Common question: why do hatching eggs cost more than ones for eating? We test fertility weekly and sometimes even daily, which involves opening and destroying multiple eggs to check for rings. We also take the time to turn them daily to prevent the embryos from sticking to the sides, and always provide the freshest ones available for hatching. For table eggs, we do the opposite - we sell them from oldest to newest and don't pay attention to fertility or which breed laid which egg.

We ship hatching eggs Monday-Tuesday after payment is received. If we see that the weather is too hot/cold or if we notice issues with hens or their fertility, we might delay shipment in order to help you get the best possible hatch rate.

Please note that we cannot guarantee hatchability - shipped eggs have a 0%-100% hatch rate, based on how they're handled in transit. Even eggs driven a few minutes in our/your car might end up being jostled too much. If transported eggs don't hatch, it does NOT mean they're not fertile or are old - it just means that they were overly stressed during travel. Transporting eggs is a gamble, which is part of why they're so much cheaper than live birds.

Depending on packaging availability and size/amount of eggs, we either use foam shippers or individually wrap each egg in bubble wrap surrounded by wood shavings. If you have a preference of shipping method, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate.

Shipping charges are dependent on USPS prices and the cost of supplies. Right now, it looks like it will be around $25-35 for packaging & a Priority box, which comfortably fits 1-2 dozen chicken eggs. Priority Express would be about $75-100. We do not bother with fragile stickers or other labels because USPS just ignores them or purposely treats them worse.

Due to the amount of cancellations after people have asked us to hatch or hold birds for them, a non-refundable deposit is required to reserve or hold any bird. Deposits are non-refundable for any reason UNLESS enough of your chosen breed(s) have failed to hatch, or your chosen bird(s) have passed away here in our care, or we notice something wrong with the bird(s). If that is the case, we will offer to either refund the missing count, substitute with a different bird of the same value, or hold your deposit for the next hatch. Each hatch takes 21-35 days, depending on species.

Since even autosexing breeds can be guessed wrong 10-20% of the time and we definitely aren't brave enough to vent sex because it kills about 10% of babies even when performed by trained experts, we cannot guarantee gender accuracy and are unable to take back the animal if we're wrong. Some (we’re looking at you, Ameraucanas) might take a few months to confirm, and one (Tufted Romans) we still can't figure out without DNA sexing or watching an egg actually leave their body. 

If you end up with an unwanted male and don't want to process him yourselves, we recommend contacting any Amish, Hispanic, or Asian communities that might be near you, or even possibly large reptile or raptor owners or rescues. There are a lot of rooster rescues out there who will let them live out their days, as well.

Buyer is responsible for arranging transportation of live animals. A $1 per day boarding fee will apply if a purchased animal is not picked up at the arranged-upon time. We will not ship live animals after three bad bad bad experiences, but are willing to meet within a half hour of Mishicot, Wisconsin, for free. We'd be happy to make further deliveries with a delivery charge of $1 per mile for the round trip. That is about the price of gas for our truck. We've also worked with a few livestock transporters. They are not cheap, but we'd be happy to provide their contact info.

We personally do not vaccinate our birds, but we do offer the optional Marek's vaccine to buyers of chicks. We do not administer it by default and our parent stock are not vaccinated. It costs an additional $75 per hatch (the vial is around $35, shipping to us is around $35, and injection supplies are around $5). If we receive multiple orders for vaccinated chicks, we try to group those hatches together and spread the cost between buyers, meaning that we would be able to partially refund the vaccine cost.

Our sponsors and advisors with decades of experience VERY strongly encourage the Marek's vaccine because the disease is absolutely devastating and basically unavoidable, especially if birds regularly travel to shows or if owners attend sale barns or swap meets.

There are a couple downsides to the Marek's vaccine which have caused us to decline using it in our flocks. One is that the specific vaccine we have access to has been around since the 70s and is only about 60% effective against some strains of the disease. The second issue is the way ALL current Marek's vaccines work - they are all "leaky," which means that they do not prevent a chicken from being infected with the disease; they only keep tumor formation and other symptoms from popping up. So if Marek's does invade a person's vaccinated flock, they might never know about it and become super spreaders, because the vaccine only prevents symptoms, not the actual disease itself. That's the main reason we don't use it - we want to make sure our birds don't have any hidden illnesses that could be passed on to our customers.

We do have access to a few other vaccines and are willing to administer them upon request. Buyer would need to pay the full nonrefundable balance up front.

Due to the nature of our offerings, we cannot guarantee health or viability of any animals once they leave our property, and all sales are final. We are part of the National Poultry Improvement Plan and annually test for Pullorum-Typhoid and Avian Influenza. In order to maintain our NPIP status and for the biosecurity of our flocks, we do not allow visits to our poultry areas or allow purchasers to select birds from our brooders, but we will gladly take photos/videos upon request. We maintain mostly closed flocks, with the exception of occasional new birds brought in from other NPIP farms to minimize inbreeding. These are strictly quarantined for 1-2 months after purchase.

We do not have access to an avian vet who can draw blood for us, so we do not regularly test for other diseases unless a bird has died of unexplained causes. If we suspect an illness, we send samples to the University of Wisconsin's accredited lab for testing. We last submitted a bird October 2022. She came back clear of AI and the necropsy showed egg yolk peritonitis from e-coli and a small amount of coccidia. In March 2022, another bird was submitted and cleared of AI and Mycoplasma. She had bronchitis due to staph. We would be happy to provide copies of the reports.

All of our animals are from the very best lines we could find, with many exhibition winners in their gene pool. This does NOT guarantee that our animals or any of their offspring will be show quality or win awards. About 1 in 100 birds that hatch for even elite Master Breeders would be considered exhibition quality. That's just how the lottery of genetics works. In order to be fully transparent, we have listed flaws that we've noticed and are working towards correcting in the pages for each breed.

We cannot guarantee that your birds will lay a certain color. There is a spectrum of approved colors for each breed, and each bird lays a slightly different egg. Color, shape, and size vary through each season and even from day to day.