swap like that. I just can't risk it.
