Chick Ordering Policy
We very much appreciate your business! We’d like to make ordering chicks a predictable and pleasant experience for all our customers. All orders from Little Bit of Sunshine Farm are subject to the following terms and conditions, and any purchaser of chicks from Little Bit of Sunshine Farm 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.
Little Bit of Sunshine Farm is a real working farm. We stay really busy taking care of our poultry, other livestock and produce. We don’t have people sitting at a desk processing orders. There may be a delay in responding to your phone, text or email inquiries. We will get back to you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience!
We currently do not offer hatching eggs for sale.
Printed Catalogs. Sorry, we don’t have these. If you don't see what you are looking for, please feel free to contact us. We are adding new breeds all the time, and might not have added it to the website yet.
Minimum of three chicks or poults for pick-up orders. You are welcome to pick up your poultry. However, we do not have a "store front" and are a privately owned working farm with strict bio-security in place. If you are local and want to pick up your chicks please make an appointment to do so.
48-Hour Live Chick Guarantee. Little Bit of Sunshine Farm guarantees you will receive the number of chicks/poults you ordered and that they will live for 48 hours after you receive them. If you have fewer live birds than you ordered within 48 hours after pickup, we will reimburse you the value of the dead birds, or if available you may pick up replacement birds. To get your refund/replacement you must notify us of the loss within 48 hours after you receive the birds and provide an emailed or texted photo of any dead birds.
Disease. On rare occasions, several weeks or months after we have delivered chicks a customer will say that their chickens have developed symptoms of a disease, and the customer is certain the disease originated at our farm. Our reputation is important to our farm, and we go to extraordinary lengths to ensure our birds are disease-free. 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 chickens from other sources, wild birds 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.
Quarantine. We recommend that all birds received from Little Bit of Sunshine Farm be quarantined and observed for at least 30 days before exposing them to your flock.
Payment. Full payment is due before chicks are picked up. For some breeds you may book your order with a deposit, and we will notify you shortly before they are ready for pickup. The balance is due before birds will be released to you. Check the individual breed pages to see if orders are currently being accepted, or if they are in stock for immediate pickup. We accept Zelle, money orders (must clear our bank before chicks leave our property) and cash. We respect your privacy and never share or sell your personal information with any third parties.
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. We do our best to accurately estimate delivery dates, but it is only an estimate, and we can be wrong. You will be placed on a waiting list when you pay for your order or make a deposit, and nobody will be allowed to jump ahead of you in line. If you order more than one breed of chick, 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. Little Bit of Sunshine Farm is not a commercial hatchery, and frequently the "factory" that will produce your order consists of two or three hens that will quit laying for the most trivial reason or for no reason at all. Please be patient. If we do not deliver the birds within 3 months of the estimated date, you may cancel your order and immediately receive a full refund. If you cancel your order for any reason other than our inability to timely fill your order, you will forfeit your deposit or 50% of the cost of your order, whichever is greater. There are no exceptions to this policy.
Returns. Once birds leave our farm, they may not be returned. Regardless of age, breed, or how long they are in your possession, it is a potential health risk for us to return birds to our flock that have been off our property. Therefore, ALL SALES ARE FINAL. There are no exceptions to this policy.
What You Should Expect. You should expect birds that reflect the fundamental attributes of the breed. You should not expect a cosmetically perfect bird. In fact, you should expect to find some defects in virtually every bird you raise. Just as every child is not destined to become a supermodel, every bird is not destined to win ribbons at shows. Only a tiny fraction of chickens conform to their breed standard in all respects. 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. You should also realize that the rarer the breed, the more likely you are to encounter problems related to inbreeding. For some breeds and varieties that we sell, 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 48-Hour Live Chick Guarantee.
Little Bit of Sunshine Farm is a real working farm. We stay really busy taking care of our poultry, other livestock and produce. We don’t have people sitting at a desk processing orders. There may be a delay in responding to your phone, text or email inquiries. We will get back to you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience!
We currently do not offer hatching eggs for sale.
Printed Catalogs. Sorry, we don’t have these. If you don't see what you are looking for, please feel free to contact us. We are adding new breeds all the time, and might not have added it to the website yet.
Minimum of three chicks or poults for pick-up orders. You are welcome to pick up your poultry. However, we do not have a "store front" and are a privately owned working farm with strict bio-security in place. If you are local and want to pick up your chicks please make an appointment to do so.
48-Hour Live Chick Guarantee. Little Bit of Sunshine Farm guarantees you will receive the number of chicks/poults you ordered and that they will live for 48 hours after you receive them. If you have fewer live birds than you ordered within 48 hours after pickup, we will reimburse you the value of the dead birds, or if available you may pick up replacement birds. To get your refund/replacement you must notify us of the loss within 48 hours after you receive the birds and provide an emailed or texted photo of any dead birds.
Disease. On rare occasions, several weeks or months after we have delivered chicks a customer will say that their chickens have developed symptoms of a disease, and the customer is certain the disease originated at our farm. Our reputation is important to our farm, and we go to extraordinary lengths to ensure our birds are disease-free. 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 chickens from other sources, wild birds 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.
Quarantine. We recommend that all birds received from Little Bit of Sunshine Farm be quarantined and observed for at least 30 days before exposing them to your flock.
Payment. Full payment is due before chicks are picked up. For some breeds you may book your order with a deposit, and we will notify you shortly before they are ready for pickup. The balance is due before birds will be released to you. Check the individual breed pages to see if orders are currently being accepted, or if they are in stock for immediate pickup. We accept Zelle, money orders (must clear our bank before chicks leave our property) and cash. We respect your privacy and never share or sell your personal information with any third parties.
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. We do our best to accurately estimate delivery dates, but it is only an estimate, and we can be wrong. You will be placed on a waiting list when you pay for your order or make a deposit, and nobody will be allowed to jump ahead of you in line. If you order more than one breed of chick, 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. Little Bit of Sunshine Farm is not a commercial hatchery, and frequently the "factory" that will produce your order consists of two or three hens that will quit laying for the most trivial reason or for no reason at all. Please be patient. If we do not deliver the birds within 3 months of the estimated date, you may cancel your order and immediately receive a full refund. If you cancel your order for any reason other than our inability to timely fill your order, you will forfeit your deposit or 50% of the cost of your order, whichever is greater. There are no exceptions to this policy.
Returns. Once birds leave our farm, they may not be returned. Regardless of age, breed, or how long they are in your possession, it is a potential health risk for us to return birds to our flock that have been off our property. Therefore, ALL SALES ARE FINAL. There are no exceptions to this policy.
What You Should Expect. You should expect birds that reflect the fundamental attributes of the breed. You should not expect a cosmetically perfect bird. In fact, you should expect to find some defects in virtually every bird you raise. Just as every child is not destined to become a supermodel, every bird is not destined to win ribbons at shows. Only a tiny fraction of chickens conform to their breed standard in all respects. 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. You should also realize that the rarer the breed, the more likely you are to encounter problems related to inbreeding. For some breeds and varieties that we sell, 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 48-Hour Live Chick Guarantee.