GardenWren
Chirping
What a beautiful girl! Shipped eggs are funny. A friend of mine in KY sent me some black and blue English Orpington eggs. Of 17 11 hatched. Unfortunately we ended up losing all but 6, 2 blues and 4 blacks. I honestly think the damage incurred during shipping affected the vitality of the chicks, even post hatch. I babied the heck out of them, but some just refused to thrive despite my best efforts. This little CS chick, however, is as fiesty and healthy as her hatch mates from our own eggs. I believe you're right about the distance/travel method playing a big role in shipped eggs. I ordered some exhibition Malay and Thai Gamefowl eggs from a breeder in Louisiana. So far so good. I have a small fortune invested in them, so I'm praying they do well. Let me know if you end up getting ahold of the breeder. He was really easy to deal with and has some gorgeous birds. He works solely with lavender and blue birds if I remember right. I know he has the Coronation Sussex, Lavender Orpington and I believe Blue Laced Red Wyandottes too.AWWWW! Congrats on finally getting your Coro Sussex! Your story sounds like mine. I got shipped eggs from a man in KY. The air cells were detached & rolling when they arrived, but 6 developed, 4 made it to lock down, and one hatched. I thought male because the chick had a very pink, then red comb, but it stayed small. I almost gave "him" away for free, but decided to keep it until it crowed. She laid an egg around 8-9 months old. LOL Here she was at 8 weeks old.My advice is to ask the breeder's opinion around 8 wks old if you are unsure of the gender. Also, my daughter did an experiment with shipped eggs 3 years ago. We found that shipped eggs from nearby states had worse hatch rates than those from farther away. NC & TX both did well, but KY & IN eggs were terrible. Perhaps the closer eggs were driven or sent by train & the farther eggs went via airmail. Just a guess. I'm hoping she decides to experiment further with that idea, but this year she wanted to try hatching grocery store , farmers market, & backyard eggs. Last year was chicken training & an experiment with egg shape vs. gender. The year before that was using broody hens vs. an incubator. She certainly has her own ideas, so I must let her decide.
Last edited:
