It has been brought to my attention some of the more common questions of buying ducks, ducklings, or eggs. One that doesn't come up often, but needs to be address is "Do you offer refunds or a warranty?"
The answer is NO!
Not because I don't want to, but because it makes zero sense for me to. If you buy ducks, whether from me or your local feedstore, and you don't have adequate fencing and they get eaten by a predator, how it is MY responsibility to refund you for your loss? It isn't! I apologize if this seems a bit harsh, but if you want to keep ducks for pets, eggs, meat, whatever, then you as the owner need to do your research and provide adequate housing and security for them. Bad things happen, I understand that. But if every person who has bought ducks and ducklings from me over the years got free replacement birds for the ones that got eaten by foxes, snatched my hawks, and mauled by coyotes, then I wouldn't have any of my own breeding flock left!
Also, when I sell live birds, little or big, I only sell healthy birds. Sometimes I have one that hatched hard or has a genetic mutation, but those are listed as such so it's NO SURPRISE to the buyer. I NEVER SELL SICK ONES, EVER.
So if you buy some from me, then call me weeks later and tell me that some have died and you want a refund, maybe you should be more concerned about the wellbeing of the remaining birds. 1. Ducks are extremely hardy and disease resistant. I lose MAYBE 1 a year to sickness or an unknown cause. 2. If you had some die, bought some from me as a replacement, and then those start dying, maybe you should look at how they are living and what they are being fed. Clearly there is something wrong with the way they are being raised, not with their genetics!
Everyone wants something for nothing in this day and age. But come on people. I breed and raise ducks as a hobby and ensure that all are very well taken care of, only bred for specific traits so they do the job they are intended to do and live healthy and strong. Ducks are VERY easy to take care of. They don't normally just drop dead. Look at their surroundings (possible toxins, poisonous plants, moldy feed, other sick animals, etc). It is unethical to ask me to give you more or a refund based off of an inability to do research and check their surroundings, let along raise them in a healthy environment!
And when it comes to eggs, it is always a GAMBLE!
Personally, I check egg fertility weekly (unless otherwise stated as I sometimes have a full incubator so can't add more). So eggs that you buy from me, I can tell you the most current, up to date fertility rate. What some don't understand is the fact that shipping eggs is a giant risk. I sadly cannot control how the PO handles them once they leave my hands. I pack them EXTREMELY well, well enough that you should be able to literally throw the box on the ground and still have perfectly uncracked eggs when you open it. BUT, the way they are handled can greatly affect the growth and hatching of the eggs. If some don't develop, that doesn't mean they weren't fertile and that I lied. You can crack them open and see that they were fertilized. But shipping can be so tough that it prevents them from growing, resulting in what most would call an "infertile egg".
Every incubator and hatching method is different. It has taken me YEARS to figure out the nifty little "tips" that make hatching go so well for me. If I have 10 eggs and 9 hatch, yet you have 10 of the same eggs and only 3 hatch, you cannot blame it on me for sending you "bad eggs"! The humidity, temperature, room settings, shipping and handling of the eggs, etc all affects the way they hatch. You may even have every single egg grow and make it to hatching only to have 1 or 2 actually hatch all the way and survive. Again, it's your hatching methods and techniques as well as the incubator being used. Everyone needs to experiment and find what works best for them in their environment and with the equipment that they have.
I hope this isn't too harsh, but maybe it will save me from having to kindly explain it several times a week :)
The answer is NO!
Not because I don't want to, but because it makes zero sense for me to. If you buy ducks, whether from me or your local feedstore, and you don't have adequate fencing and they get eaten by a predator, how it is MY responsibility to refund you for your loss? It isn't! I apologize if this seems a bit harsh, but if you want to keep ducks for pets, eggs, meat, whatever, then you as the owner need to do your research and provide adequate housing and security for them. Bad things happen, I understand that. But if every person who has bought ducks and ducklings from me over the years got free replacement birds for the ones that got eaten by foxes, snatched my hawks, and mauled by coyotes, then I wouldn't have any of my own breeding flock left!
Also, when I sell live birds, little or big, I only sell healthy birds. Sometimes I have one that hatched hard or has a genetic mutation, but those are listed as such so it's NO SURPRISE to the buyer. I NEVER SELL SICK ONES, EVER.
So if you buy some from me, then call me weeks later and tell me that some have died and you want a refund, maybe you should be more concerned about the wellbeing of the remaining birds. 1. Ducks are extremely hardy and disease resistant. I lose MAYBE 1 a year to sickness or an unknown cause. 2. If you had some die, bought some from me as a replacement, and then those start dying, maybe you should look at how they are living and what they are being fed. Clearly there is something wrong with the way they are being raised, not with their genetics!
Everyone wants something for nothing in this day and age. But come on people. I breed and raise ducks as a hobby and ensure that all are very well taken care of, only bred for specific traits so they do the job they are intended to do and live healthy and strong. Ducks are VERY easy to take care of. They don't normally just drop dead. Look at their surroundings (possible toxins, poisonous plants, moldy feed, other sick animals, etc). It is unethical to ask me to give you more or a refund based off of an inability to do research and check their surroundings, let along raise them in a healthy environment!
And when it comes to eggs, it is always a GAMBLE!
Personally, I check egg fertility weekly (unless otherwise stated as I sometimes have a full incubator so can't add more). So eggs that you buy from me, I can tell you the most current, up to date fertility rate. What some don't understand is the fact that shipping eggs is a giant risk. I sadly cannot control how the PO handles them once they leave my hands. I pack them EXTREMELY well, well enough that you should be able to literally throw the box on the ground and still have perfectly uncracked eggs when you open it. BUT, the way they are handled can greatly affect the growth and hatching of the eggs. If some don't develop, that doesn't mean they weren't fertile and that I lied. You can crack them open and see that they were fertilized. But shipping can be so tough that it prevents them from growing, resulting in what most would call an "infertile egg".
Every incubator and hatching method is different. It has taken me YEARS to figure out the nifty little "tips" that make hatching go so well for me. If I have 10 eggs and 9 hatch, yet you have 10 of the same eggs and only 3 hatch, you cannot blame it on me for sending you "bad eggs"! The humidity, temperature, room settings, shipping and handling of the eggs, etc all affects the way they hatch. You may even have every single egg grow and make it to hatching only to have 1 or 2 actually hatch all the way and survive. Again, it's your hatching methods and techniques as well as the incubator being used. Everyone needs to experiment and find what works best for them in their environment and with the equipment that they have.
I hope this isn't too harsh, but maybe it will save me from having to kindly explain it several times a week :)