Goose season starts in about February when they first start breeding and laying till usually June
depending on the weather, occasionally I'll get a few eggs in the fall that may or may not be fertile.
Egg and newborn availability fall within this time period. Started youngster availability falls between
March and December.

Waiting lists available for all sales- feel free to let me know what you are looking to get. Newborn goslings require
prepayment and are filled in the order recieved when at all possible- offering me more money will not move a
person up on the list- don't even try. Please contact me for availability to get on waiting lists. Sometimes it happens
that I have youngsters immidiately available as soon as contacted, but more often then not there will be some kind
of wait for the youngsters you order. The earlier you order, the more likely you will get babies the following season.

Birds are sold without any guarantees except they are from the stock indicated and are sent off healthy and
are to the best of my ability, as described at the time of sale. I do not guarantee colors on colored
sebastopol goslings- color is most unpredictable on goslings still in baby fluff but older birds have been known to
molt out different then they started as well. Any plain white are guaranteed to be from my white pair who to the
best of my knowledge came from an all white background themselves.I similarly do not provide any guarantee
against wing problems as such is very common in Sebastopols and can show up right away or years down the road.
I do not accept returns and don't give refunds as once the birds leave my hands all kinds of things can happen
that are out of my control- birds are shipped fully insured in case the postal service does something to them. Any
problems in shipment need to be addressed with the postal service.

Also included will be a certificate of bloodline (as well as any
parental genetic information for the sebastopols I might have on the bird or breeding
group it came from) as well as any angel wing information I might have on the bird. Started birds
(excluding babies from the older dewlap toulouse) are sent with permanent ID bands, The bird's information
is recorded and kept in my own records in case such information is needed later.

Carefully Bred, Hand Hatched , Raised & Sold with Integrity

I DO believe strongly in honesty in selling and that a buyer ought to be given all pertinant information to the best of the seller's
ability and give the buyer the choice to decide. I would much rather maintain a good reputation then secure a couple extra bucks.
I am there for my buyers to the best of my ability to offer help or advice after the sale. I am a small breeder (like in dogs or cats)
and not a hatchery or a large farm. I name and hand raise all my breeder geese who are my pets as much as anything else. For the time
being I am setting up small breedings in the sebastopols, pairs so I know exactly who made what baby, small group breeding for the
Dewlap Toulouse and I only have the one pair of Saddleback Poms. I fuss over and incubate the eggs in my house and hatch them in my
kitchen where I can keep a close eye on the babies trying to work their way out so I can assist if a baby encounters trouble- no baby is
lost that could be saved with a little assistance.. I or my children welcome each and every one to the world and spend time holding,
cuddling, and talking to the babies each day the first couple days until they go to their new homes to help them imprint on humans and be
a better pet later. Babies that don't go to new homes right away live their early days in the house in my utility room and continue their
socialization. It is extremely common that if the children leave the back door open (I swear all kids were born in a barn), that one or two
of the adult geese will invite themselves in to ask for treats and to check out the new arrivals until they are fussed at and ushered back
outside. We just adore our geese here.

WAITING LISTS

I maintain waiting lists for eggs, newly hatched and started birds. I prefer prepaid orders for live birds though I will take a small number
of people on the list on a standby basis who will only be contacted in the event I have babies and no prepaid order to fill- they may
have to come up with the full amount on almost a moment's notice, if this does not work for you or you want priority, prepay please).. If I
cannot fill the order by the end of that waterfowl season I will either return your money or you can elect to have me hold on to it for the
following season. I will not send birds unless I have successfully contacted the buyer within the 3 days before shipment and they have told
me they are ready to pick up the birds. If I am unable to contact an individual within the 3 days before shipment I will move on to
the next person. Orders can be cancelled but I reserve the right to assess a $50 fee, if I deem it appropriate, out of the deposit to
cover extra time and trouble I might be put through due to a short notice cancellation. If you need to cancel be kind and do it early as possible
giving me time to switch plans around to adjust for it . If you'll be away for some reason during the season please let
me know as soon as possible, we'll just do some switching around to cover for it, no problem.

To get on the prepaid list an individual needs to contact me first to see what is and is not available then if agreed send me a POSTAL
money order (no other type of payment will be accepted) with both themselves and myself as payees (ie- Joe Buyer OR Paula Shepard-
it must have OR not "and", if a person puts "and", they require both signatures to cash it. I will not be responsible for postal
money orders filled out improperly and they will be returned) in the amount of the order plus estimated
shipping if not local pickup. These will be filed and held until I am ready to fill the order then
will be taken along with that person's bird shipment to the post office and will be cashed there and used to pay the shipping first.
Otherwise it will be submitted to my bank after local pickup. There is no time limit on cashing postal money orders and
with both the buyer and myself on the money order either one of us can cash it which makes it fairly easy in case
I have to return the money because I can't fill the order and ensures that it is in a convenient form for me to
hold on to safely away from my own finances until I have done what is required to earn the money.
This is the way that works best for me. I am willing to work with someone who can't afford the whole cost all at once. I had to do that myself
to get a start and breeders were willing to work with me. I can put an individual's name on the waiting list with a $50 deposit and then
arrange payments to pay the balance. If the balance is paid before that individual's name comes up on the list they will recieve
their babies at that time, if the balance is not paid, they will be skipped over until it is paid in full.

My common hatch is 4 at a time of any one breed of goose, occasionally 6, seldom 8.
I sell in sets of 4 for shipped day olds with each set of 4 having it's own shipping charge. If I have a great hatch and have
enough at one time to fill an order from an individual for 8 goslings all at one time I'll put them in the same box and
refund the unused shipping costs back to the individual.
I always do my level best to work with my buyers for their best benefit but mother nature is never quite predictable.

SHIPPING
I MUST send anything over 24 hours old by express mail, I don't like to use priority mail on less then
24 hours old unless the buyer is located in California or the closely surrounding states. In every case, if it will take
2 days for express to travel between the buyer and I, the babies will be shipped express as priority would take
even longer. The quicker they get to where they are going the better for them and ultimately you the buyer, these are
my babies after all and I don't want anything bad happening to them if I can help it. All babies are sent fully insured for
the entire cost of the order. Minimum order on shipped newborns is 4. Minimum on local pickup is 2.

I provide newborn chick boxes at a fee of $5 each. If I don't have bigger boxes available here for older birds an individual will
need to have one of the size I specify sent to me. I will do what I can to have the appropriate boxes already on hand but that
may not always be possible especially in the case of the boxes needed for near adult/adult geese. There will be a fee for older bird
boxes I provide of approximately between $8 and $30 depending on the box size. Shipping cost varies according to
bird size, figure on between $35 and $120 per box depending on the weight of the birds. Four day old goslings will cost $35 to ship
in a small chick box express and about half that to ship priority for those
that are eligible, near adult/adult geese will cost approximately $120 per bird to ship.

Local pickup is always possible.

Leg Band/Certificate of Bloodline Information

There is a huge problem in the poultry world of people claiming to be breeding stock from certian other known high quality breeders
to get the increased price that a bird from such a breeder is worth. I think it is fine to name the providers of your foundation
stock and notify people of what lines they are dealing with when they get your stock - I think it is important information for a breeder to have.
I don't think it is fine to claim stock you don't have or the poorest examples of that stock to only make a buck. In many cases they only have
the worst from that known breeder or don't have the stated stock at all in actuality. Pictures of a beautiful parent bird do not neccisarily
equal beautiful babies when that parent bird is bred with crap (and they seldom actually show you pictures of the crap bird).
Buyers purchase this stock in hopes of getting similar quality to the what the known breeder provides and are ripped off and
severely disappointed not by way of crummy luck but purposeful deception. This is an attempt to address this and to positively identify
those birds I produce as coming from me (for good or for bad) and what bloodlines they contain and have a way for others to verify
their birds are from me and the bloodlines I work with. I keep proof of where my birds came from to assure my buyers of what
bloodlines they are getting and they in turn can provide proof that a bird came from me and my breeding should they want or need to.
It needs to be said that once a breeder's stock gets into the hands of another individual the resulting offspring can be very different
from what the original breeder produces. Things that are not under the control of the original breeder such as who the bird is bred to
(or if the bird is bred at all) can drastically affect the resulting offspring. While I work to get birds from the best bloodlines to work with,
in the end I decide who is bred with whom if they are bred at all, and any offspring are my own unique creation using the building
blocks I got from others.

Starting in 2010 my geese (with the exception of the offspring of the older dewlap toulouse flock) will be indentified
with a permenant sealed band with a number and a letter code on the birds leg. In the certificate of bloodline the band number
and letter code will be notated. For any certificate of bloodline to be valid the band information on the certificate MUST match
the actual band on the bird. The color of the bird in the end might turn out to be incorrect (as in a bird classified as a grey
saddleback turning out to be a grey splash saddleback) but the band absolutely has to match the paperwork. Removing the
sealed band from the leg of the bird invalidates the certificate of bloodline and I can neither vouch for breeding such a bird
or attribute any information linked with the legband to the bird. Bands are applied in a size that the bird can comfortably
wear as an adult and throughout it's life. If you wish to apply your own band, I suggest applying it over/under my
band or on the other leg.

Buyers need to realize that there are alot of dishonest people out there and if there is a way to decieve and make a buck they'll
figure out a way to do it, and the only way to positively guarantee that a bird is of my breeding is to either get it directly from
me, or in the case of buying a bird that is reported to be from me to review the certificate and check it against the band. I cannot
vouch for any offspring produced by my birds once they are in the hands of another individual as someone else is in charge of the
breeding decisions. All claims related to birds of my breeding should be reviewed on a personal basis for credibility and truthfulness.

On Geese as Pets

Geese are beautiful and interesting to have around but one needs to know what one is getting into. Geese poop ALOT, everywhere.
If you make it a pet and it is up on your nice porch area it will poop all over it in short order and keeping it nice and clean will be a
thing of the past. I don't reccomend encouraging geese to be anywhere you don't want to deal with their messes. The amount of poop
they can produce is just amazing- especially when confined in a small area like a pen or cage. They love to play in their water and
splash it EVERYWHERE, keeping their bedding in any kind of good shape while raising them is a challenge. Multi daily
cleaning is the norm and not the exception when raising them. They can and do tear out and eat some types of landscaping,
especially new landscaping. They chew on anything and everything, including wires, ropes/string...think of a toddler and a teething
puppy put together and you have part of the picture and they don't just grow out of it. Then as adults your once sweet baby
becomes a grown up goose and becomes independant and moody. As adults they have drives to protect their flock and their nests
and can become aggressive and LOUD in those attempts and they are not being bad, they can't help it, they are
only doing what their kind has done since time began. Some of these issues can be minimized with careful training and intelligent
management, but most people don't want to spend the time training a dog let alone a goose. Geese can do fine in a backyard, but in short
order the humans seldom do, they are better off as barnyard/acreage pets or lake or pondside pets where they can be away from the
human living areas and do as they need to do and where you can walk out or call them in and visit them as you like. This helps maintain happy
relations as the pressure is off them and the humans both. You also don't want to share your swimming pool with a duck or goose.
The minute they hit water they poop and continue pooping. If you want geese and you have a pool you probably should make
sure it is fenced off so they do not have access to it- well if you want humans to actually use it. Because of the propensity to be moody
when adults and the ability to inflict a hard bruising pinch, geese do not make good hands on pets for children. Children quickly
want nothing to do with them the first time they are threatened or nipped. A rabbit, chicken or rat is much more appropriate.

Prices
(check for availability and to verify prices before ordering-
Live bird prices are w/out shipping and bio box included,
prices may change without notice (in case I forget to update))

Dewlap Toulouse - Holderread background
(current breeding flock - out of season)

This breeder flock is expected to be available for sale on or about July 2010 forward
3 bonded breeding pairs, '07 hatch- $200 per pair or $600 for the entire breeding flock.
They will only be sold as bonded pairs at the smallest quantity.

Dewlap Toulouse - Direct Holderread's TSQ Goslings-
culled to Top Show & Elite Quality
(upcoming flock - maybe a few available 2010 if they start laying a bit)

All newborns come with certificate of purchase,
started youngsters come with certificate of bloodline, sexed, ID banded

Top Quality Grey Saddleback Pomeranians
(available starting 2010)

All newborns come with certificate of purchase,
started youngsters come with certificate of bloodline, sexed, ID banded

High Quality Sebastopols White and Colored
(available starting 2010)

Any hatching eggs available (little to none) will be advertised on www.eggbid.com unless I have individuals
that have contacted me to be on a list for any eggs I have .
All newborns each come with certificate of purchase and any genetic background info I have,
started youngsters over a month old each come with certificate of bloodline, any genetic background information
I have, sexed, and perm ID banded w/ records kept here.

I am using smooth to curly breedings when possible as this is rumored to help avoid twisted wingtips
though some long time breeders have said that most develop twisted wingtips to some degree
by 3 years anyway no matter what you do. Due to this some smooth chested babies result and themselves can
produce show quality curly youngsters if bred to a curly chested bird of merit. Reportedly-
Smooth chested birds make curly as well as smooth offspring when bred with curlies. Curlies bred with
curlies make all curlies but are rumored to have the higher risk of twisted wingtips. Smooth chested
bred with another smooth chested will make smooth chested as well as affect the overall feathering.

White Sebastopols

Grey/Splash/Spotted/Color Carrying White/Blue
& Saddleback in these colors

Rare
Lavender Carriers, Lavender, Lavender Ice Sebastopols
only about 100 lavenders in the US in 2009 per Holderreads