Can I order hatching eggs now?

[jofanx]

This might be a silly question but I want to get into keeping quail this year and I was wondering if I could order hatching eggs right now? I'm in NY--temps go below freezing at night. Or should I wait until night temps are above freezing to order eggs?

 

[007Sean]

That depends on if your can get the seller to ship them with a heat pack if your worried about the freezing! Or just wait another month and temps will be better for shipping. HTH

 

[jofanx]

Gotcha. Thank you for your help. I saw some people from my local chicken keeping group getting shipments of day old chicken chicks in this weather and forgot they probably got heat packs...

 

[Art_plus_chickens]

Either my two sixty hour heat packs and straw didn't work or my chicks all died because they came a day or two later then what they should've. I'm kinda iffy about shipping anything now, but will for sure wait till it warms a bit before I try again in case it was the cold.

 

[Darrell Cunningham]

This might be a silly question but I want to get into keeping quail this year and I was wondering if I could order hatching eggs right now? I'm in NY--temps go below freezing at night. Or should I wait until night temps are above freezing to order eggs?

By the time they hatch are ready to go outside the temps should normalize . And if you wait til spring the prices may be higher. Because of demand if you have a garage and heat lamp you'll be fine . Mine are two months old and I've gotten 4 eggs so far.

 

[Darrell Cunningham]

Hatching eggs can be requested to be held at post office by you or sender .

 

[Wildest]

Hello from a fellow New Yorker!

I'm also in the same boat as you. I would like to order some eggs but the weather is still a little too cold.

I was planning on ordering the first week of March. The weather (at least for my area) is usually in the high 40's that time of year which should be warm enough if the seller puts a heat pack in .

 

[Plip]

I ordered "James Marie Jumbo Brown Pharaoh" eggs from Orchard Hill Poultry (quailkingjosh on ebay) in the dead of winter. They're in Georgia. I'm in Washington State. So those eggs traveled about as far as they could without leaving the country.

Orchard Hill packed them with a 72-hour shipping warmer for an extra $6. And they marked on the box clearly that they should be held at the post office and I should be called (we spoke on the phone to confirm all that -- I also left a message to that effect when I paid for the item on ebay).

Everything went off without a hitch. I ordered on a Sunday, and they had them packed (in foam with the heater) and sent on Monday morning. What happens once the post office gets them is out of Orchard Hill's control, but my eggs were treated very well. The box had no damage and the eggs were in perfect condition -- none were broken.

I let them sit, air cell up, for a couple of days before incubating, just in case the air cells needed to heal, and to bring them slowly up to room temperature. Then I incubated 48 eggs, and I was hoping for a 50% hatch. I figured that was a reasonable -- even hopeful -- goal for eggs shipped across the country in the middle of winter.

37 hatched! 77%! I couldn't have been happier. I did lose three or four chicks over the next few days, but I that's just part of raising animals. The rest grew up without any issues. They're healthy, and they're definitely Jumbos.

I'm sure there are many reputable places to order eggs, but I have no problem recommending Orchard Hill Poultry to ship in the winter without any reservation whatsoever.

 

[Darrell Cunningham]

Well I'm hooked I'll order any time of year . My courtinix jumbo just started laying I get one egg a day the last 4 days . Not much for about 20 hens 5 makes . Hoping the other hens kick I soon . Lol! just win a bid o. eBay for 3 African geese eggs . I'm sure I'm done now lol!

 

[jofanx]

I'm sure there are many reputable places to order eggs, but I have no problem recommending Orchard Hill Poultry to ship in the winter without any reservation whatsoever.

Thank you!!!! I guess I'll be ordering them today or tomorrow! Those are great odds for shipped eggs!