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I am looking for advice from both pig breeders/producers and purchasers.
I have been breeding and selling weaner pigs for a few years now and have a lot of repeat business as my piglets are raised in a happy and healthy manner and grow very well.
I took an order this year from a family who were looking for 2 piglets for their daughter to raise. They came out and picked 2 girls from the same litter, and brought with them a family member who had raised pigs himself so was there as their professional 'help' to pick the right ones.
I have only ever had one piglet returned to me because my kids accidentally caught a boy instead of a girl that the people wanted.
These people had turned a garden into a small turn out area for the piglets, so I don't know what had been in that soil before, and they also had someone come to their property to spray for mosquitoes apparently the day after they picked up the piglets.
Within 24 hours one of the piglets had died ... I have never had one of my piglets die once they left my property before. I felt it was fair to replace the piglet so they came the next day and picked out another one. By day 3 the other original one they took was listless and throwing up black vomit. By day 5 both of the remaining piglets had died.
My neighbor is a vet so I picked up the 2 piglets and she did a postmortem. As I suspected with the black vomit she said they were exposed to something toxic. It could not have happened at my farm as they had not been put outside before they were purchased and had been living in an indoor enclosure that was very clean. All of the remaining piglets that were housed with them are perfectly fine, although I have not allowed any more to leave yet until I can be sure that they are perfectly healthy.
Here is my dilemma, aside from the fact that these 3 piglets died ... of course the people feel that I should give them a full refund for the 2 piglets that they purchased, but they seem to have been exposed to something toxic in their care. Should I refund their money ... or part of it ... I am not sure what my obligation to them should be, as I am also out 3 piglets if I refund their full purchase price.
What would you do? I can't prove what they got into, nor do I know if the spray for mosquitoes could be what poisoned them, but we have never had any problems before or since, so I don't know what is the right thing to do in this instance.
Any advice would be appreciated.
I have been breeding and selling weaner pigs for a few years now and have a lot of repeat business as my piglets are raised in a happy and healthy manner and grow very well.
I took an order this year from a family who were looking for 2 piglets for their daughter to raise. They came out and picked 2 girls from the same litter, and brought with them a family member who had raised pigs himself so was there as their professional 'help' to pick the right ones.
I have only ever had one piglet returned to me because my kids accidentally caught a boy instead of a girl that the people wanted.
These people had turned a garden into a small turn out area for the piglets, so I don't know what had been in that soil before, and they also had someone come to their property to spray for mosquitoes apparently the day after they picked up the piglets.
Within 24 hours one of the piglets had died ... I have never had one of my piglets die once they left my property before. I felt it was fair to replace the piglet so they came the next day and picked out another one. By day 3 the other original one they took was listless and throwing up black vomit. By day 5 both of the remaining piglets had died.
My neighbor is a vet so I picked up the 2 piglets and she did a postmortem. As I suspected with the black vomit she said they were exposed to something toxic. It could not have happened at my farm as they had not been put outside before they were purchased and had been living in an indoor enclosure that was very clean. All of the remaining piglets that were housed with them are perfectly fine, although I have not allowed any more to leave yet until I can be sure that they are perfectly healthy.
Here is my dilemma, aside from the fact that these 3 piglets died ... of course the people feel that I should give them a full refund for the 2 piglets that they purchased, but they seem to have been exposed to something toxic in their care. Should I refund their money ... or part of it ... I am not sure what my obligation to them should be, as I am also out 3 piglets if I refund their full purchase price.
What would you do? I can't prove what they got into, nor do I know if the spray for mosquitoes could be what poisoned them, but we have never had any problems before or since, so I don't know what is the right thing to do in this instance.
Any advice would be appreciated.
