OUR POLICY
Introduction. We very much appreciate your patronage and support! We’d like to make ordering day-old chicks and / or juvenile and / or mature birds a predictable and pleasant experience for all our customers. Therefore, all orders from Überchic Ranch are subject to the following terms and conditions, and any purchaser from Überchic Ranch agrees to these terms and conditions as a prerequisite of ordering. There are no exceptions to these terms and conditions, so please read them carefully and be sure you are willing to abide by them before ordering. If you are unwilling to abide by them without complaint, please do not place an order.
Ordering. Orders may be placed through the contact form, or you can email us your specific needs and contactus@uberchicranch.com. Überchic Ranch is a real working ranch and is not a commercial farm or hatchery. Our crew attends our livestock and grounds. As a result, there may be a delay in responding to your inquiries.
Live Shipped. With the recent changes with USPS, we have noticed a dramatic decline in quality and performance of the safe delivery of live animals. Further, despite shipping all animals with insurance, we have found that USPS no longer honors granting insurance claims of any live animal. With that being said, we are NOT responsible for the mishandling and / or delays due to USPS handling that may result with the arrival of deceased animals. It is the buyer's decision to ship at their own risk! If you cannot risk shipment, you have the option of picking up your animals. Upon request, we will still attempt to submit a USPS claim, without guaranteeing they will grant said claim. We are not responsible for USPS's claims decision. With their recent policy changes, we have found that USPS is not granting insurance claims of any live birds, essentially not taking any responsibility. We are willing to send replacement birds if you cooperate with our claims process and if and only if USPS grants the claim via insurance on the shipment. To get your refund you must notify us of the loss within 24 hours after you receive the birds and provide an emailed photo of any dead birds. If the birds cannot fly, it would be wise to open and inspect the birds in front of a USPS clerk, to expedite the claims process. Although our animals typically arrive alive and well, it is unfortunate and disappointing on the rare occasion that the animals arrive deceased, but know we send all animals with food and hydration, including prepping them for their journey before being shipped. For more info on Shipping options, please see "Shipping" below.
Hatching Eggs. We don’t sell hatching eggs for chickens, as explained in our Frequently Asked Questions. However, we do sell hatching eggs for most of our pheasants and quail, with the exception of the Chestnut-bellied Scaled Quail and Green Pheasants.
Sexing Juvenile Birds. If you are not ordering Straight Run, we do our best to accurately sex the juvenile birds. At best, our accuracy is about 95%. If you received more males than expected, we will not grant any returns or exchanges. The only exception is if it is an autosexing breed of chicken, but not including the Niederrheiner since chicks are very similar in appearance.For waterfowl, including ducks and geese, be sure to note that certain species of waterfowl are known to change their sex while developing as juvenile birds, which could also affect our accuracy. For gamebirds, including quail, pheasants, and turkeys, juvenile birds are typically hard to sex so it is preferred to order juvenile gamebirds as Straight Run. Lastly, for biosecurity reasons, we are unable to receive any birds back and recommend reaching out to your community as far as rehoming any animals.
Printed Catalogs. To reduce our paper, ink, and mailing / fossil fuel usage, we do not print or mail catalogs, to better our environment. However, you can request a digital catalog that you can download to your computer and print (if you wish). We sell exclusively online.
No Tours or Pick Up. We'd love to spend time with you on our grounds, but we must adhere to biosecurity and security standards. Visits would expose our flocks to the potential for inadvertent disease transmission. We simply cannot take that risk, so we don't schedule tours or on-site pick up of orders at the ’Ranch. We do not allow pick-ups on site, but will arrange for a pick up location. For more info, please see "Shipping" options below.
Minimum Order. The minimum order is seven day-old chicks. Started (juvenile) or adult (mature) birds can be sent individually. You may order fewer than seven chicks but it is not a practice we recommend, and the Live Shipped Guarantee will not apply in these cases. We believe seven chicks is the minimum number necessary to provide warmth and cushioning for safe shipment. You, the buyer, assume the risk of loss if you order fewer than seven chicks. We strongly encourage you to order the minimum to increase the health and safety of the chicks during shipping.
Vaccinations and Disease. Unless you specifically request otherwise your birds will be vaccinated for Marek’s disease. Please note that the Marek’s vaccine is not 100% effective, and even vaccinated birds may later contract Marek’s if the disease is present on your property. Marek’s is very common and often present in backyard flocks yet remains undetected because the flock is resistant to the disease. Many recently imported breeds are especially susceptible to Marek’s strains found in America. We will not replace chicks that show symptoms of Marek’s after they are shipped.
Lastly, but most importantly, you should know that it is very difficult to determine the origin of a disease in a chicken flock. The transmission of disease is a complex and subtle process, and even expert pathologists often struggle to identify the precise origin of a disease. If you have a flock consisting of birds from other sources, songbirds have access to your flock, or people have visited your property after being near chickens located elsewhere, then there are potentially many different disease pathways that could cause disease in your chickens. Please also be aware of latest Avian Flu outbreaks in the U.S. and abroad.
Quarantine. All birds received from Überchic Ranch must be quarantined and observed for at least 30 days before exposing them to your chicken flock.
Permits and Licenses. Many of the birds kept at Überchic Ranch are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and therefore require a Waterfowl Sale and Disposal Permit to be able to keep, breed, and sell the listed species. The link for the application form for the federal license is: http://www.fws.gov/forms/3-200-9.pdf. For the entire list, visit: http://www.fws.gov/birds/management/managed-species/migratory-bird-treaty-act-protected-species.php. If you intend to buy a licensed species then you will have 30 days to apply for a federal permit. Keep in mind that each State also has its own requirements. Überchic Ranch is not responsible if you are not in compliance with Local, State, and Federal laws regarding the keeping, breeding, buying, selling, releasing and / or hunting of any of the birds.
Shipping. Orders are usually shipped on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday each week and are delivered by the United States Postal Service (USPS). Up to 24 day-old chicks can be placed in a box. We charge a flat rate of $55 for sending a box of chicks via USPS Priority Mail Express anywhere in the 48 Continental U.S. We will email you the tracking number when the birds ship. Please note USPS may change their policies without notice. USPS Priority Mail Express is the fastest domestic service available from the USPS. Although we pay for this express service, we cannot guarantee that your shipment will be delivered overnight and / or arrive promptly and / or on-time. The delivery commitments vary depending on your zip code; please check with the USPS if you are concerned about the possibility of two or three-day delivery. We can arrange to ship birds for same-day delivery via Delta Airlines. This usually costs about $175+ for a box of chicks. To safeguard valuable chicks, the additional shipping costs are often warranted. Please see "Live Shipping" for more info regarding the safety of our live animals during shipment. If buyer does not want to assume the risk of shipment, buyer has the option of arranging for a pick up of the live birds at a nearby location offsite. For more info regarding our biosecurity measures to maintain a safe flock, please see "No Tours or Pick Up" above.
Payment. Full payment is due before the birds are shipped, primarily through our Square Merchant
provider, for highest quality control purposes and to better serve you. A digital invoice will be emailed to
you so that you can securely pay directly through the digital invoice. We accept most major credit cards,
Paypal, money orders, and personal checks. Please send Paypal payments to
contactus@uberchicranch.com. We respect your privacy and
never share or sell your personal information with any third parties.
Checks may be mailed to:
Überchic Ranch
P.O. Box 26
Wilmington, MA 01887
Timing of Shipment and Order Cancellation. It is difficult to precisely predict laying rates, fertility rates, and hatch rates, especially when dealing with very small numbers of very rare animals and weather / light permitting. We do our best to accurately estimate delivery dates, but it is only an estimate, and therefore could be an inaccurate assessment. Upon ordering and / or pre-ordering, order fulfilment occurs on a "First Come, First Served" (FCFS) basis. If you order more than one breed and / or specie, the delivery date will be determined by the latest delivery date for the breeds you ordered. You should know that when you buy rare birds it is common to wait several months for delivery. Überchic Ranch is not a commercial hatchery. Please be patient. All sales are final. If we do not deliver the birds on or before the estimated ship date, you may not cancel your order, but we will be happy to exchange for a future order and / or apply store credit and / or coupon(s). However, you may cancel within 24 hours of initial payment. If you cancel your order for any reason, you will forfeit any deposit or 50% of the cost of your order, whichever is greater. There are no exceptions.
Expectations. You should expect healthy birds that reflect the fundamental attributes and Standards of Perfection (SOP) of the breed and / or specie. However, not every bird will meet SOP, although we constantly strive to perfect. We do not represent that every bird we sell is show quality or is flawless. You should receive birds that can be the foundation for a breeding program that with enough time and skill can produce show-quality birds. It should also be noted that the rarer the breed, the more likely you are to encounter problems related to inbreeding. For some breeds / species and varieties, the global breeding population consists of fewer than a dozen hens. We cull for obvious defects like crooked toes, but low fertility, low egg production, low disease resistance, and other challenges are not uncommon with extremely rare breeds. If you encounter these challenges when the birds become adults, you will need to address them with your own breeding plan. We do not offer refunds beyond the Live Shipped Guarantee.
