08/10/2026
I get a handful of messages every week asking if they can be added to a wait list for hatching eggs. We haven’t had a wait list in over 5 years, so I figured it was time to explain why. 😊
Years ago, we did have one. And honestly…it became more work than it was worth.
When it was someone’s turn, I’d spend time reaching out, only to get no response. 🙄 Sometimes they’d respond days later, after I had already moved on to the next person. Other times, they needed to push their order back because their schedule had changed (which I completely understand). Life happens. But keeping up with all the back and forth took a tremendous amount of time.
Then there were the egg photos. 😅
I’d send a picture of the eggs that were ready to ship, and more often than not, customers would want to swap specific eggs because they wanted a particular shade or pattern.
Which basically meant I was expected to go outside and tell the hens...
“Alright, ladies, I need 24 heavily speckled eggs with large splotches. And please make sure none of the speckles are smaller than ½ cm.”
“Could someone please lay an egg so dark it looks black?”
“And I need a dark olive egg…but ONLY with blue spots.”
And yes, I’ve even had people receive dark olive or dark brown eggs and worry because they couldn’t see through the shell. They assumed the eggs must have already started developing. 🤦🏼♀️🙄
Explaining all of this, keeping up with individual requests, managing the wait list, and trying to coordinate everyone’s schedules took time away from my family…and, honestly, it took some of the joy out of sharing the eggs.
So I changed the way we do things.
We don’t do wait lists. We don’t do preorders. We don’t do custom egg orders.
When hatching eggs are available, I post what we have available. You decide if that particular group of eggs is what you’re looking for, and if it is, you grab them. Simple. ❤️
It works SO much better for us, and it allows me to focus on what I actually love, raising our birds, maintaining our breeding lines, collecting beautiful eggs, and sharing them with people who appreciate the work that goes into them.
And that brings me to another important point…
Over the years, I’ve learned that sometimes people see a beautiful picture of an egg and don’t necessarily read the information attached to it. A good breeding line doesn’t happen overnight. It takes years of careful breeding, selection, patience, and consistency to establish the traits you see in those beautiful eggs.There’s a lot more behind that pretty egg in the picture than meets the eye.
So, the next time someone messages asking to be added to a wait list, I’ll simply send them the link to this post. 😉
Thank you to everyone who has supported The Pickled Coop and appreciated the time, care, and years of work that go into our birds and our eggs. We truly appreciate you! 🐔🥚
