Adventures in Incubating Shipped Eggs

[Zinjifrah]

Oh man. This is getting me worried. I did "sniff" my eggs this evening. Nothing funky yet.

That one that went bad - I set the eggs on the 1st a.m., on the 6th I opened the incubator for the first turn of the morning and got slapped in the face with a horrible stench. The shell looked fine - it was actually one of the few clean eggs. It was not oozing, however, it WAS discolored, though I only noticed it after sniffing each egg to locate the culprit. It didn't smell like rotten egg at all. It smelled like a decomposition, which is a very unique stench that you never forget once you've encountered it. The discoloration was that it went from a normal, creamy white-beige Serama egg color to a cool grey-white. When cracked open, it had a normal looking yolk, a normal looking albumen, and just maybe a drop or two worth of brownish-red slime. The inside of the shell looked fine. Just to make sure my nose wasn't broken, I did have someone else come sniff it for me before breaking it open, and confirm that it smelled bad.

 

[Cerise1924]

Hi, @Morrigan ! Just jumping in here because I'm currently incubating shipped eggs from Papa's. I've gotten good hatches from Papa's Poultry before, and I ordered from them for the same reasons you did - they are reasonably close and they had the breeds I wanted (Orpingtons and Crested Cream Legbars). However, this is turning out to be one of the worst hatches for me.

I got six eggs, all with loose air cells, one really dirty, and several very porous. I gave them the best shipped egg treatment, setting them upright to rest, not turning them the first few days, etc. One showed a blood ring pretty quickly. Three never showed any sign of development. One was hard to read, but started breaking out in bumps, so I tossed it before it exploded. The two Lemon Orpington eggs showed veining, though, and I put them under my broody. It's Day 14 and getting dark, so I think I'll go candle. I feel I'll be lucky to get one chick out of this batch.

I did hatch a gorgeous Marans from Papa's, and lovely Easter Eggers, last summer, and stunning Jubilee Orpingtons. Maybe this was just a rough transit, or perhaps the location of my incubator was not good.

I really hope you have good luck with your hatch! Keep us posted!

-Cerise

 

[Zinjifrah]

Okay, so I lied and it got dark so I went ahead and candled. I'm impatient! I just took a quick peek because... well, honestly, because I'm suspicious of the effects too much bright light would have on developing ocular nerves.

22 egg set on the 1st.
1 egg culled on the 6th.
8 eggs culled on the 9th
13 eggs alive and squirming - including Tiny! - on the 11th.

I didn't actually watch long enough to see squirming from them all, but most were visibly moving when I peeked. All appeared to be at the same stage of development.

Tiny is about 1/2 - 2/3 the size of the other eggs. I was incredulous to see development, let alone to have it make it this far.

 

[Morrigan]

Hi, @Morrigan ! Just jumping in here because I'm currently incubating shipped eggs from Papa's. I've gotten good hatches from Papa's Poultry before, and I ordered from them for the same reasons you did - they are reasonably close and they had the breeds I wanted (Orpingtons and Crested Cream Legbars). However, this is turning out to be one of the worst hatches for me.

I got six eggs, all with loose air cells, one really dirty, and several very porous. I gave them the best shipped egg treatment, setting them upright to rest, not turning them the first few days, etc. One showed a blood ring pretty quickly. Three never showed any sign of development. One was hard to read, but started breaking out in bumps, so I tossed it before it exploded. The two Lemon Orpington eggs showed veining, though, and I put them under my broody. It's Day 14 and getting dark, so I think I'll go candle. I feel I'll be lucky to get one chick out of this batch.

I did hatch a gorgeous Marans from Papa's, and lovely Easter Eggers, last summer, and stunning Jubilee Orpingtons. Maybe this was just a rough transit, or perhaps the location of my incubator was not good.

I really hope you have good luck with your hatch! Keep us posted!

-Cerise

Thank you so much and I really appreciate the input. I'm trying to be realistic without being totally pessimistic. Two eggs in my batch were quite porous. A couple more were somewhat dirty (but not dirtier than I have hatched from my yard). 3 or 4 had large egg cells. I will use my best practices and see what hatches. Based on your post, I will be sniffing the heck out of these eggs on a regular basis. Fingers remained crossed. It's so hard too find good sources.

ETA: Please keep me posted. Hoping your last 2 make it.

 

[Morrigan]

Okay, so I lied and it got dark so I went ahead and candled. I'm impatient! I just took a quick peek because... well, honestly, because I'm suspicious of the effects too much bright light would have on developing ocular nerves.

22 egg set on the 1st.
1 egg culled on the 6th.
8 eggs culled on the 9th
13 eggs alive and squirming - including Tiny! - on the 11th.

I didn't actually watch long enough to see squirming from them all, but most were visibly moving when I peeked. All appeared to be at the same stage of development.

Tiny is about 1/2 - 2/3 the size of the other eggs. I was incredulous to see development, let alone to have it make it this far.

Exciting about your squirmers. And, a tiny egg!

 

[Zinjifrah]

Exciting about your squirmers. And, a tiny egg!

It's strangely fascinating to watch. Now I just have to be patient and limit myself to turning them for the next week, before I peek again.

 

[Cerise1924]

Well, after sitting diligently on the eggs for two full weeks, my little broody moved over to another nest box and was sitting on infertile eggs, leaving the shipped eggs cold!

I confiscated the eggs she was on, and put her back in her proper box. One of the shipped Orp eggs looked a mess - the one that I thought had veining at 7 days, but wasn't quite sure. The one that really looked good at Day 7 still looks great! Hopefully, it wasn't compromised by her absence, and hopefully she'll follow through.

As a consolation prize for this poor hatch, I now have 29 more shipped eggs in my incubators! I've had great hatches before, and so I won't give up.

Good luck to all!

 

[Christinecam]

I've always hatched shipped eggs. I live in Maryland the furthest I've had them shipped from is Texas. I always ask the seller to pack them a particular way, as one of my sellers does and hands down I've never had a single problem with any eggs from her. I've hatched close to 300 chicks in a year. The biggest problem I have is if they get on the delivery truck rather being held at the PO. I always ask the each egg is individually wrapped in bubble wrap, and sealed with a small piece of tape, in a smaller box and extra air filled or bubble wrap to make sure the eggs don't move. I ask that they be placed in the box small side down. (I've never had one shift) and that box be placed in a bigger box with arrows, that is with air packed bags, styrofoam etc to make sure that it is keeping the box with eggs in place. And last the box be marked "Live hatching eggs, do not x-ray, fragile, with my phone number and to be "held for pick up". Good luck!

 

[NNYchick]

I've always hatched shipped eggs. I live in Maryland the furthest I've had them shipped from is Texas. I always ask the seller to pack them a particular way, as one of my sellers does and hands down I've never had a single problem with any eggs from her. I've hatched close to 300 chicks in a year. The biggest problem I have is if they get on the delivery truck rather being held at the PO. I always ask the each egg is individually wrapped in bubble wrap, and sealed with a small piece of tape, in a smaller box and extra air filled or bubble wrap to make sure the eggs don't move. I ask that they be placed in the box small side down. (I've never had one shift) and that box be placed in a bigger box with arrows, that is with air packed bags, styrofoam etc to make sure that it is keeping the box with eggs in place. And last the box be marked "Live hatching eggs, do not x-ray, fragile, with my phone number and to be "held for pick up". Good luck!

This is similar to how my eggs arrived. Breeder individually wrapped each egg in bubble wrap but fat end up in styrofoam egg carton. Wrapped egg carton in bubble wrap, put in box with more packaging around carton. Then put smaller box in a larger box with more packing to keep smaller box in place. Plus she told me she collected that day and never ships anything that is older than 3 days. Which I believe because they had almost no air cell. I was happy I don’t think she could have done anything better on her end. I also ordered a dozen and she sent 18 which I thought was generous.

 

[Kiki]

I’m about certain you cannot hatch grocery store eggs...they are egg layers in mass production and never get mated

Depends on which grocery store you shop at.