Can I order hatching eggs in the winter?

[GimmeCake]

I thought it'd be cool to build a coop and hatch some Silkies! But if I ordered some around Nov or Dec would hatching eggs die? I know chicks face this problem, but I don't know if fertilized eggs do or not. Any ideas?

 

[chickydee64]

I thought it'd be cool to build a coop and hatch some Silkies! But if I ordered some around Nov or Dec would hatching eggs die? I know chicks face this problem, but I don't know if fertilized eggs do or not. Any ideas?

I hatch year round..................I am in Oregon. You will probably find fewer eggs available. You have a few Great breeders of Silkies in your state.
Heat packs can be added to shipped eggs if needed.

 

[3BirdGirlz]

I ordered eggs in march this past year and where I live it gets real cold! But it will depend on the weather where they ship from and your weather. Eggs will freeze and crack. I had some arrive fozen and bad, so I tried again and waited until it was in the 30's for at least 3 days (how long it usually takes me to get eggs when shipped). I also had the shipper put a heat pack in the box so they wouldn't freeze just in case. It cost $3 more, but they arrived good and I got a 90% hatch! But they can't put the heat pack right on the eggs because that can cause the eggs to start developing in transit....those heat packs get over 90 degrees! My shipper packed the eggs in a box then put that inside another box with the heat pack. It worked for me....hope you'll have some nice days to get your eggs!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The best temperature at which to store eggs (while eggs are in shipment they are in mobile storage) is 55 degrees Fahrenheit. If the eggs reach a temperature of around 40 degrees for long the embryo will croak. Eggs do not need to freeze and burst before the hatch-ability is destroyed, a good (or bad) chilling will do the same thing.

I know that this doesn't directly address your question but I am putting this information out there so that you can decide how to proceed. Maybe a look at the long term average daily temperature at your residence and at the shippers home town would help you more than my poor words. Below please find a link to the daily average high, daily average low, the mean, the record high, and the record low temperatures for the Seattle, Washington area.

http://www.weather.com/weather/climatology/USWA0395

The rest of us can use this link to navigate to their local weather data.

Good luck.