Unhappy

Hi.

I ordered 48 quail eggs by mail which came a few hours ago. The seller only sent 24 eggs. Of those, 10 were broken. So now I have 14 eggs in my Little Giant. I didn't turn on the egg turner. However, several had yolk from the broken eggs on them. I didn't want to ruin the protective membrane but should I have washed them first? This is my first time incubating and it is off to a shaky beginning.

Thanks, as always, for your help.
Dave

Sorry to hear about your bad experience! Firstly, I would be asking the seller for a refund. They only sent you half what you paid for, so they owe you at least half your money back. If they refuse to work with you, charge them back via Paypal or whatever you used to pay.

Secondly, you can carefully wash the yolk off the eggs, it shouldn't hurt anything. Hopefully the air cells are okay, it sounds like they received quite a beating on the way to you or weren't packed very well

DaveMorehouse said:

Hi.

I ordered 48 quail eggs by mail which came a few hours ago. The seller only sent 24 eggs. Of those, 10 were broken. So now I have 14 eggs in my Little Giant. I didn't turn on the egg turner. However, several had yolk from the broken eggs on them. I didn't want to ruin the protective membrane but should I have washed them first? This is my first time incubating and it is off to a shaky beginning.

Thanks, as always, for your help.
Dave

Click to expand...

Oh no, I'm sorry you're having a bad experience. Incubation is very fun and rewarding, but it's also hard, nerve-wracking work. : (

First of all, you should clean those eggs. A tiny bit of poop/dirt won't hurt them, but the spilled contents of another egg are perfect for microbial growth...If you get some egg cleaner, be sure you wipe them genly and with solution that is WARMER than the egg (otherwise the solution and any bacteria on the surface will go into the pores).

Second, make sure you're following proper procedure for shipped eggs, as far as incubating goes. Especially since some of them were broken, the air cells in these guys may be disrupted, and will require special treatment.

Third, did you toss those broken eggs? How broken were they? Sometimes broken eggs are repairable.

And FOURTH, where did you buy these from? I'm vicariously upset at this seller! Most sellers put EXTRA eggs in, just in case some are busted...This is quite the opposite. You did not receive the product you purchased, and should followup on this. If you got them from Ebay, then you are protected by Ebay policy. Other sites may have similar protections for you. How were they shipped? If they were shipped priority, then they should have insurance. With that many broken eggs, you can claim the insurance on the contents. Hopefully you took pictures of the box before opening and after opening, as well as the broken eggs. If not, hopefully you have some of the evidence still laying around.

Hang in there, man.

Quote: The broken eggs were tossed. Now, for next time, how does one go about repairing cracked eggs for hatching?
Quote:
Hmm, I didn't. I guess, since I am tossing the 14 that arrived okay from the incubator I should clean the egg rails. Denatured alcohol then rinse with water?

Quote:
I'm not into trashing folks in public. The seller has agreed to ship new eggs on Monday. I'll be a week behind my schedule but I can make it work. I am concerned with the shipping though. We live in the middle of nowhere up on Lake Superior. I asked the seller to write Fragile - Live Eggs on the box but, since he uses USPS pickup, I am not certain he will do so. They took a real beating. Our postmistress said they had no way of knowing the package was fragile. As such, it gets tossed around.
Quote:
Does that mean waiting 48 hours to turn on the automatic egg turner? (Or is there more that needs to be done.?)

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If I wait a couple days can I see the air cell by candling them?

Thanks for everyone's help here at the forum. I am reading all I can but there is a lot to remember. I'll get better with experience.

Thanks again,
Dave

I'l just put these in a numbered list to avoid making my post too long. : p

1. Depends on your preference, but you want something that's safe for eggs. Duct tape is too acidic. The most common things I see people use are clear nail polish, scotch tape, and hot wax. You must make sure the candle is unscented if you use hot wax. I use melted crayola, as they are nontoxic, because they're made for little kids that are prone to eating whatever they can grab and put in their mouth. : p

2. You're tossing the okay eggs? Why? As for cleaning your incubator, you need to make sure your cleaner is safe for the material your incubator is made of. There's generally nothing wrong with a bit of 10 percent bleach solution and warm water. Cleaning anything also works best if you have some mechanical action - light scrubbing if it's a delicate material. Don't use ammonia, this is very toxic to eggs.

3. I'm glad they're working with you. Hopefully this will be a learning experience for them, and hopefully that was just an honest mistake re: amount of eggs. Tell them to also set the eggs FAT END UP. This is very important, as it reduces air cell damage.

4. Dealing with detached air cells all depends what you're dealing with there. You can candle eggs even before you set them and see the air cell, and how well it's attached. If it's only a little detached on one end, you can set them somewhat tilted upward for a bit. If the air cell is completely detached, you want to set those eggs vertically, fat end up. This will keep the air at the fat end where it belongs. Eventually, the chorioallantois will develop and stabilize the air pocket...In which case you can set them in a "normal" position, with delicate handling. When to start turning (or tilting, if you're incubating vertically) damaged cells is generally a judgement call - I've seen anywhere from 24 hours to 7 days, with the average being about 3 days on chicken eggs.

It's a lot to learn! I'm still learning every day!

You can do it!