Complaints about hatching eggs

[John]

I\'ve received two complaints in the last week or so from people that bought hatching eggs from different club members listed on the ABC Breeders Directory.  
If you are a member please remember that the ABC Breeders Directory \"should be a reliable source of quality Ameraucana stock only\".  
If you plan to buy from any member listed on the Breeders Directory please understand the ABC doesn\'t recommend any breeders.  Buyer beware and don\'t be afraid to ask for references.  Michael has updated the access page to the Breeders Directory to make it more clear that the club only lists the members in the Breeders Directory as a service to the members without endorsing.
Buying hatching eggs, especially, is always a gamble and often leads to bad feelings and reputations.  I have seen so called Ameraucana hatching eggs for sale on ebay and know from the writeup and photos they weren\'t what the seller claimed.  Hopefully all our members are above that.  

[Jean]

This is why I suggested we put the year the person joined the club.  I see many new names on the list................

[cedarpondfarm]

I would encourage anyone who is ordering chicks or eggs to ask the breeder for references and pictures of their breeder birds and facilities.  

BUT. . . .

It\'s still a risk.  When that package of chicks or eggs leaves the breeder\'s hands, they give up control of the outcome.  You will be depending on the US Postal Service to be careful and do the right thing.  

I suspect the cheeping from the chick box reminds postal workers to be more careful but not so with eggs.    

[Tailfeathers]

All good comments here and I echo them.  I would add however that I think there needs to be some sort of \"policing\" by the ABC as a member who brings discredit upon themself also brings discredit upon the ABC in the case of unscrupulous practices.

Now that is not to say that every complaint is valid or even one where the ABC should be concerned with.  For example, busted or scrambled eggs could be - but not necessarily - the product of poor packaging.  The ABC, IMO does not need to be involving itself with such matters.

However, if it is brought to someone\'s attention and it can be verified that a listed breeder on the ABC is selling olive green, brown, or some such obvious disqualifying color of egg, then I think the ABC should be concerned.  The same would hold true if a chick turns out to be an obvious EE and not even close to one of the approved varieties.

That\'s just my two-cents worth.  I personally think that one should be able to come to the actual Club for valid and honest information.  When I come across anyone looking for true Ameraucanas, I ALWAYS point them to the Club and nowhere else.  And if there is a breeder listed that is not selling actual Ameraucanas then I personal think they are discrediting the Club and most Clubs I\'ve belonged to have requirements that a member not discredit the said club in order to remain a member in good standing.

I hope that makes sense and I haven\'t caused any hard feelings with the above.

God Bless,

[cedarpondfarm]

I agree with you that it might reflect on our club but I don\'t see what we can do about it.  It seems to me, from reading the forum and the old posts, that even the most experienced breeders don\'t have %100 robin\'s blue eggs.  And because other breeds were used to develop our current varieties, there is always a slight chance for a throwback trait or color.    

How would we be able to prove or disprove any complaints?  It would be one person\'s word against another\'s.

Perhaps the best thing is to have a club disclaimer and a list of suggestions for getting the most for your money.

[John]

not discredit the said club in order to remain a member

With only one complaint about a member\'s product I feel a complaint by the customer is enough.  They then have an opportunity to resolve the matter and if the member is at fault hopefully he/she will learn from the experience.  If the club receives multiple complaints then action by the club would be appropriate IMHO.
 

[Tailfeathers]

I agree John.  I came looking to see what comments might have been made since my post because I just read on another site a comment made by a lady who is quite unhappy.  

And here\'s the main point about her unhappiness.  It is NOT that she got \"green eggs\" but rather that \"this particular breeder is very vocal about how blue their egg color is\" and she was assured she would get blue eggs.  Moreover, she say that she is well aware of how eggs may change color due to being washed, sitting in the fridge or just out for some time.  And she goes on to say, \"This is very different from a breeder such as yourself, who went out of your way to inform me that you may include some white eggs in my order and then you explained the reason why.  That\'s great. That\'s honest and I\'m thrilled to be receiving eggs from your beautiful chickens.\"

Now the eggs she references ain\'t exactly white but at time they look pretty close to it.  The point I\'m trying to make is that this lady would not have been upset if she had just been aware of what she was getting and not been misled to believe she was getting something that she didn\'t.

On those lines, I think John is correct.  Cedar has a point too but if multiple complaints are made along the same lines, then I then a reasonable person would have to question what\'s up.

God Bless,

[verycherry]

John, were those complaints about egg color or something else?

[John]

The complaints were about egg color and also packaging.  
I know that some members have thier own special ways to package hatching eggs and I do too.  Without going into much detail I suggest double boxing...wrap the box of eggs with bubble wrap and put it into another box.  I\'ve had great success using this added measure.
Egg color is a controversial subject.  I think the proper/natural color is a light pastel blue, but also don\'t claim all Ameraucanas lay \"blue\" eggs let alone the proper shade.  20 some years ago we had a district director that thought it was terrible that all Ameraucana eggs weren\'t blue.  Today there are people out there with expectations that aren\'t reasonable.  Those with a background in breeding are generally much more understanding than those that are just exhibitors.  All of my breeders have the blue egg gene.  The problem is some also carry modifying genes that make the eggs look greenish.  Adding genes is much easier than breeding them out.  

[Guest]

What about if you purchase eggs claiming to be lavender and get 3 chicks that end up not being what you paid for?  A year later you find out??  I\'m livid.. and heartbroke at the same time.

[Jean]

What about if you purchase eggs claiming to be lavender and get 3 chicks that end up not being what you paid for?  A year later you find out??  I\'m livid.. and heartbroke at the same time.

Are you sure you didn\'t buy lavender splits?  There were only a handful of breeders last year with true lavenders..............

[Mike Gilbert]

What about if you purchase eggs claiming to be lavender and get 3 chicks that end up not being what you paid for?  A year later you find out??  I\'m livid.. and heartbroke at the same time.

I don\'t raise any lavenders and I don\'t ship eggs or chicks.
But I am curious.   Why did it take you a full year to figure out you didn\'t hatch lavenders???   The color is very apparent as soon as they are hatched.    Do you know what a lavender split is?     If that is what you got, mating those blacks together might very well yield about 25 percent lavenders (which will then breed true every time), 50 percent splits (black in color) and 25 percent pure blacks.

[eliz]

As a new person i have now learned to go to breeders i have learned by word of mouth to be ok, that doesn\'t mean the ones with the slickest website either.
i have had my share of bummer eggs, and thanks to folks like Jean i am realizing how much i really don\'t know and trying to learn more.

 BTW Jean, the 3 hens who came in what i thought to remember were very blue eggs are laying at least the bluest of what i have, but bring them into the kitchen light and they are also greenish tinged. Waiting for my color cards to compare.
eliz
   

[Beth C]

Mike: I was wondering the same thing, then I saw something on another board yesterday that makes me suspect this person may have gotten very light blue chicks. There seem to be some people confused about the difference between lavender & blue, and there was even mention of lavender/blue splits instead of lavender/black, which could get really confusing.

[John]

If you don\'t already do it, I suggest not sending hatching eggs to the customers home.  Send them to his/her local post office for them to pickup, as I do with chicks and eggs.  This may save the eggs from hours on the road being bouced around in the carrier\'s car.