FAQ

🌸 How Our Hatching Egg Reservations Work At Spring Hollow Acres, we offer a unique hatching egg reservation system each year. This allows you to secure your place in our shipping queue before eggs are actually produced. By reserving early, you not only guarantee your spot, but you also help ensure that every egg we collect has a designated home — minimizing surplus and allowing us to focus on quality and care. ✨ Reserving also gives you first access to our rarest breeds, which often sell out quickly or lay in limited quantities! 🥚 Important Reservation Details: Our annual reservation season opens January 1st each year. Orders are fulfilled in the order they are placed, based on when each breed begins laying naturally. Shipping timelines can vary — some eggs may ship early in the season, while others may take several weeks or even months depending on the birds' natural laying cycles. The earlier you reserve, the earlier your order is fulfilled! 🌿 What Happens If Birds Don't Lay? In the rare event that a breed does not lay or becomes unavailable, you will receive a full refund for that portion of your order. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work with nature’s timing. We can’t wait to share the excitement of a new hatching season with you!

📦 Hatching Egg Shipping Information We take great care in preparing your hatching eggs for shipment! Each egg is securely packaged to maximize its chances of arriving safely at your location. However, because of the many variables that influence incubation success — including shipping conditions, handling, and individual incubator environments — we are unable to guarantee hatch rates or embryo development. 🥚 What Happens If Eggs Arrive Damaged? In the unfortunate event that your hatching eggs arrive broken or visibly damaged, please contact us on the day of delivery. We kindly ask that you provide clear photos or videos of the damage. Once received, we are happy to either: Issue a refund, or Send a replacement parcel of hatching eggs, based on your preference and availability. 🚚 Shipping Details Hatching eggs are shipped via USPS Priority Mail throughout the week. You will receive an email with your tracking number as soon as your order ships. We generally have excellent success with USPS deliveries! 📬 Special Shipping Requests While we aim for the safest handling possible, we do not automatically mark parcels as "Fragile" or request special handling. (Unfortunately, in our experience, such markings can sometimes result in rougher treatment.) If you would like your package to be marked "Fragile" or prefer it to be held at your local Post Office for pickup, simply email us after placing your order — we're happy to accommodate your request! Thank you for trusting us with your future flock! We appreciate your understanding and support as we work together with nature — and the postal service — to deliver your hatching eggs safely. 🌸

📝 Order Cancellation Policy At Spring Hollow Acres, every order placed is important and immediately impacts our seasonal planning. We operate on a limited, seasonal inventory — meaning we sell only a set number of hatching eggs each year, and once those spots are filled, we close sales for the season. When you place an order, you reserve one of those limited spots. If you later cancel, it often means we have already turned away other potential customers, resulting in lost opportunities and added administrative work — especially once the shipping season begins. While we are happy to cancel an order if necessary, please be aware: Canceled orders will be placed on our Do Not Sell list for future purchases. This policy ensures we prioritize customers who understand and respect the seasonal nature of working with live hatching eggs. We appreciate your understanding and support — every reservation helps preserve rare and beautiful breeds, and every customer plays a critical role in making our aviary thrive. If you have any questions before placing your order, please reach out — we're always happy to help!

🕰️ Order Processing Time Spring Hollow Acres is a small, family-run aviary — not a large-scale hatchery. We collect and prepare each set of hatching eggs specifically for each order as it is placed, ensuring you receive the freshest and best quality eggs possible. Most orders are processed and shipped within 2–3 days, and sometimes even sooner. During peak spring season or during Reservation periods, processing times may extend to several weeks or longer, depending on breed availability and natural laying schedules. 🥚 How We Handle Your Eggs Eggs are collected twice daily and carefully stored on automatic egg turners in a cool, dark hatching egg cellar to maintain optimal viability. We only ship fresh eggs, ensuring they are three days old or less from the date they were laid at the time of shipment. The eggs we send to our customers are the very same eggs we incubate ourselves, following the highest standards of care and quality. 🌸 Questions About Your Order? If you ever have questions or concerns about your order status, feel free to contact us — we’re always happy to help!

🥚 Hatch Rates and Broken Egg Policy At Spring Hollow Acres, we are deeply committed to providing the highest quality hatching eggs possible. However, once the eggs leave our care, factors beyond our control — such as shipping conditions, handling, and individual incubation practices — all play a role in hatch success. Because of this, we cannot guarantee hatch rates or embryo development, and we do not offer refunds based on hatching outcomes. When purchasing hatching eggs, customers accept and assume this risk as part of the natural, unpredictable process of working with live embryos. 🚚 If Your Eggs Arrive Broken If your eggs arrive broken or visibly damaged, please contact us on the day of delivery. We kindly request clear photos of the damaged eggs for our records. After receiving your documentation, we will happily: Issue a refund, or Send a replacement parcel of hatching eggs, depending on your preference and availability. Thank you for your understanding and support as we work together to make your hatching experience as successful as possible! 🌸

🥚 Hatch Rate Disclaimer At Spring Hollow Acres, we take great pride in maintaining high fertility rates and carefully monitoring our breeding flocks. However, despite best practices and proven fertility, we cannot guarantee hatch success or that all eggs will show signs of development. There are many factors outside of our control that can impact viability, including: Shipping and handling conditions Fluctuations in temperature or humidity during incubation Variations in individual incubators Natural arrested development of embryos Due to these inherent uncertainties, we do not offer guarantees or refunds based on hatch rates or embryo development. By purchasing hatching eggs from us, you acknowledge and accept these natural risks as part of the hatching process.

🐣 Can Multiple Bird Species Be Shipped Together? In most cases, the answer is no — and here’s why: Different bird species have unique laying schedules, and since we ship orders in the order they were placed, combining multiple species can be tricky. Depending on the timing of your reservation in the queue, your species may begin laying at very different times, which would delay your entire order if we waited to combine them. Because of this, each species is typically shipped separately as it becomes available. That said, whenever possible, we do try to consolidate shipments to save you time and shipping costs — and when it’s feasible, we are always happy to do so!

📦 How We Package Your Hatching Eggs We take great care in packaging your hatching eggs securely to help ensure they arrive safely and intact. Our standard packaging methods include: Foam shippers cushioned with recycled shredded cardboard for most orders. Bubble wrap with recycled shredded cardboard for very small quantities of eggs — a method that has proven highly effective. For larger eggs (such as Canada Goose eggs that do not fit standard foam shippers), we carefully wrap each egg in multiple layers of bubble wrap, cushioned with recycled shredded cardboard. We proudly use recycled boxes and packing materials whenever possible to reduce waste and support eco-friendly practices, all while keeping your hatching eggs protected on their journey.

🐣 Why Do Some Hatching Egg Orders Take Longer to Ship? If you placed a Reservation (Pre-Sale) Order, you purchased your hatching eggs before they were laid, securing your spot in our shipping queue. This guarantees your access to limited eggs but also means that your order may take several weeks or even months to be fulfilled, depending on natural laying cycles. Shipping priority is determined by the order in which reservations are received: Customers who reserve early will be among the first to have their orders shipped once that species begins laying. If you ordered later, your shipment will follow accordingly as availability allows. 🌸 Not a Pre-Sale Customer? If you did not participate in the Reservation period and are purchasing available hatching eggs during our regular season, In-stock (End-of-Season) eggs typically ship within 3 business days, depending on how many outstanding orders exist for that particular breed. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work with the rhythms of nature to deliver the best quality hatching eggs possible!

🥚 Fertility vs. Development: Understanding the Difference We understand it can be disappointing when an egg shows no signs of development during incubation. However, it’s important to remember that a lack of visible development does not necessarily mean the egg was not fertilized. In fact, many eggs are properly fertilized at the time of lay, but several factors beyond our control can affect their ability to develop after shipping, including: Rough handling during transit Detached or damaged air sacs Fluctuations in temperature or humidity during incubation Natural early embryo arrest (a normal but unfortunate occurrence) Once an egg leaves our care, these variables can prevent a fertilized egg from progressing even though fertilization did occur. We carefully monitor fertility in our flocks and only offer hatching eggs from proven, healthy breeders. However, due to the sensitive nature of live embryos, we cannot guarantee development after shipping, even from fertile eggs. Thank you for understanding the natural unpredictability involved when working with shipped hatching eggs! Read more about this here http://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/947994

📦 Can I Request a Specific Shipping or Delivery Date? Due to the high volume of orders we receive during our Reservation (Pre-Sale) season, we are unable to guarantee shipping or delivery on a specific day. We ship hatching eggs strictly in the order that purchases were received. While we can often provide a rough estimate of when your order may ship, coordinating delivery for an exact date is not possible given the natural variability of laying schedules, order volume, and postal service timing. We appreciate your understanding as we work hard to fulfill each order as efficiently and fairly as possible!

🥚 How We Ensure Fertility and Viability At Spring Hollow Acres, we are committed to offering only the highest quality hatching eggs. Each year, we successfully hatch and sell hundreds of chicks locally — all from the same breeding stock and eggs that we send to our customers. Before shipping begins, we thoroughly check the fertility and hatch rates of every breed and species we offer to ensure you are receiving the most viable eggs possible. Even throughout the Spring, Summer, and Fall, we continually hatch from the same breeding groups to monitor fertility and maintain the highest standards. You can buy with confidence, knowing that we actively hatch and test the very same eggs we ship — and we do everything in our power to provide you with the strongest, healthiest hatching eggs available.

🦆 Federal Migratory Waterfowl Permit Information A Federal Migratory Waterfowl Permit is only required if you plan to sell federally protected migratory birds, such as Canada Geese or Sandhill Cranes. If you are purchasing these birds from us for personal enjoyment (non-commercial use) — meaning you plan to simply keep them and not sell or transfer them — you do not need a federal permit. When purchasing federally protected species from us: We will provide you with a sale/transfer form that you must complete and return. This helps us maintain proper documentation as required by federal regulations. If you have any questions or are unsure about your situation, please don’t hesitate to contact us — we're happy to guide you through the process!

📜 State Regulations and Permits Before purchasing birds from us, please check with your state's Division of Wildlife Services (or equivalent agency) to ensure you meet any local requirements for owning certain species. For example, in Utah, buyers are required to obtain a Certificate of Registration (COR) Permit to legally own many of the species we offer. Some states have similar permit requirements, while others may have no restrictions at all. It’s always best to confirm with your local wildlife agency to understand your state's specific regulations before placing an order. If you have any questions or need help understanding what might apply in your area, feel free to contact us — we're happy to assist!