Like everybody else has said there are so many things that can happen to an egg is transit. Over the years from a buyer and a seller we have noted a couple things.
Eggs ship better in cooler weather - not freezing but cool. They don't ship well at all in hot weather.
Eggs from first year laying hens ship better than from older hens - Even in hatching from our flock at home we get better hatch rates from the younger hens.
Some breeds ship better than others, duck eggs ship well - but goose eggs don't. Turkey eggs are hit and miss in shipping - some people get very good hatches other not so good - there doesn't seem to be a middle of the road.
We are on the east coast not far from sea level - when we ship to the mountain states the hatch rate drops. We can ship coast to coast with good hatches
Marking the box doesn't make a difference. We use to mark fragile, eggs, etc etc, now we ship in unmarked boxes and people get better hatches. Ask your local PO how the boxes move from point A to point B once the leave the local PO. They are put on pallets in trucks and planes, go thru the sorting machines regardless of how they are labled. We got this information from a USPS worker that works at a large postal hub.
Standard size boxes ship better - #7, the large flat rate, the small flat rate. Why are boxes basicly the same size? they go thru the auto sorting machines - less human handling means less tossing.
resting the eggs is a must
We also get back reports of the best hatches from people that have cabinet type incubators, the Sportsman or Dickie. They keep a more stable even temp and a shipped egg needs every chance it can get.
Our hatches this year have been
6 out of 25 cuckoo marans coast to coast
9 out of 12 , and 8 of 12 Black copper marans from Georgia
12 out of 14 turkeys from Miss Prissy (our best hatch ever from shipped eggs) from Virginia
and 10 out of 14 Mottled Java's (in the hatcher now - 4 were clear's we have our fingers crossed for the rest) from texas
Steve in NC
Eggs ship better in cooler weather - not freezing but cool. They don't ship well at all in hot weather.
Eggs from first year laying hens ship better than from older hens - Even in hatching from our flock at home we get better hatch rates from the younger hens.
Some breeds ship better than others, duck eggs ship well - but goose eggs don't. Turkey eggs are hit and miss in shipping - some people get very good hatches other not so good - there doesn't seem to be a middle of the road.
We are on the east coast not far from sea level - when we ship to the mountain states the hatch rate drops. We can ship coast to coast with good hatches
Marking the box doesn't make a difference. We use to mark fragile, eggs, etc etc, now we ship in unmarked boxes and people get better hatches. Ask your local PO how the boxes move from point A to point B once the leave the local PO. They are put on pallets in trucks and planes, go thru the sorting machines regardless of how they are labled. We got this information from a USPS worker that works at a large postal hub.
Standard size boxes ship better - #7, the large flat rate, the small flat rate. Why are boxes basicly the same size? they go thru the auto sorting machines - less human handling means less tossing.
resting the eggs is a must
We also get back reports of the best hatches from people that have cabinet type incubators, the Sportsman or Dickie. They keep a more stable even temp and a shipped egg needs every chance it can get.
Our hatches this year have been
6 out of 25 cuckoo marans coast to coast
9 out of 12 , and 8 of 12 Black copper marans from Georgia
12 out of 14 turkeys from Miss Prissy (our best hatch ever from shipped eggs) from Virginia
and 10 out of 14 Mottled Java's (in the hatcher now - 4 were clear's we have our fingers crossed for the rest) from texas
Steve in NC
zer I get for my garden is awesome. you should see the size of my carrots and beets HUGE!
