East TN Granny needs eggs to hatch fast please :-)

[GrannyPat]

I'm so glad I found this site. I need help fast please. I promised my little granddaughter that I would get her a small incubator and some eggs to hatch for her birthday that is coming up in a couple of weeks. I found a small 3 chicken egg incubator online that is reasonably priced and will probably order it for her. Trouble is their 3 egg package for it costs more than the incubator and I can't see paying nearly $10.00 per egg. So, I'm hoping someone here can point me in the direction of someone/someplace here in the East TN area in or near Sevier County where I can get eggs much more reasonably priced. I surely don't want to disappoint my granddaughter for her birthday but I just can't afford to pay $30.00 for three eggs to go in a $20.00 incubator. If you can help me keep my promise to my granddaughter for her birthday without going broke I would sure appreciate your help.

 

[willowcol]

I would try looking in the buy sell trade chicken egg section, if not I would put a add on there, or if you do a search I believe there is a list of people who sell eggs and where they live on here somewhere. I will try to search for it for you.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

How close are you to Murfreesboro? If you don't mind mutts I can hook you up with some. No charge if you'll come get them.

Check out my blog for pics of what I have. My banty eggs will either be full mille fleur d'uccle or half mille fleur. My standards will be either full buff orp or buff orp mix.

Let me know what you think.

 

[GrannyPat]

Thanks for the quick replies. I'm in East TN in the Smoky Mountains so would need someone who lives fairly close or willing to ship them to me.

And, while I'm here let me go a bit further than I did before and say that I grew up here in East TN and have many fond memories of farm life from spending lots of time on my grandparents farm. Which is what got this whole egg hatching thing started. My deal with my son is for my granddaughter to hatch them out and I am going to take them here at my house out in the country. A few years ago we built our house we live in now and I drew the plans because I wanted a farmhouse type home that reminded me of my grandparents place. So, now the next step I want to take is to become more self sufficient like they were and raising chickens is my next step in that direction. So, I'm not just here looking for eggs for my granddaughter to hatch. I'm here because I love everything about the country and I love chickens and plan to make them a permanent part of my life soon. So, I'll be needing lots of help to get me going.

 

[Jayare's Chicks]

First off WELCOME to the BYC.....
Second- I haven't heard much good about those 3 egg incubators.
Third- it will take 21 days to incubate the eggs (if granddaughters b-day is in 2 weeks they won't hatch in time)
Fourth-Look for someone who sells fresh eating eggs in your area, you can usually find them for $2.00 a dozen and then you can eat the other 9 eggs and no waiting time for shipped eggs.

Good luck, if you lived closer to me I would GIVE you some eggs to hatch for a good reason like your granddaughters b-day present.

Jayare

 

[Akane]

Those 3 egg incubators fail more often than they work. They really aren't a good idea unless you have a source for lots of extremely cheap eggs to go through until you eventually manage to hatch a few chicks. About the cheapest and still effective incubators you can get will cost you around $40. You could look for used ones but another idea would be to borrow one by asking at a small local feed store or since it's for a child your local 4-h or FFA extension.

Instead of hatching the chicks for her I would give her the incubator and some eggs and let her hatch them. They aren't going to hatch before her birthday anyway and if all you wanted to do was give her chicks you could most easily order some day olds online and have them arrive for her birthday with a lot less hassle. If your going to hatch them you might as well get her involved with that part of it. For cheap eggs again you can ask at a local feed store if they sell eggs for people or know any one with eggs and check if there's any farmer's markets in your area. If you look you can probably find eggs for free and just put the money into a working incubator.

 

[PortageGirl]

Welcome GrannyPat!!! Pleased to meet ya!

Quote:
Actually, the way I read it, that's what GrannyPat said she was doing Akane.

I agree about stopping at a place that has a 'fresh eggs' sign out and asking if they have roosters and explain that they're for your grandaughter to hatch, also, you can go to a feed store and ask there if they know anyone who might have fertile eggs.

I also agree that the 3 egg bators are a bit iffy... but, they can work if that's what you decide to go with, there just isn't much of a margin of error. Hatching eggs can be pretty frustrating is all, and three eggs doesn't leave much room for mistakes. I guess it depends on your grandaughter's personality, and you know her best I'm sure. 100% hatch rate is SO rare even by experienced peoples... still, there's a lesson in that too.

4H for her would open a whole new world for her though, so calling or stopping at the extension office for some input is a really good idea too though!

Anyway, you're really REALLY very welcome here!! We're not usually so preachy!! well, ok, yes we are, but not usually so soon!

 

[GrannyPat]

Hi Everybody,

Thank you for your replies. I really appreciate your help. And, yes, I was planning on giving the incubator to my granddaughter and letting her hatch the eggs herself. I'm sort of sad to hear that some of you don't think too highly of the 3 egg incubators though but appreciate you letting me know. I just really didn't want to put much into one because she is just 8 and like most kids I figure she will grow tired of it fairly quickly.

I did contact a couple of stores here in my county and both of them do carry a more expensive incubator but neither of them have eggs or say they can order any, only chicks in the Spring. Also, neither of them said they even know anyone locally who might have eggs. I found that a little odd but that's what they told me.

That is why I am now searching online for some. I guess I didn't really expect that all three eggs would hatch which is why I am having a problem with wanting to spend so much for the eggs. I realize that I may end up buying her more if the first ones don't hatch and I surely don't want to have to pay $30.00 for another three not to mention that much for the first three either. Anyway, I appreciate all the opinions and advise and welcomes. I'll keep trying and will, hopefully, find some locally soon.

 

[KellyHM]

I can mail you some if you want to pay shipping. They're RIR mixed w/ EE...the offspring should lay olive colored eggs.

 

[amazondoc]

There's a bunch of BYC folks who live in or near the Smokies, and I'm sure some of them would be willing to share eggs.

Do a forum search for Tennessee, and you'll find the threads where the Tennesseans are likely to congregate. Just post your request on one of those threads, and I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for!