Thank you for choosing Freshly Picked Chicks! I put a tremendous amount of time, care and love into my birds, my breeding programs and every egg that leaves my farm.
Hatching eggs are one of my favorite parts of what I do, and I genuinely LOVE seeing your hatch updates and all the beautiful babies that come from FPC eggs. ❤️🐣
But before ordering, there is one thing I want to make very clear:
I SELL FERTILIZED HATCHING EGGS — NOT HATCH RATES.
When you purchase hatching eggs from Freshly Picked Chicks, you are purchasing eggs from actively breeding pens that I regularly hatch from and monitor for fertility.
You are not purchasing a guaranteed number of chicks or a guaranteed hatch percentage.
There is simply no way for me to guarantee what will happen to an egg after it leaves my hands, especially once shipping and another incubator enter the equation.
By purchasing hatching eggs from Freshly Picked Chicks, you understand and accept the uncertainty that comes along with hatching eggs.
Fertility and Hatchability Are NOT the Same Thing
This is probably the most important thing to understand when purchasing hatching eggs.
A fertile egg does not automatically equal a chick.
An egg can be fertilized and still fail to develop normally or hatch successfully. Very early embryonic loss can also occur before visible development is easily detected, particularly with eggs that have been shipped.
I hatch from my own breeding pens throughout the season, which allows me to continually monitor fertility here at FPC.
Once eggs leave my farm, however, I cannot monitor what happens to them during shipping or incubation. I also cannot reliably determine from a clear egg, quitter or failed hatch exactly what happened along the way.
Once Your Eggs Leave FPC
This is where a lot changes.
I can control my breeding flocks. I can monitor fertility. I can collect fresh eggs, inspect them, package them carefully and do everything I can to give them a great start.
What I cannot control is what happens after that box leaves my hands.
Shipping involves movement, vibration, impacts, delays and temperature changes. Once the eggs arrive, every incubator and hatching environment is different.
Temperature, humidity, ventilation, turning, incubator calibration, handling and many other factors can affect whether an embryo successfully develops and hatches.
For these reasons, hatch rates are never guaranteed, whether your eggs are shipped or picked up locally.
Our Hatching Egg Policy — Simple & Clear
All hatching egg sales are final.
Freshly Picked Chicks does not provide refunds, credits or replacement eggs based on fertility, development or hatch results.
That includes low hatches, no hatches, eggs that appear clear, early or late quitters, or chicks that develop but do not successfully hatch.
This doesn't mean I don't care about your hatch. I absolutely do. I love hearing when you have an incredible hatch, and I'm genuinely disappointed with you when things don't go as planned.
But I cannot turn every unsuccessful hatch into an investigation of the breeder, carrier, egg or incubator. There are simply too many variables once eggs leave FPC for me to determine with certainty what happened.
So we're keeping it simple:
I sell fertilized hatching eggs. I do not sell or guarantee chicks or hatch rates. There are no refunds, credits or replacement eggs based on your hatch results.
Shipping & Your Package
I take packing eggs seriously and package them with the goal of giving them the best possible start on their journey to you.
Once a package has been accepted by the shipping carrier, however, the handling and transportation of that package are outside of Freshly Picked Chicks' control.
Carrier delays, mishandling, temperature exposure, damaged or detached air cells and other shipping-related issues can affect hatchability even when the eggs themselves arrive physically intact.
If your package is lost or physically damaged during shipping, any available claim should be pursued through the shipping carrier.
Shipping-related problems do not change our no-refund/no-replacement policy for hatching eggs.
About Incubation
There are a million and one ways to hatch an egg, and chicken people can debate incubation methods until the chickens come home. 😂
I have methods that work well for me, in my incubators and in my environment. I'm always happy to share what I do, but my method isn't the only successful method, and sharing my process isn't a guarantee of your results.
Once eggs are in your incubator, the incubation process and conditions are outside of my control.
Photos, candling results, incubation records or eggtopsies may be useful information for you when evaluating your hatch, but they will not be used to determine refunds, credits or replacement eligibility.
Egg Color, Chicks & Genetics
One of the things I love most about breeding is that biology isn't a copy machine!
Egg color, bloom, speckling, size and shade can naturally vary from hen to hen and throughout the laying season. Photos on my website and social media are examples of what my breeding programs produce, not a promise that every egg will look exactly the same.
The same applies to the chicks produced from those eggs. Unless specifically stated otherwise on an individual product listing, I cannot guarantee an individual chick's sex, feather color, pattern, temperament, mature appearance or the exact shade or color of eggs it may eventually lay.
That's part of the fun—and sometimes the surprise—of hatching and genetics.
Sometimes I May Choose to Do Something Extra
I have a soft heart. If you've been around FPC for very long, this probably isn't news. 😂
There may be times when I choose to do something extra for a customer simply because I want to.
If I send extra eggs, offer a credit, replace something or make another exception outside of these terms, that is a courtesy I chose to extend in that particular situation.
It does not change these Terms & Conditions or create a refund, credit or replacement policy for that order or any future order.
Please don't mistake an occasional gesture from me for something that is owed or guaranteed.
Order Changes & Cancellations
Please make sure you're ready to hatch before placing your order.
Hatching egg orders reserve eggs and future production from my breeding pens, and all hatching egg sales are final.
If Freshly Picked Chicks is unable to fulfill your order, I will contact you and make it right. That's different from an order being successfully fulfilled and the eggs later not hatching as hoped.
Before You Place Your Order
If you need or expect a guaranteed number of live chicks, hatching eggs probably aren't the right purchase for you. Purchasing chicks is a much better option when the end result matters more than the experience of hatching.
If you choose hatching eggs, you're choosing the whole adventure—the anticipation, the candling, the waiting, the surprises and, yes, the possibility that the hatch may not go the way you hoped.
My responsibility is to care for my breeding flocks, monitor fertility, carefully select and package your eggs, and send you the best hatching eggs I can.
After that, there are parts of the journey neither one of us can control.
By completing your purchase, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to these Hatching Egg Terms & Conditions and understand that Freshly Picked Chicks does not provide refunds, credits or replacement eggs based on reported fertility, development or hatch results
And PLEASE Still Send Me Your Hatch Pictures! ❤️🐣
A firm policy doesn't mean I don't want to hear from you.
I absolutely LOVE seeing what you hatch from Freshly Picked Chicks!
Send me the babies, the crazy colors, the surprise favorites and those beautiful first eggs months later. That's the fun part of what I do.
Happy Hatching!
Freshly Picked Chicks ❤️🐣
