Today i received yet another telephone call from somebody saying that she had bought some Araucana eggs from a Cattle Market which when hatched turned out to be far from Araucana's. This is getting more and more common and is so infuriating to the serious breeders who are attempting to keep the breed pure, and all the time we are being hindered by mindless people who will sell anything that has a blue tinge to it at premium prices thinking that people won't notice.
Sometimes the hatching chicks will look like Araucanas, and they will grow into handsome birds but then they lay their first egg and surprise, its brown!!!!
I know of breeders who run their birds together throughout the year, this will inevitably cause cross breeding but they still sell their eggs as pure breed Araucanas, WHY???
So how do we source the stock that we are paying hard earned money for?
Well this is what I do,
First of all I never buy any of my eggs from cattle or bird markets, I like to be able to see the stock birds when i buy my eggs, and at these auctions you never know how old the eggs are.
The same with web sites such as E Bay, a great site for buying feeders and drinkers but for hatching eggs, be very careful, I have bought eggs from E Bay and had some good success with them, but what i do is I get in touch with the seller before hand and ask if they have a website, If they are serious breeders then they will have a site where you can see what stock they have, find out how many hens they have running with a Cock, if they are selling 12 eggs and only have 2 hens, then the first two eggs are going to be at least 6 days old and by the time you have made your bid and they have been posted off to you it will be another 4 days plus 1 day settling the egg, so eggs that are at least 11 days old ! your hatch rate has just gone down about 75%, 3 chicks from 12 eggs isn't good.
I now buy all of my eggs from reputable breeders who i know keep their stock breed separate, and colour separate, not from people who have the birds running around with lavenders whites blacks and colours that the rainbow would be proud of!
I travel to buy them and if i don't like what i see then i leave without any at all, When i am buying Lavenders then that's what i want to come out of the egg, granted sometimes you will get a white or a darker bird hatch but not very often.
Find out what the breeder is feeding their birds, a good breeder will never buy cheap second rate feed, and they will give their birds the best possible, breeder pellets provide the birds with all of the extras such as proteins and vitamins, which will give the developing chick a good kick start even before it pops out if its shell.
Make sure that the birds arn't related, in breeding is another huge problem, and find out when the breeder replaces breeding stock, old birds don't always produce good chicks.
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How about if you are buying in chicks?
Really the same rules apply, check their stock, good healthy unrelated breeding birds will produce good strong chicks,
as will chicks who are being fed on good quality crumb, ask if the feed is medicated, and a good breeder will always give you a small amount of crumb so that you can mix a bit of the new in with it.
Have a look at their broody house's/cage's, are they clean? I clean mine 4 times a day as chicks are so so messy.
If the breeder has chicks that they don't have breeding stock for then find out where they sourced their eggs, they will always tell you,
and if you are wanting hens and not cocks then ask if they are sexed, if they are not ask if you can bring cocks back. They may not give you a refund and they may not swap one for a hen but they should at least give you a little off the price of a hen in return.
I will always take a cock bird back and if a replacement hen is wanted then i will take the price of a cock off of the price of a hen, if somebody buys a sexed bird from me and it turns out to be a cock bird then i will always do a straight swap, as long as it is the bird i sold in the first place, and i always know he-he. and if it is in good health.
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As a general rule, whether its eggs, chicks, or hens that you are buying, always have a good look around before putting your hand in your pocket, look at the pens, are they clean and fresh, look at the housing, is it water proof and in good keeping, look at the droppings on the floor, are they 'normal' you can tell a lot from poo. handle the birds that you are buying, look for mites and lice, there will probably be a few but never infested. look for signs of vermin, you will always get a rat or a mouse when you have poultry because they are such messy feeders, but look out for infestations, there should never be rat holes inside pens or runs, droppings should always be removed and if there are any dead rats about then leave, i've even known some people ask customers to enter a pen to remove dead rats!!! vermin spread disease, and if there is an infestation in the pens and runs then it shows bad house keeping, every breeder should do everything possible to remove vermin and control them.
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Right i've preached on enough now and you are probably falling asleep, its just that i have a real passion for our birds and our family really enjoy keeping and breeding the many breeds that we do, it isn't all about profit it should be about keeping our breeds pure, healthy and happy.
so whether your hatching, growing or enjoying a boiled egg for breakfast, be-careful where you buy your stock from, you wouldn't buy a puppy from a puppy farm! lets weed out the 'cowboy' breeders that way we will get what is written on the package so to speak
Happy Hatching
Source Your Stock Carefully