Being one of the owners of McCallums Flock I figured I'ld post a comment here.
We sell a number of breeds of chickens, we typically sell eggs although we
occasionally have birds.
I noticed that Clover Leaf is in Oregon. Were your eggs delivered by FedEx or by US Priority Mail?
We usually use FedEx because they normally do a better job of shipping, are more dependable on
their shipping guarantees, and frankly they are just better. Also, US Mail sometimes x-ray's shipments leading to very poor or nil hatch rates. Here is the crazy part: Much of what is sent via US Priority Mail actually gets shipped by FedEx!!! So, the US mail handles your package, potentially x-rays it, then dumps it at FedEx who also handles it....thus leading to even lengthier delays!
Different breeds hatch at different rates,
and some are more susceptible to shipping stress than others. Of special concern is heat and humidity stress during shipping. We are in Texas, you are in Oregon. I would expect a much lower hatch rate after what was a 4 day shipment IF using FedEx. US Priority Mail would likely take at least 4 days to deliver, possibly longer. However, we have shipped at least a half dozen shipments to Alaska, (inlcuding Anchorage last month) and got hatches. But admittedly, I dont' think their hatches were very good in Alaska! We typically put in a number of extras (how many depends on how well they are laying!)
My recommendation to anyone who is buying eggs for shipment to estimate how long it takes for the eggs to arrive. The seller should be able to tell you. If the shipment is going to take 4 days, you probably want to either buy from a different seller or arrange for more rapid shipment. However, if eggs are shipped xpress air, they can be damaged due to decompression and cold on the plane. So, anytime you buy eggs, its a hit or miss. However, many folk have paid extra for xpress shipping and had reasonable to excellent hatch rates. I dont' really think that shipping that way is financially worthwhile though, but if that is what the buyer wants we do it.
The first time I bought eggs was button quail almost ten years ago. I bought 36 and 1 hatched. At the time, I thought it was the seller. Today, having purchased many many eggs from people on the web I realize that so many things can happen during shipping that you never know. Still, most people get better than what Clover Leaf got. Every so often someone gets 100%, but I must say I consider that luck. IF you are getting eggs shipped to you, and you have a lot of experience hatching and a very good incubator (maybe a sportsman incubator for example) then getting 50-60% hatch is a reasonable expectation. If you are using a lesser model, you can still get that high, but the humidity tends to jump around a bit in incubators like those styrofoam models. If you have only hatched a few times, or never before you will probably not get a great hatch. I read somewhere that you should expect 30% hatch on shipped eggs, but I can tell you that an inexperienced person may not get that high. I can't recall getting that bad of a hatch from eggs shipped to me in years. But, we know what we are doing when hatching. When we hatch our own eggs we get great hatches, but these have not been shipped so if we get 99% hatch it doesn't mean a whole lot to someone who is going to hatch shipped eggs. Generally, I don't get too concerned about buying eggs so long as they are NPIP screened in the case of chickens, and also additional screening for Turkeys and pheasant. You can have very good success with shipped eggs. One thing, I put them right in the incubator instead of leaving them sit around like many websites suggest. But, this is my opinion and I have not sat down and quantified it!
If you have any questions about hatching eggs or other related issues, please contact Jamie at the website. She will gladly help you out with about anything.
But, I'm choosing another way...Cloverleaf, I'm sorry you had such crappy hatch-rates. One of the main reasons I have chosen NOT to hatch eggs shipped.
