Having Fertilized Eggs Shipped

[americanchicks]

Hey all! I decided to get rid of my mix flock and just focus on breeding specific breeds. I already have a flock of ameracunas and I find them way more enjoyable than the mix flock. You get the eggs and Joy of having chickens but also have something to work on. To improve your birds in body and egg color. I want to get some more ameraucans to add to my lines. Also decided on breeding welsummer. The ones I have in the mix flock are good reliable layers. Also since it's a dark egg breed I can dapple in olive eggers.

Here's the question is it worth buying hatching eggs online and have them shipped?
I have never done it. I have heard some horror stories. I was thinking about ordering them from Deer Run Farm but they are literally on the other side of the country from me. So are shipped hatching eggs worth the risk or should I just bite the bullet and spend more for chicks?
Thanks

 

[sourland]

Shipped eggs can be very much a crap shoot as the seller has no control over what happens to them once they are shipped. Can you access local eggs?

 

[BlueBaby]

Different people seem to pack them differently. Some pack them better then other's. I like the one's that double box them and use those egg foam padding, as there seems to be less arrival's of the broken ones. It also depends on what type of weather that they will have to travel through during the leg of their trip at certain time's of the year. Slippery road's can cause accident's, and the post office has no immunity towards them neither.

 

[Gigachad poultry]

Hey all! I decided to get rid of my mix flock and just focus on breeding specific breeds. I already have a flock of ameracunas and I find them way more enjoyable than the mix flock. You get the eggs and Joy of having chickens but also have something to work on. To improve your birds in body and egg color. I want to get some more ameraucans to add to my lines. Also decided on breeding welsummer. The ones I have in the mix flock are good reliable layers. Also since it's a dark egg breed I can dapple in olive eggers.

Here's the question is it worth buying hatching eggs online and have them shipped?
I have never done it. I have heard some horror stories. I was thinking about ordering them from Deer Run Farm but they are literally on the other side of the country from me. So are shipped hatching eggs worth the risk or should I just bite the bullet and spend more for chicks?
Thanks

Have you ever heard of Murray McMurray hatchery? They have some great shipping from what I've heard and they also have lots of different breeds!

 

[AprilWC]

Hatching eggs can definitely be more cost effective than chicks or older birds, but there is risk. I've had chicken and duck eggs shipped 6 times. They say 50% hatch is good for shipped eggs. I've had zero and I've had up to 80% but mostly below 50%.

Even if your breeder packages eggs as carefully as they can, the box may not be handled gently during the shipping process. Rough handling and extreme temperature fluctuation can impact hatchability, even if the egg shell is intact.

You will probably be guaranteed that none of the eggs will arrive to you broken. Beyond that, there usually aren't any guarantees. I have never seen a breeder guarantee that you will get a hatch. That means even if you have a zero hatch rate, the breeder isn't liable to replace the eggs for you or give you a refund. I will say that I've had a breeder reship eggs for me after the postal service lost the box which affected my hatch, it was not part of her sales policy but it made a big impression on me. All I had to pay was for the repeat shipping. I did not ask for this nor expect it to happen.