Bad hatch rate with shipped eggs- RANT...

[growinupinfl]

Quote:
Did you tell him no not now that you just killed the eggs?

Christal

 

[RoRoinGA]

I would definately email the seller. They might replace the eggs with you just paying for shipping. Worth an email. If they all look the same, I would take one out and make sure it is even fertile. Check for the ring.

 

[elizabethbinary]

My mailman oh-so-nicely likes to just chuck my package of eggs towards my door. Ignore the fragile or 'please knock' sticker and the fact I'm, y'know, home... I still manage to find my eggs on their side on my doorstep hours after it was delivered because nobody felt the need to knock.

 

[Smoky73]

I stopped shipping eggs. I hatch almost 100% all the time and check fertility to be sure and AI if no go.

I just got tired of dealing with people last year who did not understand the risks and expected guarantees. My friend asked me why I bother, as since she stopped shipping eggs, things have been so less stressful. I agree.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

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Yeah, I have just about decided to not sell silkie eggs anymore. They are too darn fragile and people get cranky when they spend a lot for eggs that don't hatch. It just doesn't seem worth the trauma.

 

[DMSrabbit]

I have also pondered this dilemma of shipping eggs myself. I am going to start breeding high quality BLRW's and i wanted to sell fertilized eggs to people on ebay and this forum. Having seen all the problems listed on here, and having TONS of problems myself with shipped eggs, i have decided i will only sell fertilized eggs LOCALLY. However, i am going to completely avoid this travesty to all "long distance" customers. I'm just going to sell week old straight run chicks; this way you take all the problems and stress on the eggs out of the equation, and give people what they truly want RESULTS.. I understand shipping is more expensive, but people get LIVE animals of very high quality. I think this might help, because i dont see the Postman getting any easier on the packages, or the eggs every enduring less stress. 9/10 farms and breeders are located in the midwest or the east coast. Thats a long ways from me in Portland, OR, and the eggs have to go through ALOT! to get here..

However; i bought 10 bantam Barnevelder eggs from Ebay. I put them under a broody silkie who was sitting atop some infertile eggs, i candled at day 18 and 2 were infertile. Of the 8 remaining, she hatched 7.. Here they are, HAPPY AS HELL!!

Heres a video of them as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jskFy4ZnOQ

So, shipped eggs can work out, however, almost always the odds are against them...

 

[speedy2020]

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Yeah, I have just about decided to not sell silkie eggs anymore. They are too darn fragile and people get cranky when they spend a lot for eggs that don't hatch. It just doesn't seem worth the trauma.

As long you post the risk and sale them cheap. I am still buying eggs and my requirement is 15+ eggs per auction. The risk is high, but where do you get stock beside on line auction.

 

[sonew123]

again-its all a crap shoot... I have bought many eggs from BYCer's -none from ebay as BYC is home to me. I have had terrible hatches from shipped eggs to me-like 1/12 and 0/40!
I also ship alot of eggs. 100+ shipments this year??

I got news this am that my buyer got 7/7 ( I sent 12 just incase) fabulous right? and that was a long way to travel-
now I got word from another buyer that only hatched out 2/7-(sent 10-just incase) yes they both had the 7-egg incubator from brinsea-this person lived closer-most of the eggs started to grow then stopped??
got another seller that had 14/16 hatch-two that didnt hatch made it to the end but died in shell after pipping-they lived in FL??
Now I got another one who got 2/14!!!! They lived closer to me than anyone of the others listed! Thats terrible but their box came smashed :-( 1 broken egg but from what they could tell me some started some didnt-eggs were almost to dark to tell and after incubating for the whole 3 weeks just in case-kinda a runny mess inside eggs to determine what happened.

Its a total gamble, unfortunately, but its the risk we all take-Im happy to get a few (2-3) out of 12-I truly am and never complain to the seller-not that there's anything wrong with talking to the seller-but I will never blame the seller if I got my eggs in one piece and they are reputable sellers-it wouldnt be right no matter how much I lost. Oh and the 40 eggs I didnt manage to hatch-I did pay ALOT of money as there were 4 different breeds involved-I chalked it up to me being a bad hatcher-seriously Im not very good at it-but I do it ALOT! I had good incubators too!!! I hatch year round almost-Im so sorry for those of you who have bad experiences with shipped eggs-Ive been there but I dont give up-

Right now I have a
75$ BLRW roo I hatched 1/10 ( then I got 26 or 7 BLRW chicks and wound up with 21 roos) but my roo in my breeder pen is a stunner
a 180$ pair of lav orps 2/24!!!!! I bought two different shipments from different places
I had spent 120$ and got 2 SLW roo's 2/14
I could keep the list growing from the last 3 years LOL but there's no need we've all been where you are and with you and had your frustrations

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Quote:
Yeah, I have just about decided to not sell silkie eggs anymore. They are too darn fragile and people get cranky when they spend a lot for eggs that don't hatch. It just doesn't seem worth the trauma.

As long you post the risk and sale them cheap. I am still buying eggs and my requirement is 15+ eggs per auction. The risk is high, but where do you get stock beside on line auction.

But why would I want to sell my really high quality eggs for cheap? It lessens my overall ability to cover my costs AND cheapens my breeding program. I spent A LOT of money to acquire these chickens in the first place. They are not mutts, nor are they hatchery quality. They are really, really nice chickens. Why would I want to sell them for cheap?

I purchased all of my ameraucanas as eggs. I purchased 24+ eggs from three different breeders at total cost of $150. I ended up with 10 chicks. I kept four hens and 2 roos. I have since moved one hen to my eating egg pen due to bad genetics from her parent stock that I was unaware of. I had to get rid of all of the chickens from that hatch AND all of their offspring. One whole summer of breeding shot. Am I happy that I paid essentially $30 per breeding chicken? Nope. Is it worth it to know that I have great stock? Yes. It was worth it to me to have good beginner stock in my pens so that I knew I was also producing quality birds. Same deal with my buff silkies. I did a couple of rounds of expensive hatching eggs that all failed. I finally ended up buying 6 chicks from one of the premier buff silkie breeders for a lot of money. Half turned out to be male. It is part of the gamble. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the silkies that I started with and have been pleased as punch with that original purchase.

People don't read the risks or don't think it will happen to them. They feel cheated when all of their eggs don't hatch and they don't get show quality chicks from every egg. You have to deal with people being whiny and fussy and it almost isn't worth it. I'd rather sell day olds and started birds with the silkies and call it done. As the ameraucanas seem to do better in the mail, I will continue selling those eggs and the easter eggers. But mostly I sell chicks. People get a live product and so far I haven't had a problem selling them. Plus that way I get the fun of hatching.

I will continue to purchase shipped eggs. Truthfully, I am doing a lot of trading for hatching eggs these days. That way I am only out the cost of shipping and I still get some really high quality chickens. You still have the problems of eggs not surviving the postal system, but all in all it works out okay for me.

 

[GotChicken?]

I've only bought two shipments of hatching eggs, both from the auction site here. Out of 15 eggs in the first batch I set last winter, I only hatched 2, but I attribute that to beginner mistakes (a LOT of them) on my side. I'm currently hatching from the second batch. Recieved 22 eggs, 18 suitable for hatching. Three went bad, 5 never developed though were fertile (came from same pen), so I went into lockdown with 10 (+ 2 eggs from my birds).

I've had two hatch, 3 pipped, 1 peeping at me, and it's only officially the beginning of day 21. So I consider my self lucky so far. My broody Silkie is not so lucky; she's going to be crawling with peepers!

I do try to keep in contact with the people I buy hatching eggs (or birds) from. I do sometimes get the impression that my attempts to inform aren't taken well. For example, I tried to hatch FBCM eggs I bought from a local seller. When I informed him that the eggs collected on a specific date had shell problems (had huge pores and eggs started weeping after several days), he seemed to get upset with me. My intention was to let him know that there may have been some disruption to his hens that caused them to lay poorly-shelled eggs the next day. I also informed the seller of my current batch that none of the eggs from her Splash pen developed despite being fertile to alert her to a potential problem, and it was as if the info never sank in. I wasn't the least bit mad, I just think that by telling the seller the good, the bad, and the ugly, it invariably helps them in the long run. Just wish they would stop acting like I'm persecuting them.