What is the best method of packing & shipping fertile eggs? I want to hear about your best and worst experiences. Bonus: Provide photos for the visual learners.
Best - the eggs were individually bubble wrapped and spaced apart stored in sturdy cartons which were also taped closed on the outside and then the cartons wrapped in foam with large peanuts in the box for filler and boxed, taped and marked fragile. No cracks or breaks at all.
Worst - the eggs were put in paper egg cartons filled with paper shavings and paper shaving all inside the box. Four out of twelve broken or cracked. It was terrible.
I hate when they use shredded paper to fill in the gaps. That inevitably winds up all over my house. I have cats who somehow manage to get some of it into the strangest places. Popcorn is way better. I take an old bread sack and pick out the popcorn first.
I use pipe insulators. I cut them into holders to hold one egg each.
I cut chunks off my roll of small bubblewrap, layer it in the bottom and on the sides of the box, put the first layer of eggs in, then scrunch some up to fill in the gaps with that. Put a few more layers of the bubble wrap and the second row of eggs. I make sure when I'm done, nothing can move in there. I don't apparently have a picture of mine, so I'll steal @Slothinc's Mine look just like this but have the tiny bubble, bubble wrap around.
Foam is by far the best, one guy put quail eggs in a plastic egg container (some of the eggs were too big), wrapped it in a couple bubble wrap envelopes and mailed it, 5/15 crushed. Every time I get eggs in foam I’ve never lost an egg.
I have the best hatch rates from eggs wrapped in bubble wrap and placed inside pipe isolators. I kind of like the foam but if it's to soft I've had order I've received broken eggs and it's a mess. Also I've almost always had broken eggs that have been placed in egg cartons. It's just not enough protection in my opinion.
I ship my eggs couple different ways depending on how many are being sent. Either firm foam shippers or the bubble wrap and pipe isolators. I've yet to have a customer tell me they received broken eggs.
Here are some orders I've received as a buyer. Definitely some different ways of wrapping and for the most part they all weren't bad.