2005 was a banner year for the Mink Hollow Farm School Hatching Program. Unfortunately, it was also a trying year, as we experienced an unacceptably high number of special requests and demands from teachers. While many schools, teachers, and parent volunteers have been very respectful of our policies, there have been enough who were not to prompt this notice. Although we have tried to inform all of the teachers who work with us of our policies, it has become necessary to post this notice. If we are to continue to provide this service to schools, we must ask again that all schools and teachers respect our policies and practices.

We at Mink Hollow Farm believe very strongly in the importance and value of the hatching program; so much so, in fact that for the past 15 years, we have continued to make this program available to local schools through our own donations of countless hours spent preparing the program, maintaining the website and providing expert support in person, and by phone and email. In addition, we subsidize the program further by donating thousands of dollars per year to maintain the animals so that schools will have eggs to hatch at a price most schools can afford. Please understand that this is not a business. We do not make a profit from this program, and it bears repeating that it costs us between three and four times more than we make to maintain the birds. We provide this program from our private home, and the time we donate must be reconciled with time we spend at our professions and full-time occupations, with our family, with our other farm duties, and with the other aspects of our lives.

We are not a business. The farm is our home. Please respect our right to some privacy by respecting the hours we have set for pick-ups and drop-offs. Pick-up times are on Sunday from 12-5 (ONLY - see note at bottom of page). Pick-ups MUST be confirmed by phone or email. We take ducklings back on Fridays after school until 8pm, and on Sundays from 12-5. It has been our policy to be as accommodating as possible when people run out of feed, but please plan ahead as we will no longer offer this service other than during our regular pick-up and drop off times.

Please do NOT tell parent volunteers that it is OK to come by our house at all hours on any day, as it is NOT OK. Out of respect for the animals involved, we have not turned anyone away. Please do NOT assume that we are available simply because we are home. Please do not ask us to make exceptions if these times are inconvenient for you. Understand that we are providing a service to teachers and schools. If you cannot arrange a pick-up or drop-off during the times available, then perhaps you will have to book your kit for a different week, or find a different supplier for your eggs.

Please make sure that the incubator is properly set up well ahead of time, and please make sure that people coming to pick up eggs are properly briefed and prepared to transport the eggs safely. People who come to the farm unprepared to transport the eggs safely, or schools that have not prepared the incubator ahead of time will be turned away, and the school will be charged for the waste of a “kit”. Being unprepared demonstrates a lack of respect for the lives of the animals involved and we at the farm will not permit our animals to be placed in danger in this way.

Schools and teachers who are not properly prepared, or do not respect our boundaries will be noted and will not be provided with hatching kits in the future. Teachers or volunteers who become hostile, rude, or insulting will not be tolerated.

We thank you for you understanding and attention to these matters.

Respectfully,

Drs. J.R. Parker & K.Becker
Mink Hollow Farm

Note: We are aware of the policy changes that affect access to schools on weekends. We are attempting to devise an alternative approach to Sunday pickups, but it is complicated by the fact that we have children in school as well as full-time jobs. Unless otherwise informed, the Sunday pick-ups will remain the only option.