Buying eggs for hatching off of ebay! Do or Don't?

[Jungleexplorer]

Now I am really confused. Humidity, little humidity, dry; I don't know which to believe. Can someone who has hatched a lot of eggs pipe in here. I can't afford to lose another $100 for one chick.

 

[aaggjg]

Why don't you do a test hatch with some cheap eggs to work out the kinks before you try the expensive eggs again!

80% humidity is way too high ! What did you have it at for the 1st 18 days? On lockdown day 18 you should up it to 60-65% for the first 18 days you will read many varying accounts of what works best for people but it all depends on the climate they live in, incubator they are using etc etc... If your eggs don't loose enough weigh/ moisture when they internally pip they will drown in the fluid in the air sack.... Also if humidity is too high for the 1st 18 days the chicks can grow to big and not be able to position themselves to pip.... Do a search on this site and you'll get. Tons of good information.

 

[Jungleexplorer]

I basically followed the advice given on this page http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/livestocksystems/di0631.html. I had a hard time hitting the right humidity levels because the water evaporated so fast. It took about a cup a week just to keep it from running dry. When I refilled it the humidity would spike up to about 55% and then gradually decline over the next few days. I would refill it when the humidity hit 35%, so the average was about 45% for the fist 18 days. On day 18 I filled the extra water trough (there are three troughs in the plastic tray) and the humidity went up to about 75%. I only used O.R. filtered water so there would not be any calcium build up in the tray.

In hind sight, I should have experimented with eggs from my current flock, but I never though it would be this hard to hatch a few eggs.

 

[lincolnsilkies]

I personally like more of the dry hatch method i had much better luck with it heck sometimes i let my humidity get down to 15% i try not to let it get over 35% the first 18 day then i jack it up during lock down to 60%-70% you have to learn along the way what works best for you your humidity in you area may be much higher or lower than say my area. Good luck on your next hatch but....i wouldnt be spending no 100.00 on eggs until you know what way works best for you.

 

[luvmychixandducks]

Jungleexplorer-
If you had a current flock- and they are laying eggs- couldn't you find one broody hen to do the work for you?
If not, certainly experiment with hatching using your own "free" eggs- get the process down pat so you are comfortable with the results- and get the target breed only when you are ready to hatch successfully.
(What breed are you looking for- that is only available via ebay? )

 

[Jungleexplorer]

Jungleexplorer-
If you had a current flock- and they are laying eggs- couldn't you find one broody hen to do the work for you?
If not, certainly experiment with hatching using your own "free" eggs- get the process down pat so you are comfortable with the results- and get the target breed only when you are ready to hatch successfully.
(What breed are you looking for- that is only available via ebay? )

Well, believe it or not, I have raised chickens for more then 12 years, but not here in Texas. I use to live in the Amazon and I did not have to worry about such things because my flock was almost feral and did everything on their own. I learned from watching them that not all mother hens are the same. I had some hens that could hatch out 100% of their eggs and raise them up without losing one and other hens that would lose most of all their eggs and then lose the few that did hatch. I had one naked neck that was my best hen. I actually saw her tackle a hawk out of the air that was swooping down after her chics, beat it up and tear out it's tail feathers.

My point is this, you have to know which of your hens are good at hatching out eggs and raising chicks. I have never tried to hatch any of my eggs out with my hens here in Texas and so, I don't know which hens to use. In hind sight, I think I would have been better off testing my hens. But hind sight is always 20/20. I just did not think I would have such a hard time incubating eggs.

What I am trying to do is move to is another feral flock like I had in the Amazon. What I have now is a bunch of R.I.R.s that are not doing well in this dry desert climate. I want to raise a flock of American Grey gamefowl. I have looked everywhere to find chicks for sale, on the internet and all the local farm stores, but there are none. So I had to bid on some eggs on ebay. I never imagined how much they would go for, but there seems to be a lot of demand, because many other people bid against me and drove the price up.

 

[aveca]

there are tricks to hatching shipped eggs..it is no guarentee but if you.let them sit still on a counter for up to 24 hrs...then when you load them into the incubator make sure your egg trays are level and do not turn the turner on for 5 - 7 days...allowing the eggs to sit absolutly still in the incubator for that time..that allows the embryo to stabelise and it helps stabalise the air cell..the air cell. depending on how shaken they were.. upon hatch time use cardboard egg carton cut it down a bit for pleanty of room to hatch..sit the eggs upright in that carton..sometimes they are very damaged and will not hatch..but we have hatched a ton of delawares for a freind from many different sources with a lot of luck..once in a while we would get some badly damaged..beyond hatchabilty.
I
sent eggs to somone in LA and gave her these instruction as given to me by my vet..those eggs would up lost in the mail for an unbeleivable amount of time and none should have hatched...out of 7 eggs 3 were infertile 3 hatched and one quit.
RIRs are not usually good mothers or sitters.

i have hatched a ton of dels for a freind in thier own incubator and those eggs came from all over US..plus eggs for myself...like i said sometimes they are scrambled..but often you can get more than a few to hatch and the birds you get out of it were worth the effort

 

[Jungleexplorer]

there are tricks to hatching shipped eggs..it is no guarentee but if you.let them sit still on a counter for up to 24 hrs...then when you load them into the incubator make sure your egg trays are level and do not turn the turner on for 5 - 7 days...allowing the eggs to sit absolutly still in the incubator for that time..that allows the embryo to stabelise and it helps stabalise the air cell..the air cell. depending on how shaken they were.. upon hatch time use cardboard egg carton cut it down a bit for pleanty of room to hatch..sit the eggs upright in that carton..sometimes they are very damaged and will not hatch..but we have hatched a ton of delawares for a freind from many different sources with a lot of luck..once in a while we would get some badly damaged..beyond hatchabilty.
I
sent eggs to somone in LA and gave her these instruction as given to me by my vet..those eggs would up lost in the mail for an unbeleivable amount of time and none should have hatched...out of 7 eggs 3 were infertile 3 hatched and one quit.
RIRs are not usually good mothers or sitters.

i have hatched a ton of dels for a freind in thier own incubator and those eggs came from all over US..plus eggs for myself...like i said sometimes they are scrambled..but often you can get more than a few to hatch and the birds you get out of it were worth the effort

Thanks for the great advice. I will follow it. I think you are right. I was wondering myself about this when I took the egg turner out. I mean the eggs sit on end for 18 days in the turner and then I laid them on their side for the last three days. And also, when that first chick hatched, it went around knocking the other eggs all over the place. So the egg carton idea makes a lot of sense. I let my eggs sit for two days after I got them before I put them in the incubator, but I put them straight into the egg turner. If the had not settled, that might have been a problem.

What do you recommend as far as humidity levels? I have received a lot of inconsistent advice about this ranging every where from dry to 80%. I would like to hear what you have to say. Thanks again.

 

[OkChickens]

Thanks for the great advice. I will follow it. I think you are right. I was wondering myself about this when I took the egg turner out. I mean the eggs sit on end for 18 days in the turner and then I laid them on their side for the last three days. And also, when that first chick hatched, it went around knocking the other eggs all over the place. So the egg carton idea makes a lot of sense. I let my eggs sit for two days after I got them before I put them in the incubator, but I put them straight into the egg turner. If the had not settled, that might have been a problem.

What do you recommend as far as humidity levels? I have received a lot of inconsistent advice about this ranging every where from dry to 80%. I would like to hear what you have to say. Thanks again.

I use the Dry Incubation Method which is no water is added to the incubator for the 1st 18 days with the temp between 99-100, Then I place them in my hatcher with the Humidity between 25-35% with the temp 99-100. My hatches have beet great using this method. Everyone's opinion will vary for this. Try a few different methods and see what you like. As for shipped eggs try looking in the Buy Sell and Trade forum here on BYC I would get 6 or so eggs to use for a test hatch so you can get it set up relatively cheap. I would use cheap eggs for a few dollars a dozen. Let us know how your next hatch goes!

Nate

 

[aveca]

orpingtons are us is right..we use dry hatch method , also the time most critical is during lockdown, unless you live in desert region where you might have to add humidity . if you live in humid region like we do we dont worry about it until lockdown time and shipped eggs should be hatched in cartons upright..the imortant thing is to get the air cell to grow an you can only get that to happen by not adding water , the eggs themselves will create humidity as they develope,mine ran around 30% last year..chicks hatched out like pop corn one after another pumped it to 75- 80 at lockdown.. thicker less pourous eggs have an easier time especially with dry hatch..there are charts listed in here about how your ait cell will look at a certian time in development..the air cell should be quit large at hatch time..if they are shipped eggs do not distube the eggs for first 5- 7 days unless the cells look good not broken as orpingtons are us said..let them sit still absolutly for that time if cells are disturbed. most will settle well just sitting on counter for at least 24 hrs, and can go right in turner..i had a box shipped from AZ last year post office left them on mailbox in a bag in minus 20 degree wind chill..they were pretty frozen and sloppy but managed to hatch 4 of those in a doz...3 were just froze and cracked..a couple appeard to be just infertile. all of the eggs i sent them hatched , same method.

pay close attention to temps.

we are NPIP so when i hatch eggs for my freind ..i use his bator in a different part of house from my equipment and am mindful to be cleaned up befor going near mine..he picks them up upon drying off with heat pad in a box heat roaring in his car...we have never had a problem...he and his wife have me do it because they freak out ..

also ask your seller to write on the box .....PLEASE DO NOT XRAY...live hatching eggs...as you have live embryos in there...xray machine ...no good for that