Cold Weather Shipping?

[Wolf-Kim]

How much does the cold weather affect hatching eggs? If you ship them, do you ship them any different in winter than in spring or summer? If I were to order eggs in late winter or early spring from Michigan, how would that affect the fertility? How long should I wait before ordering?

How about with chicks? I've read the stories of frozen chicks and would hate to have that happen.

I was wanting to order some eggs, but I would hate to pay money for eggs and have the weather ruin them.

Thanks everyone!
-Kim

 

[Chicken Woman]

I am in Montana and it is way to cold to ship or recieve eggs right now. I do think you would be taking a chance with them. Shipped eggs are really put threw alot as it is so to add cold weather would just make there chances of making it worse.
IM waiting until march to order mine.

 

[monarc23]

sorry if this may be considered hijacking your post however i think it may be irrelivant to it!

I have been curious what part of an egg starts to freeze first....i would assume the white part......but then again i am not sure. The reason i am curious is i wonder how long it takes for the freezing to effect the non-developed embryo thing-a-ma-jig. I wondered mostly for collecting hatching eggs from my own birds on freezing-below freezing days....so far, half of those eggs have been fertile still......so it seems that the cold kills atleast a good number of eggs...

I always thought if it wasnt so expensive that maybe people could put hydrometers in with their eggs to be shipped out....then people could know how cold or how hot the eggs got....but that'd be atleast $6 dollars extra per shipment haha!


edited to add some people swear on putting heating things in their boxes...however id' worry that'd make the eggs start to develop, and then when the heat runs out kill the developing chick?

 

[Akane]

I would think freezing of any part of the egg would be enough. It would probably destroy some of the needed nutrition in the white and I can't see how the yolk would develop if it got cold enough for even just the white to freeze.

I wouldn't try shipping anything expensive now. Maybe some cheaper eggs with heat packs if I knew someone willing to send something I want for only the cost of shipping.