Only shipped eggs stopped developing?

[AloneNTheGarden]

This is my first year incubating chicken eggs (previously only done quail). I’m on my 3rd batch, and I’ve yet to have a “normal” experience, so I’m looking for answers of what’s gone wrong this time. My first batch went through something awful during shipping and only 7 of 18 arrived to me undamaged. Of those 7, only 4 hatched but that seemed pretty successful given my inexperience with chicken eggs and the trauma they went through in shipment. I had a second batch I put in my “back up” incubator while the first batch was in my good one. None of those hatched due to serious malfunctions with said “back up” incubator. So, I decided to try again in my good bator once the first round had hatched.

This time, I had 17 eggs that were shipped, plus 8 from my parent’s chickens in the bator. I got excited when I first candled to see that all but 3 of the shipped eggs had some sort of something going on inside. Now that they’re just a couple days away from lockdown, I decided to candle once more and it looks like only 4 of the 14 good shipped eggs continued to develop. The other 10 looked pretty much as they had when I first candled on day 5. On the other hand, all the eggs from my parents are good and developing as they should. So, now I’m wondering if this is a shipped egg issue or a me issue. I know shipped eggs have lower hatch rates in general, but I guess what I’m asking is would shipped eggs just stop developing without there being some other issue involved? I would think if there were another issue, the eggs my parents gave me would’ve stopped as well, right? Is it a coincidence? By the by, I have 2 secondary Rh/temp gauges in the incubator and they are connected to my phone. I’m able to see all temp and rh data for the entire duration of incubation and I see nothing wrong with the incubator stats.

 

[nuthatched]

It's not unusual for shipped eggs to just stop, either the shipping was too much or less likely,, their was a deficiency in the parent flock

 

[JacinLarkwell]

This is my first year incubating chicken eggs (previously only done quail). I’m on my 3rd batch, and I’ve yet to have a “normal” experience, so I’m looking for answers of what’s gone wrong this time. My first batch went through something awful during shipping and only 7 of 18 arrived to me undamaged. Of those 7, only 4 hatched but that seemed pretty successful given my inexperience with chicken eggs and the trauma they went through in shipment. I had a second batch I put in my “back up” incubator while the first batch was in my good one. None of those hatched due to serious malfunctions with said “back up” incubator. So, I decided to try again in my good bator once the first round had hatched.

This time, I had 17 eggs that were shipped, plus 8 from my parent’s chickens in the bator. I got excited when I first candled to see that all but 3 of the shipped eggs had some sort of something going on inside. Now that they’re just a couple days away from lockdown, I decided to candle once more and it looks like only 4 of the 14 good shipped eggs continued to develop. The other 10 looked pretty much as they had when I first candled on day 5. On the other hand, all the eggs from my parents are good and developing as they should. So, now I’m wondering if this is a shipped egg issue or a me issue. I know shipped eggs have lower hatch rates in general, but I guess what I’m asking is would shipped eggs just stop developing without there being some other issue involved? I would think if there were another issue, the eggs my parents gave me would’ve stopped as well, right? Is it a coincidence? By the by, I have 2 secondary Rh/temp gauges in the incubator and they are connected to my phone. I’m able to see all temp and rh data for the entire duration of incubation and I see nothing wrong with the incubator stats.

It's possible. Eggs go through a lot of trama in the mail routes.

 

[Finnie]

Agree.

When your home grown eggs do fine while the shipped eggs do not, it’s the eggs, not the incubator.

 

[AloneNTheGarden]

It's not unusual for shipped eggs to just stop, either the shipping was too much or less likely,, their was a deficiency in the parent flock

Thank you!

 

[AloneNTheGarden]

Agree.

When your home grown eggs do fine while the shipped eggs do not, it’s the eggs, not the incubator.

Thank you! I’m admittedly very hard on myself and often think I’m the one doing something wrong. This is reassuring.

 

[AloneNTheGarden]

It's possible. Eggs go through a lot of trama in the mail routes.

I appreciate the help! This is the extent of my experience with shipped eggs so far, and for whatever reason, I had the idea that if they had gone through too much, they just simply wouldn’t develop at all.

 

[Finnie]

I appreciate the help! This is the extent of my experience with shipped eggs so far, and for whatever reason, I had the idea that if they had gone through too much, they just simply wouldn’t develop at all.

Nope! They can start and then quit at any time.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Thank you! I’m admittedly very hard on myself and often think I’m the one doing something wrong. This is reassuring.

Whenever I have shipped eggs, I keep some slots open for my own eggs as well, to use as a control. My eggs often have no issues developing, so if they're doing okay and the shipped eggs aren't, I know it's not the incubator. If none are doing okay, then it's the incubator

 

[AloneNTheGarden]

Whenever I have shipped eggs, I keep some slots open for my own eggs as well, to use as a control. My eggs often have no issues developing, so if they're doing okay and the shipped eggs aren't, I know it's not the incubator. If none are doing okay, then it's the incubator

Great idea! I was hoping to gain a couple breeds I’ve been wanting by buying the eggs this time around, but I think I’ll take a break from shipped eggs for now. If I get more in the future, I will definitely be doing it this way.