Anyone else having a problem with shipping eggs this year???

[Elite Silkies]

I had 21 eggs shipped from Arizona and 11 are developing, so that's not too bad. But, I had 14 shipped from Texas and only 2 out of 8 white eggs that I can see are developing, the others are too dark to see anything yet.

I shipped 12 eggs to California and the box was smashed, but there was no broken eggs, but I am sure the air cells detached. I haven't heard anything yet on how they are doing.

 

[msteresaann]

I am very happy with the eggs Chris (PeepsInc) sent me.

They traveled from New York to the State of Washington. Sorry, too many people ask DC? when I say I am from Washington. The boxes where in perfect shape.
I had another shipment from someone else that didn't fair as well, but they were not packed as well either.

At first glance they looked well packed, lots of bubble wrap. But there was too much room to move around in, with eggs even a little is too much.

 

[jenlynn4]

I have used several different packageing methods this year. they eggs alwayas get there in tact, but some have loose air cells and many of them dont develop. I know they are fertile because I jsut reciently set 18 eggs in my bator and all grew! I just dont get it. They must be getting exposed to more x rays and more vibration. I purposely use the smallest box I can because my friend told me (who works at the post office) they they stack the boxes with the biggest ones on the bottom. It USE to work, but I havent had the same excellent track record this spring as in the past 6 year. Its jsut so wierd. JEN

 

[chickintexas]

Quote:
Since you mentioned FL, I've been wondering if the postal system out there is run by Barbarians!! I ordered Silkie eggs from a breeder out there and she had to ship eggs to me in two separate batches. The first batch of 6, half had broken air cells and none made it to lockdown. On the second shipment of 8, only two made it to my incubator and so far, only one looks like it'll make it to lockdown. The rest had the broken air cell. I don't blame the breeder at all and thankfully I didn't spend a fortune on the eggs. During the time frame of getting those eggs from FL, I had also received eggs from Mississippi and Virginia. Much better results from those.
I'm not trying to say that all of FL has a bad postal service. Maybe a particular area?

 

[MissD'uccle]

I've had a terrible time with shipped eggs also this year. Way more than usual at least. I sent some golden cuckoo marans to my sister and took extra care with them. What i did was took the postage box which i have at home and reinforced the sides with paint sticks glued to the inside. Wish i had taken pictures but it made the box more sturdy. Anyways they arrived safely. I'll need to test it more though to see if it was actually the sticks support which made a difference

 

[asher]

Quote:
Absolutely.

Are your boxes (of whatever size) normally smooshed or are the eggs inside mostly addled? I don't think the box being on the bottom would create the yolks to be addled, would they?

I don't know of anyone in our office that throws packages except the clerks when they put them in the buggies. That's how they sort them. I'm not sure what their policies are on fragile packages. I DO know that certified, Express and registered packages are handled totally differently because the accountable clerk has to hand them to us, we have to sign for them and then deliver them. They do not get thrown in to the regular buggies by the sorting clerks like all of the other packages do. (At least at the ending P.O. I don't know about the sorting facility.)

 

[mayberrygirl]

asher - I PM'd you on some info

 

[ChooksChick]

Quote:
I worked for a long time as a 'preloader' at UPS- my mom did for 17 years. A preloader takes sorted packages off of a belt and loads a semi-trailer with them, an effort to leave NO AIR SPACE is the goal. You take special classes where you're taught to play a real life game of Tetris to make sure no big gaps get left, and to make sure that stacks aren't unsupported.

Many times a package gets turned sideways despite arrows, or gets dropped off the belt accidentally. Oftentimes the belts get turned on before the loader is ready and packages pile up in a way you can't possible imagine until you've seen a plant with HUNDREDS of miles of conveyor within. Some folks try really, really hard to protect stuff, and at UPS you are fashioned with all kinds of strap on laser-scanning and cameras are on you, etc. Very robocop. It's still a gamble. Fedex does a lot of the conveying for USPS. Their system is a little rougher from what I hear. It is what it is!

The thing I'd like to tell everyone is that it's crucial you put your eggs fat side up, and tape them all together in a brick if you don't use cartons. If they can shift against one another you're doing damage during the shipment. They need to be a whole unit to arrive less shaken. Fat side up keeps them from detaching aircells.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Quote:
Absolutely.

Are your boxes (of whatever size) normally smooshed or are the eggs inside mostly addled? I don't think the box being on the bottom would create the yolks to be addled, would they?

I don't know of anyone in our office that throws packages except the clerks when they put them in the buggies. That's how they sort them. I'm not sure what their policies are on fragile packages. I DO know that certified, Express and registered packages are handled totally differently because the accountable clerk has to hand them to us, we have to sign for them and then deliver them. They do not get thrown in to the regular buggies by the sorting clerks like all of the other packages do. (At least at the ending P.O. I don't know about the sorting facility.)

I learned on the USPS website that I could purchase "special handling" for my priority package. So I did that once to see if perhaps there was a difference in the way the eggs arrived....NOPE. Still several scrambled eggs and loose aircells.

What should one expect with "special handling" for an additional $7.20??

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Quote:
I worked for a long time as a 'preloader' at UPS- my mom did for 17 years. A preloader takes sorted packages off of a belt and loads a semi-trailer with them, an effort to leave NO AIR SPACE is the goal. You take special classes where you're taught to play a real life game of Tetris to make sure no big gaps get left, and to make sure that stacks aren't unsupported.

Many times a package gets turned sideways despite arrows, or gets dropped off the belt accidentally. Oftentimes the belts get turned on before the loader is ready and packages pile up in a way you can't possible imagine until you've seen a plant with HUNDREDS of miles of conveyor within. Some folks try really, really hard to protect stuff, and at UPS you are fashioned with all kinds of strap on laser-scanning and cameras are on you, etc. Very robocop. It's still a gamble. Fedex does a lot of the conveying for USPS. Their system is a little rougher from what I hear. It is what it is!

The thing I'd like to tell everyone is that it's crucial you put your eggs fat side up, and tape them all together in a brick if you don't use cartons. If they can shift against one another you're doing damage during the shipment. They need to be a whole unit to arrive less shaken. Fat side up keeps them from detaching aircells.

Fat side UP doesn't matter if the package is turned on it's side or upside down during shipping though.