any body have fantastic shipping results on hatching eggs?

[Bantymama]

The lines are visable on the out side and kinda dark.

 

[chickhamm]

I set my first set of mailed eggs, they are about 11 days now and when i candled i only had to toss 3 out of 15. I have had some good hatches and bad hatches from mailed eggs it very hit or miss i think.

Theressa
Creatively Woven Baskets
GA

 

[silkiechicken]

Shipping is dangerous... if you really can't find someone local, find someone who is as close to you as possible to minimize the time in transit. Good luck!

 

[MNKris]

I have only done it once, and I only had about 45% grow. I have more coming in March and April, which I hope will work out better than this first time. With my own eggs, I get about 90-100% growth.

From now on, I am going to order twice the number of eggs for the number of chicks I want. If I want 12 chicks, I am going to order 24 eggs. That way, I may have some extras, but at least hopefully I will get close to the number I want.

What I wish is that people would ship based on an expected 50% hatch, kind of like the hatcheries sending extra chicks. So if you ordered a dozen, they would send 18-24 eggs. So many that ship eggs say sorry, "I can't help it if they don't hatch", "I am not responsible for anything that happens to these eggs after they leave my place", etc., when the buyer is taking on the whole financial burden. The buyer can't help how they are shipped either, or if they are stored and collected correctly. It really bummed me out when I paid top dollar for eggs (like $5/egg) that arrive dirty, poorly packed and porous.

Many I would have never set myself. Live and learn, wishful thinking I guess. I know there are a lot of good egg sellers too, and I hope my next ones turn out a lot better than the first. $5/egg gets pretty expensive quick.

 

[jab91864]

The best hatch I ever had (last year) on shipped eggs was someone from my own state. The eggs go through a lot less torture. Shipping is risky...shaking, dropping, tossing, weather extremes, x-raying packages.

When buying eggs I try not to spend more than I can afford to lose because quite frankly it's a gamble.

I had a big order of eggs last month and almost all the eggs were clear...nadda, nothing...huge disappointment.
Last weekend I put 2 doz of my own eggs in the bator...candled last night. Only found 1 clear egg.

Best of luck and don't give up, it can be discouraging but it can only get better right...

Julie

 

[tebs78]

I wish I had my own eggs to incubate. I guess maybe I should buy some local chicks around Easter so I have some for next year. I did that last year, but between my fil's dog and a fox, I have one loner chicken running around and no rooster. Infact I am not even sure she is laying though she is plenty old. She gets free range of the ranch and so if she is laying I don't know where at. I have since been working on a chicken coop with my husband. Just no chickens to fill.

Montana winters aren't friendly so locally I don't think they are laying yet, or are fertile yet. I did have a lady from church bring in some RIR eggs, and I asked her how many roosters she had she said only 1 and had 15 hens. Not sure how fertile those would be either in that case.

 

[mothergoose]

Yep, Julie is right. Shipping & recieving shipped eggs are as close to gambling as I get, but it is indeed a gamble. Lots of factors play a part in the outcome.

I personally love getting eggs from all over the country from some of the most respected breeders in the industry. I could'nt afford to buy birds from those same breeders and have them shipped to me. So, eggs are the way I go. I have had my fair share of zero hatches and some near 100%. Overall it seems to balance out and I could'nt imagine quiting...I am a hatchaholic.
But, I do my best to treat my customers the way I hope to be treated myself. I try to include extras when I ship eggs and I offer to replace eggs no matter what happens..broke in shipping, poor hatch, your power goes out and all developing eggs die...etc. All I ever ask for is the cost of shipping on resending orders. I love hatching and raising birds and I try to make sure that everyone that buys my eggs is happy with what they get in the end.
The best thing you can do is start here on byc, you will definetly find fellow chicken fanciers that will do their best to help you end up with a sucsessful hatch. Once you get that first hatch you will be forever hooked!
Hang in there,
Christie

 

[mothergoose]

If you can get your hands on some of those RIR eggs, you would be suprised how fertile they could be. 1 rooster could service all 15. Definetly worth a try!
Christie

 

[Haviris]

I'm working on my second batch now. Out of the first batch I had one clear out of 8, and out of the second batch I had 2 clear out of 9. It took 4 days for the 1st ones to get to me and 5 days for the second.

I didn't have a very good hatch from the first ones, but I think it was an incubation problem, only one live chick, but the other 6 eggs, all made it to the last day (some hatched and died though). This next batch is due Saturday and so far they are all looking good!

 

[lannabun]

Im with Christie on this one i would try the RIR .. i get mutt eggs from my daughters bf and theres i belive 2 roos and over 22 hens . i might have one thats no good .. so its worth a try ...