# eggs from ebay



## rosanna123 (Sep 1, 2010)

hi, what do you think of buying eggs off ebay.
i am think of having a word with a farmer that i know to see if i can rent the small field he is not using for pheasants and chickens. i was thinking of buying an incubator and buying eggs off ebay to hatch. what do you think, is it a good idea or not


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

In my opinion, not a good idea. If they didn't hatch you'd not get your money back as obviously it would be your word against the seller's. If they were deformed upon hatching, same situation.

Also, transporting them? How would they get to you without being damaged etc? 

If they did all hatch into perfectly formed pheasants and chickens - what are your plans for them?


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## rosanna123 (Sep 1, 2010)

i havent really thought about it that much yet but i would be buying local so that i can pick up in person. if they did hatch fine i would keep some and sell on the rest


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

Two of my Brahmas are from eggs bought on eBay, breakages in the post are rarely a problem with proper packaging, and most sellers will replace any that do get broken anyway. Hatch rates can of course be variable, some sellers on eBay are better than others, read their feedback carefully.

The biggest problem though, and it's one that didn't really occur to me until it was too late, is the ratio of male to female chicks, you can end up with a lot of unwanted males! By the time they're old enough to sex you may have become too attached to them to want to cull them, and unless they're something a bit special it can be almost impossible to rehome them.


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## rosanna123 (Sep 1, 2010)

yeah, i want to go for unusal looking things like golden/silver/elliot pheasants, mandarin duck, blue beared silkie bantams ect


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

rosanna123 said:


> yeah, i want to go for unusal looking things like golden/silver/elliot pheasants, mandarin duck, blue beared silkie bantams ect


In which case, find breeders directly. Eggs of said breeds/Types with exception of the silkies. the eggs go for stupid amounts of money. SEEN MANDARIN DUCK EGGS GO FOR £60 TO £90 FOR 6! So find breeders and see if you can get eggs directly.


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## Simons (Jul 10, 2010)

Pimperella said:


> In which case, find breeders directly. Eggs of said breeds/Types with exception of the silkies. the eggs go for stupid amounts of money. SEEN MANDARIN DUCK EGGS GO FOR £60 TO £90 FOR 6! So find breeders and see if you can get eggs directly.


Yeah agreed it'd be so much easier just to find a breeder/seller locally because of the problem with unwanted males and culling ect. Good luck and be sure to post piccies :mf_dribble:


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## vonnie (Aug 20, 2007)

My 3 brahmas were ebay eggs too. I was lucky and got 3 girls though!

Before you get ahead of yourself you need to think security. From the two legged and four legged predator! Decent housing and fencing is not cheap. Plus spending money on what is basically someone else's land might not be a good idea unless you have a guarantee of a long rental term. 

Also is there a water supply there? Transporting drinking water down there would be a pain. Ducks should have a pond of some sort provided too. And feed is heavy and you don't have a car.

Then there's what do you do with all the unwanted males.

Would you be keeping for the love of it, or to breed/sell/show? I don't see a problem with ebay eggs if you're just after pets but for more than that I'd be looking for a good breeder.


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## rosanna123 (Sep 1, 2010)

the farmer i have known for years, my mum keeps her horses there and has done for the last 7 yrs. there is water on the property and i can store food last than 50 yards from where they will be housed and we do have a car now so that makes it all easier. i would be doing this for the love of it. i will sell on any unwanted birds and dispose of any unwanted eggs within a few days of being laid.


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## brian (Oct 22, 2005)

vonnie said:


> My 3 brahmas were ebay eggs too. I was lucky and got 3 girls though!
> Then there's what do you do with all the unwanted males.


I think they is a way of telling the sex of a chick that has just hatched it has something to do with the lengh of the feather on the wing...But i could be wrong......


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## smithylee (Dec 7, 2010)

isnt it against ebays policy to sell stuff like that on ebay


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## rosanna123 (Sep 1, 2010)

i dont think so, you can buy insects and snails on ebay as they class them as live food


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

brian said:


> I think they is a way of telling the sex of a chick that has just hatched it has something to do with the lengh of the feather on the wing...But i could be wrong......


It dosen't work. Feather sexing is about as usefull as swinging a magnet over them lol



smithylee said:


> isnt it against ebays policy to sell stuff like that on ebay


You don't know much do you. Ebay has a whole section for Hatching Eggs.


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## brian (Oct 22, 2005)

Pimperella said:


> It dosen't work. Feather sexing is about as usefull as swinging a magnet over them lol
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

it does work on those strains of hybrid broiler bird

on pure breds its not much use.

the speed of the tail feathers coming through can be a good indication, but it isnt foolproof.


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## volly (Mar 6, 2009)

A friend of mine used to breed high end morph bearded dragons and sell them on here...................

until he realised that he would make far more money buying eggs from ebay, hatching them out and selling the chicks.

He now does this as a full time "living" and is absolutely quids in.

He only ever buys eggs from ebay to hatch out - success rate is about 80% but he's certainly better off doing that than he ever was selling the beardies on here.


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