While we do our best to ensure that every part of your chicken or egg purchase goes smoothly, occasionally things go wrong.
Fertile Eggs
Livingseeds will not be held responsible for delays in courier services when shipping eggs. While we will do everything in our power to ensure that you receive your eggs in a timely manner, sometimes things are beyond our control.
It is the responsibility of the buyer to keep in touch with the courier regarding delivery. We will select the best option available to get you the best price and fastest delivery for your eggs. If you require a specific courier service please advise us of this and we will quote you for that service.
When shipping fertile eggs, we guarantee that the eggs are fertile, but cannot guarantee a specific hatch rate. Unfortunately, when shipping eggs it is normal to experience a drop in hatch rates and this is unavoidable. No refunds are available on shipped eggs. If you do experience a negative hatch rate please contact us and we will help as best we can however we cannot guarantee that any refund or credit will be given due to the nature of the product.
We do not ship eggs unless we are happy with the fertility we are experiencing. No eggs are older than 6 or 7 days at the time of shipping.
Egg orders are accepted throughout the week however shipping will only take place on a Monday unless otherwise requested. Payment would need to be received by 10am on a Monday morning to ensure shipping that day.
If you would like to collect you are welcome to come through, the best days for this are Fridays and Saturdays as that is when we have the best availability.
Live Birds
Our farm is open for collections Monday through Saturday from 9am to 2pm, while we do advise you to inquire about breeds ahead of time, you are more than welcome to come through to see what is available.
When collecting birds we will assist with selection of your birds however it is the responsibility of the buyer to confirm that they are happy with the health and quality of the birds. Once the birds leave our farm we make no guarantees on their health as we have no control over the conditions they are transported in.
We now have a shipping option for older birds through a pet courier service. For older birds bookings need to be made in advance as bookings close the Friday before shipment and spaces often fill up fast. We will only load birds that are in excellent health for the courier service and will not be held responsible for any injury or illness contracted during their journey. Photos and/or videos of the birds can be provided prior to the journey at your request.
Please note you will need to bring boxes along to collect any live birds that are not day olds. They are shipped in crates and boxes cannot be provided for you.
We are also thrilled to be able to provide this service for day old chicks.
Chicks will be shipped once every second week to the following locations:
Kroonstad
Ventersburg
Winburg
Bloemfontein
Trompsburg
Colesburg
Middleburg
Cradock
Patterson
Colchester
Blue Water Bay
Gqeberha
Jeffreys Bay
Eersterivier
Storms River
Plettenbrg Bay
Knysna
Sedgefield
George
Grootbrak
Mossel Bay
Albertinia
Stilbaai
Riversdale
Heidelberg
Buffelsjagrivier
Swellendam
Ashton
Robertson
Worcester
Paarl
Belville
You will be notified with a time and location for collection via Whatsapp, please ensure that you are able to receive updates via Whatsapp.
Orders must be in by the Friday before shipment is set to take place however chicks cannot be guaranteed for shipping that week. You will be kept informed of your order status, if we cannot get in contact with you prior to shipping with regards to any changes in your shipment we will fulfill your order to the best of our abilities.
Due to the nature of shipping live birds we cannot guarantee live delivery, though we will do everything in our power to ensure a happy and healthy delivery.
You will be notified of your collection point and estimated time of arrival prior to the shipment. A no show at the collection point will forfeit the delivery and any moneys paid. These deliveries are timed and you will be notified of any changes to time or location via Whatsapp. Due to the nature of the courier service they are unable to wait for you and collection needs to happen at the time and location stipulated.
We recommend blocking out time on either side of the given time as you will essentially be on call to collect chicks if they run early or late.
Sexing of Birds
Sexing of birds at 18 weeks or older is guaranteed. If accidentally, you end up with a rooster, we will give you a hen in its place but will not allow for a return of the rooster as we do not accept birds back onto our property.
Sexing of chicks is about 70% accurate and is unfortunately not 100% guaranteed.
Invoicing
Our invoices are valid for 48hrs after creation. If we have not heard from the customer or received payment in that time or by the date specified, the invoice will no longer be valid and we cannot guarantee that the birds can be held for you after this time, as our demand is high and the waiting list long. Invoices for birds held to a certain age will require a 50% deposit, the balance can be paid upon collection. Payments must be made using your invoice number as the reference.
Additionally if an invoice is paid in for the required 50% deposit with a date specified for collection, you are required to collect within 10 working days of the date mentioned. If we have not heard from you regarding a change in collection and collection does not take place within those 10 working days your invoice and deposit will be forfeit. Plans can be arranged for later collection if we are notified in advance however you will incur additional feeding fees.
Refunds or Returns
Our livestock leaves the farm in good health, due to the nature of it being a live animal we cannot guarantee anything regarding the birds. We are always happy to help and would love to hear from you if you experience any issues.
We unfortunately cannot accept returns onto our farm for bio-security reasons.