Poultry, Waterfowl and Hatching Eggs Sales Policies
Health:
- Our poultry was sourced from NPIP certified PT & AI negative flocks.
- Our flock is NPIP PT Clean and we are awaiting our AI Test.
- Flock is awaiting registration with TAHC.
- We welcome buyers to conduct a health check on the animal at their own cost before the sale is final.
- We will not sell animals that we know to be sick and we will conduct a physical inspection of each animal before they arrive at their new home. If we need to cancel the sale due to sickness or death of the animal, we will let the buyer know.
Deposits and Refunds:
A minimum deposit of 50% of your purchase total is required for us to hold your birds or eggs. If you do not pay the deposit, you are still welcome to purchase them when you are able to come get them, however we will not hold them specifically for you, and other buyers may purchase them first.
All poultry, waterfowl and hatching egg sales are final. Please read below for more on our return policy and refunds for your specific situation.
Shipping
Shipping Basics, Cost, and Services:
$25 shipping fee per order, no matter how many eggs you get.
Shipping fee includes shipping, insurance, and shipping materials.
We use USPS Priority Mail. If desired, eggs can be shipped via Priority Mail Express, however, this service will cost extra.
Payment Due:
A nonrefundable deposit of $25 or 50% of the total cost (whichever is lower) at the time of ordering, the remaining payment due at the time of shipping.
Shipping Schedule:
We will do our best to make sure weather in our area and in the destination area is suitable for shipping eggs. We ship eggs weekly on Mondays in order to give the post office the most consecutive business days to deliver the package. We do not guarantee arrival dates on shipped eggs and we do not offer refunds unless the package is completely lost and never arrives.
We ship eggs via USPS Priority Mail in foam shippers.
Lost Packages:
Contact us so we can get started on locating the package and claiming the insurance so we can refund you. You must cooperate with the USPS or Sendle insurance investigation or you will not receive a refund.
Shipping Insurance/Claims: We will insure each package for up to $100 against loss only. USPS generally does not honor claims for broken or un-hatchable eggs so we cannot offer insurance for that purpose, but if you simply do not receive your package at all we will be happy to walk you through the claims process. Sendle is the shipping carrier that we use, and this is their coverage policy, so all of those policies will apply to purchases of hatching eggs from us.
Responsibility Waiver: Once the eggs leave our hands, we can no longer be responsible for any type of loss incurred during the shipping/delivery process, the incubation process, the hatching process, or the chick-rearing process.
Fertility
We hatch our own ducklings from the same breeder pens that the eggs you will receive come from. We are confident in the fertilization of the eggs that we ship. That being said, we do not guarantee fertility or development on shipped eggs.
Shipping eggs is very, very hard on the development process. Despite our best efforts of packaging well, several things can happen to the eggs during the shipping and incubation process that will affect the likelihood of ducklings hatching. Extreme temperatures, low air pressure in airplanes, rough handling, delays in transit and delivery, and x-ray machines can all affect the viability of eggs.
If you are buying shipped hatching eggs from us, you understand that there is no guarantee that any of the eggs will develop or hatch. We do not replace or refund eggs that do not develop or hatch. You, as a buyer, assume ALL risk of loss in this transaction, including but not limited to: shipping costs, egg costs, payment processing costs, etc.
If you want a guarantee of live birds, consider purchasing live birds from a hatchery.
By purchasing eggs from us, you acknowledge that it is not our fault as sellers that your eggs didn't develop or hatch and that there will be no refunds based on fertility or development.
Egg Breakage, Scrambled Air Cells, and Refunds
How We Ship:
We ship our eggs in foam that is made especially for shipping eggs. We will include extras if possible. That being said, it is always possible that eggs may break in the mail. In good faith, we have decided to offer refunds for broken eggs.
Refunds For Broken Eggs:
Your item total (not including shipping) divided by number of eggs purchased x number of eggs broken. For example, if you ordered 10 eggs for $50 + shipping cost, and you received 8 intact and 2 broken eggs, we will refund $50/10x2 = $10. No refunds will be given for shipping, unless a USPS claim is successful.
To be eligible for refunds, you must contact me within 2 hours of recieving your eggs (the time marked in the tracking information). Contact me via FB Messenger (Texas Honey Spot), via text only at 817-550-7888, or via e-mail at contact@texashoneyspot.com. You must be willing to provide pictures of the broken eggs and of the packaging.
If we send you extra eggs, then the extras will count to replace any broken during shipping. For example, if you ordered 12 eggs, we sent 14, and 2 arrived broken, there will be no refunds. If you ordered 12 eggs, we sent 14, and 4 arrived broken, we will refund you for 2 eggs. It is not guaranteed that we will provide extra eggs.
We do not refund for scrambled air cells. Frankly, all hatching eggs I have ever bought have arrived with scrambled air cells, and I have had excellent hatch rates with shipped eggs.
Recommended Incubation Techniques
Preparation:
Be prepared for your eggs by having your incubator running for 2 days prior to delivery with a thermometer, preferably a remote-monitored Bluetooth thermometer/hygrometer combo, in the incubator reading the correct temperature.
When you receive your eggs, gently unwrap them and let them sit outside of the incubator at a normal room temperature for at least 24 hours (we usually do 48 hours) pointy side down so they can settle. We do not recommend turning your eggs until they have incubated for at least 72 hours.
Temperature:
We generally incubate our eggs at 99-100 degrees and put them into lockdown on day 24. Our magpies usually take 26 days to hatch, but this length of time will depend on your incubating temperature and other factors. Please note that it can take 48 hours or more for a duck to hatch after pipping.
Misting & Cooling Period:
Lastly, we recommend a five minute cooling period followed by a misting with warm water daily until lockdown to mimic the natural incubation process and keep the humidity between 40%-50%. Consistency is the most important thing, as large jumps in humidity can harm the ducklings.
For Magpie Ducks: Anywhere from 5-30% of Magpie hatchlings (from any breeder) may hatch white. This is a recessive gene and no way we can predict this. Our flock usually hatches about 10% white, while we have received hatching eggs from other breeders that push the 30% marker. Refunds for white ducklings hatched are not available.
Pickup Location: Our farm in Wichita Falls, TX, unless we make other arrangements.
Payment Due:
A nonrefundable deposit of 50% of the total cost at the time of ordering, the remaining payment due at the time of pickup. If you do not wish to pay a deposit, you can still purchase from us on your own schedule, however, we will not hold them specifically for you and other buyers may purchase them in the meantime.
Length Of Holds:
With a deposit, we will hold birds for up to two calendar days or the agreed-upon time period. If you fail to pick up your birds, you will forfeit your deposit and we will move on to the next person in line.
Health:
We monitor all ducklings for a minimum of two days after hatch for the following conditions: wry neck, splay/spraddle leg, crop emptying problems, pasty butt, problems eating/drinking. We may choose to hold ducklings for longer than two days if we feel it is needed to treat any conditions that come up. We do not sell ducklings that we know to be sick. Adult birds are not sold if they show any signs of illness, and physical defects will be noted before the sale.
Return Policy:
All sales are final. Due to biosecurity issues, we cannot take back any animals after they leave our farm. Please ask any questions before picking up your birds (we will be happy to help!) and be sure that you are ready for them and you have the supplies to properly take care of them before leaving our farm with them. We do not give refunds for any animals due to sickness or death of a bird after it leaves our farm (we keep our birds healthy, follow biosecurity practices closely, and keep newborn ducklings for a minimum of two days in order to watch for defects or illness.
