buying eggs from ebay and they keep being duds!! Does anyone sell gold

[pheasantfrenzie]

Hi you all,
I have been trying to buy Pheasants both Goldens and Yellows, Ringnecks. I have spent hundreds of dollars and keep getting duds. Does anyone sell any good eggs or is ebay just a joke. I would love to have birds bt can get no hatchable eggs. Don't know if I'm the problem or not. I have a still air incubator and I keep the temp right at 95.5 to 100 with humidity @ 45%?
Can anyone help or have any ideas!!!!
Thanks

 

[Denninmi]

Is that the recommended temp range for your incubator per the manufacturer? I thought that still air incubators should be set at around 101.5-102.

Honestly, when you say "still air incubator" it makes me thing you have a low end model, probably a styrofoam hovabator or lg. That is probably your biggest problems, overall these are junk and generally have wide temperature and humidity swings, and many people have poor results with them, although there are a few that do well. One of the most important things is to keep it where the ambient air temperature is very consistent, so that it doesn't have those big swings.

If you've had success with your incubator before with other species, then yes, it could just be that you keep getting bad eggs. Perhaps your local post office or the regional distribution hub is especially careless with them or something. Maybe you just have been unlucky and gotten bad vendors with poor quality eggs from parents not well tended. Hard to say.

Other than that, yes, shipped eggs are a gamble, but you should get something. I've never been totally skunked on shipped eggs (well, except for my last batch of 3 goose eggs that literally crashed to the ground when the incubator fell off the desk. Generally I've had hatch rates of 25 to 60%.

 

[pheasantfrenzie]

Hello,
Yes unfortunatly it is a cheapy I thought I would try this to see if I liked it. I did get a good hatchrate from a lady here locally that were pheasants also but have had no luck with any other eggs. I do monitor almost all day and have seen no real big changes in anything, temp humidity. I did add a seperate temp and humidity reader just in case th one they sent was no good. Does anybody have any Peasant eggs still for sale. I would like to buy Red Goldens, Yellow Goldens and some Ringnecks.

Also at what age can you band your birds for identification. I am getting some from another lady and would like to know which ones they are.

 

[Moonkit]

Have you tried cracking any open to check for fertility? Its entirely possible that the post office is playing kickball with your boxes and ruining them. That is the trouble with shipped eggs.

 

[Oregon Blues]

It sounds to me like it would be a lot cheaper for you to buy chicks to start with.

Shipped eggs are always difficult. Buy some actual birds and then you can learn to hatch their eggs that are laid on your property and not shipped.

 

[pheasantfrenzie]

Hello,
yes I have cracked alot of them open and they look like eggs you would get from a grocery store to cook with. Didn't really see anything other than that. I did try to kee them for a couple of weeks in the incubator once I cracked one open to see if something would grow but they were clear when I would candle them so I did take them out and cracked them all open anyway. Since at that point I was disgarding them anyway I waned to check. Still thay were like reg. egg yolks.
yes I would love to buy chick that have already hatched but I live in a very small town in Colorado, Montrose and there is nobody around here to buy anything from even within driving distance.
Thank you everyone for your help.

 

[ShysCreations]

Pheasantfrenzie--I realize you're quite to the west but there's a swap coming up next Sunday in Brighton, CO. It sponsored by Rocky Mtn Pheasant & Waterfowl Assoc. May be a great chance to either buy birds (I see pheasant often) or make a contact with another pheasant breeder. Its held at the Co-op across the street from Walmart near Bromley Lane & Hwy 85. I'll pm you a couple of potential contacts.


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[Oregon Blues]

One thought: if you've spent hundreds of $ on eggs that haven't hatched, you really should consider investing in a better incubator. That would be cheaper than wasting money on eggs.

Maybe practice on some Ringneck eggs until you get them to hatch. Then, after you get the cheap eggs to hatch, go for the expensive ones.

Have you spent time on the pheasant forum here at BYC? Some knowlegable people there and might be a better source for eggs than eBay.

I suspect that pheasants might be done laying for the season.

You might be able to find someone to ship you a breeding pair of adult birds. Spendy, but cheaper than wasting money on eggs that never hatch.

 

[hcppam]

if the seller is wraping them in bubble wrap it kills the egg.

 

[tinydancer87]

I had the same issue earlier this year, not just with ebay eggs but eggs purchased from here as well. Lots of eggs would be scrambled by the shipping, sometimes the box would be dented. Examples of hatch rates: 1 d'uccle chick out of a dozen eggs, 3 ducks from 24 eggs, 0 EE from 13 eggs. I eventually just ordered some chicks from Cackle, and they are doing great!

Planning to order more chicks next year. Also going to get some peachicks from Bow's Peafowl Farm. I figured it's easier, less disappointing, and less time-wasting to just order.

Also, I use a GQF Hovabator and had perfect hatch rates last year with it, they do require more "babysitting" as far as the temps and humidity. The PO has been worse this year I think.