How risky is buying hatching eggs this time of year?

Hholly

Songster
Jul 3, 2015
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206
Amo, IN
So, It's COLD outside. But I want to try hatching some chicks. Is it realistic that if I order hatching eggs, this time of year, that any would survive?
Also, what should i look for in a seller to have the best chance of healthy chicks?
Thanks for any advice/info.
 
Well anytime you buy shipped eggs is risky. it's like gambling, you never know what's going to happen. And it's even riskier if you buy during the winter,so the odds are almost impossible to tell.
 
I've read that fertility goes way down when the shipped eggs get cold. Is this from being on the truck, because I'd assume the post offices would be heated. Or is egg fertility in general less because of the cold weather?
 
i know many won't agree but........... as long as the egg doesn't freeze it'll be fine temp wise. with extremely low temps the chances of freezing are far greater then they are as of today (looking at the current US temp map)

the eggs will hold in some heat because of their mass, the padding in the shipping box will insulate that helping to hold temps for longer periods and then when/if the package is placed in an unheated environment (back of a trailer for transport) the mass of all the other boxes helps keep the temp above what the outside temperature is and it will take many hours before the temp inside the box equalizes with the outside temp.
 
Thanks for the opinions everyone. I was interested in raising some chicks this winter and wondered about the hatching eggs since there seem to be plenty for sale right now on Ebay and elsewhere. I realize there are never guarantees on any shipped eggs. Just wondered if there was a significant risk of low/no hatch on shipped eggs during the cold months compared to other times of year.
@JetCat, You make a lot of sense.
Thanks all!
 
I ordered 24 hatching eggs and they just shipped today. They are being shipped from Ohio and I am in Utah. I imagine I will be getting them Friday, because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Like others have said it is a gamble with numerous independent and unknown variables. However, that is part of the experience. We'll see how this hatch works out :)
 
I ordered 24 hatching eggs and they just shipped today. They are being shipped from Ohio and I am in Utah. I imagine I will be getting them Friday, because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Like others have said it is a gamble with numerous independent and unknown variables. However, that is part of the experience. We'll see how this hatch works out :)

Good luck! Let us know how they do, will ya?
 
So, far not so well. They were supposed to arrive today. It has been 3 business days even excluding Thanksgiving and I my tracking number says it has only moved 63 miles in 4 days!!! They just barely left Cleveland, Ohio. I doubt they are going to make it to Utah by tomorrow, Saturday. This is going to get really interesting, especially if they get delivered on Monday. That will make it a week that they have been in the hands of the USPS. Maybe this could be an example of a worst case scenario to answer the original question about buying hatching eggs this time of year.
smile.png
 
So, far not so well. They were supposed to arrive today. It has been 3 business days even excluding Thanksgiving and I my tracking number says it has only moved 63 miles in 4 days!!! They just barely left Cleveland, Ohio. I doubt they are going to make it to Utah by tomorrow, Saturday. This is going to get really interesting, especially if they get delivered on Monday. That will make it a week that they have been in the hands of the USPS. Maybe this could be an example of a worst case scenario to answer the original question about buying hatching eggs this time of year.
smile.png
Oh, no! Hope they still hatch or you. Have you been in contact with the seller? I thought Priority Mail was supposed to be 3 days max.
 

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