Egg swap

[zazen999]

I still feel awful about the first seed swap when the person I passed it to didn't pass it on. I feel somehow responsible.

With you there!!! All those seeds that Two-sheds - me and you put together - gone in a puff!!!

It's not your fault - it's more much mine for asking you to send it to her.

[Hilary B]

How about a group on Facebook with membership restricted to invited people? (I know you can do that sort) and invitations only sent to Grapes who regularly post here? Then
1) the group will tend to stay small enough to manage
2) anyone who doesn't stick to the rules can be slung out
3) Only the initial set-up is anything to do with the Grapevine, so the Mods don't need to bother about it.

[zazen999]

What do you mean 'only the initial set-up'? Anyone is free to set up whatever group they want on facebook....why would it have anything to do with the Vine?

[walldanzig]

I think Hilary means posting a link on here?

[its hilly]

Think HB has an idea that might work?
I love the idea in theory as I would far rather buy/swap eggs off people I know?? than on ebay.
Thing with ebay though is that ebay have all the records of sales, so if things go wrong they can act as independant (albeit sometimes crazy) judges. If you can prove your 'whatever' eggs hatched as 'thingys' and the seller doesnt want to know they'll get your money back. Although not always with postage And you can always add follow up to your feedback to say that although eggs arrived ok your RIR turned out to be Turkeys
Wall..maybe you could start a FB page to discuss this on futher to see how many really are interested and sort out questions and problems before giving it a trial run? After all it wouldnt be as complicated as the seed swap as it would be one on one not a round robin pass it on. And just leave a 'if anyone wants to look' post on here (subject to admins ok) After all how many with eggs will want to swop? and how many would join? Might only be a couple.

[zazen999]

Think HB has an idea that might work?
I love the idea in theory as I would far rather buy/swap eggs off people I know?? than on ebay.
Thing with ebay though is that ebay have all the records of sales, so if things go wrong they can act as independant (albeit sometimes crazy) judges. If you can prove your 'whatever' eggs hatched as 'thingys' and the seller doesnt want to know they'll get your money back. Although not always with postage And you can always add follow up to your feedback to say that although eggs arrived ok your RIR turned out to be Turkeys
Wall..maybe you could start a FB page to discuss this on futher to see how many really are interested and sort out questions and problems before giving it a trial run? After all it wouldnt be as complicated as the seed swap as it would be one on one not a round robin pass it on. And just leave a 'if anyone wants to look' post on here (subject to admins ok) After all how many with eggs will want to swop? and how many would join? Might only be a couple.

*the seed swap is an issue on the one-on-one much more than the pass the parcel but anyways.....

As mentioned - if people want to start a facebook page, then that's great.

Nobody has yet, I take it?

[its hilly]

Think we're all waiting for someone else to do it.. go on Wall..you know you want to!!!
I'll help if you want, but as I've just about worked out how to put stuff on my page and bite or kill people (vampire by inclination mafioso by design and car crash expert..dont ask ) I dont think Id be much help anyway lol

[walldanzig]

I'll look into it tonight(has a feeling of dread) If it does work it would be good to email pics of the hatched chicks as the correct breed just to give a bit of substance to the genuine nature of the seller. Just read that back can't believe I used substance and genuine in a sentence.(done it again)
The pictures would be posted as an album with the sellers name so everyone could see and bad sellers would be removed.

[CoraxAurata]

Its just a thought but what about a reveiw of e-bay sellers as experienced by grapes? So we start a thread a bit like the how many chooks thread, each time a grape purchases eggs from ebay he or she enters a diary entry review, Ebays feedback system is ok as far as it goes, but if like me you give feedback on safe arrival of the eggs, surprises 3 weeks later (Black Silkie in box of Wyandottes anyone....) are too late...

It also allows greater detail than the feedback system e.g. if getting maran eggs how good is the colour.

Also we all know that the fertility through the postage system can be dreadful and out of the hands of the seller but a note of the hatch rate for certain breeds, detailed packaging types, postage types etc might help us improve our chances.....

[Polly Fouracre]

What about us poor dummies who can't even use their camera let alone post pictures! I suppose we will be on a very steep learning curve!!

[CoraxAurata]

I think Walldanzig and was it RedThorn? have both shown talent at schooling in the art of pic posting.......

[its hilly]

Corax

Ebays feedback system is ok as far as it goes, but if like me you give feedback on safe arrival of the eggs, surprises 3 weeks later (Black Silkie in box of Wyandottes anyone....) are too late...

If you click on your user name, click see all feed back, click feedback as buyer, then scroll to the bottom of the page you will find a link to 'follow up on feedback left' you can leave an extra comment. But you should try to contact the seller and get their response first.

Only thing is, frinstance if I post pics saying my ebay RIR are great would it end up with us all buying from the same sellers? Great for them but death to variety of bloodlines on the vine.

[CoraxAurata]

Ah i wondered but thought you could only respond to negative feedback, never saw the follow up thingy at the bottom! Thanks

I would think with only 500 registered breeding birds in the uk that my Dorkings (from ebay) and Snadgers Dorkings (were they from Ebay?) and who ever else it was has Dorkings are already related anyway! (for example) and if we were talking about swaping eggs wouldn't that take us down the same road even faster? Within reason inbreeeding isn't considered as bad in poultry as in other areas.... Besides I would personally rather buy Jersey Giant eggs from Mr Smith who sold (just for example) AuntyMo 6 eggs which hatched 4 lively Jersey Giants than from Jo Bloggs who I haven't heard of before but is protecting his ebay feedback for his other stuff by changing seller name to sell eggs "cos people leave feedback based on fertility" and get one RIRxSussex out of my 6 J.G. eggs.....

Also not great for them if they often send the wrong eggs, ignore messages asking for certain precautions in packing etc etc.....

But even without naming sellers, the collection of the other info packaging type, day posted, distance posted, breed, etc etc to hatching rates would be interesting if not necessarily helpful.....

Maybe thats just beause I have an obsession with asking for tissue in polyboxes because I'm sure the residue off the boxes or the vibrations or some combo kills the embyos......

[RedThorn]

Polly PM me and I'll help you through posting pics if you still need help

[its hilly]

But even without naming sellers, the collection of the other info packaging type, day posted, distance posted, breed, etc etc to hatching rates would be interesting if not necessarily helpful.....

True, and I agree, if I could choose between the seller who consistantly gets low fertility reported and the one who gets 4/6 regularly...well go guess..

Must say though, all my eggs have arrived in polyboxes wrapped in tissue. My bug is that out of the sellers whose eggs have hatched, the best hatch rate (50%) is from the special delivery eggs (cos they are hand handled or so I was told,instead of thrown on the conveyor system which dont half bang hem around) but not many sellers offer it, probably because of the cost, but if they offer ordinary post as well then why dont they? At least then the buyer gets the choice.
PS I still got 50% hatch off the eggs that came from Ireland! So distance doesnt seem the main factor