Diary & Notes ~ Air Cell Detatched SHIPPED Chicken Eggs for incubation and hatching

[lizanne]

I copied this over from my post in a NOOBs thread

Shipped eggs are a crap shoot. a few fun facts

USPS uses fedex to move their priority mail across the country. Except for a few major road routes like Sacramento to Los Angeles on the 5 freeway, anything over about 300 miles goes on a plane to Memphis then on another plane to its destination. Its not really about distance once you get a few hundred miles from home.. Some of my best hatches have come from Florida.

Postal workers only handle the boxes for the first and last few hundred feet of the route. Mega-automated machines look at the barcodes, and throw the packages onto conveyor belts. If my 70lb box is below your box of eggs in the bin, its landing on top of your eggs on the belt. This means that for most of the journey, whether you pack them upright or sideways, or if you mark fragile on the box does not mean squat.

Putting do not x-ray on the box is a waste of time. Most packages will never be x-rayed and do you think if the post office was on high alert they would not xray because you asked them nicely? So did the terrorist? Even if they did xray - the dose is so small on an airport scanner it wont effect eggs.

So what kills the embryos when you ship eggs.

- large or violent hits from boxes dropping or something being dropped on to them - causes egg breakages and broken aircells (get your local eggs and try to dislodge an aircell - its pretty hard.

- vibration. The blastoderm that will become the embryo is attached to the wall of the egg by very small "strings" that get broken

- temperature we all know an egg can be hatched after 10 days - but thats when its stored in a room at 55-60F.

- Pressure - planes are pressurized to between 8 and 10,000 feet. Next time you fly, fill a balloon up ro the size of a canteloupe before you take off. It will be a watermelon at 10000feet. The bigger the aircell (older the egg) the more saddled the air cell will become.

So how do you mitigate loss.

1. double box this provides protection from the hard hits.
2. pack eggs so they cannot move but they have shock absorption. I like pipe insulation as the cheapest and most effective way. Foam inserts are good but they cannot be too tight or they eggs will break from being squeezed when they get the first hard jolt. Bubble wrap is next but the eggs gave to have enough support in the box so they don't move around.
3 Avoid shipping in peak of summer and dead of winter.

buy local if you can
buy nearby if you cant
or
think about overnight shipping for valuable eggs. you pay 3-5 or more dollars per egg - say 42 bucks for a dozen. add 15 bucks for priority shipping, you get 4 to hatch. thats almost 15 bucks a chick. double shipping and get 6 to hatch and its 12 bucks a chick. its worth a thought. The eggs still travel the same distance but are on the road for 2 days less and therefore theoretically less exposed.

I dont overnight but I hold shippers accountable for their product, If packaging sucks I let them know. if the package is crap and I get breakage with leaking onto eggs i demand a full refund.

Its all about aircells - the fresher the eggs, the smaller the cell. The smaller the cell, the less damage it can do.

Its really about how many viable blastoderm cells there are versus killed cells when you initiate incubation but thats a whole other diatribe.

good luck

Thank you for this!!! I try to explain this to people all the time. It makes me feel like crap, that people assume all us Mail Men toss boxes around like basketballs. There might be some bad ones, but the majority of us wouldn't do anything like that. In my office I've talked to the other carriers about shipped eggs, and how to deliver if the box doesn't have a phone number. People really don't know how fragile the eggs are, and that the eggs can be damaged even if they aren't broken. I think a lot of the egg shippers just assume that everyone knows egg anatomy, and how hatching works. They don't.

 

[Doug Hodges]

Been real busy but wanted to share. Yesterday I was out about 3 hours from home. I traded 4 chickens for a bow fishing rig. Bought two sets of used lacrosse waders at a steal. Bought a cage. Picked up a black austrolorp, Aracauna, and lavender orp roosters for free. Then saw an ad on a hunting site on my phone for $75 bucks. Texted the guy and drove over. I didn't have a trailer but I had to have it. Guess what I'm using it for?

 

[ozexpat]

Pet raccoons?

 

[Doug Hodges]

Pet raccoons?

I used to catch a lot of raccoons. I relocated several. I don't see them anymore. I haven't caught anything in a live trap except for a chicken in months.

No. I'm going to put chickens in it. Think I'm going to add a ladder and a run too.

 

[ozexpat]

I used to catch a lot of raccoons. I relocated several. I don't see them anymore. I haven't caught anything in a live trap except for a chicken in months.

No. I'm going to put chickens in it. Think I'm going to add a ladder and a run too.

It looks like a perfect chicken house.

I dont have the opportunity to repurpose in the Phils. Anything usable has already been snapped up.

Well technically, I did repurpose the coconut trees, bamboo and nipa palm for the roof.

 

[chicksooner]

Been real busy but wanted to share. Yesterday I was out about 3 hours from home. I traded 4 chickens for a bow fishing rig. Bought two sets of used lacrosse waders at a steal. Bought a cage. Picked up a black austrolorp, Aracauna, and lavender orp roosters for free. Then saw an ad on a hunting site on my phone for $75 bucks. Texted the guy and drove over. I didn't have a trailer but I had to have it. Guess what I'm using it for?

Awesome score. I have been looking for something along these lines for the birds I want to separate out for show.

 

[chicksooner]

I will take 3 please! I need more!

Do you really want a couple? I can whip something up for you and get it in the mail next week after kids start school on Tuesday. (I am not an expert but these are fitting my big girls pretty well)

 

[ozexpat]

New!!!!

​

Coccivac

-D2

Intervet


Live Coccidiosis vaccine for Broiler Breeders and Layer Pullets. - Provides protection against all Eimeria species important to Broilers and laying chickens, including: Eimeria Tenella, E Mivati, E. Acervulina, E. Maxima, E. Brunetti, E. Hagani, E. Necatrix and E. Praecox. For vaccination of one day old chicks by spray cabinet administration or at 4 days old by feed spray administration - dilute vaccine - 1,000 dose/400ml non-chlorinated water. Mix well and place in clean sprayer. Proper application will only dampen the surface of feed.
Therapeutic Superiority

• Reduces risk of late outbreaks
• Eliminates undesirable side effects of coccidiosis
• Eliminates risk of toxicity in non-target species
• No need for complicated drug medication schemes

Features and Benefits

• Minimizes concerns on late outbreaks
• No need for complicated schemes for drug treatment
• Long-life protection given by one single convenient application
• Eliminates residue concerns for consumers
• Support of the Schering-Plough Poultry Team in managing Intestinal Health and improving performance

Its 40 bucks at Jefferspet.com

1000 doses but its a liquid so if stored properly and if the vial is carefully accessed it may last 30 days

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: I bought three off ebay but they are too thin and keep flipping over

 

[ozexpat]

oops