Ebay Egg Purchase

[TinasUrbanGarden]

So I purchased 8 Silkie eggs from a seller on Ebay. Seller sent me 9...a showie move, However, I candled and 4 were clear (freckles but no evidence of a air cell). I wouldn't have a problem if it was a situation that the eggs were fertile but with packaging and travel they failed but i don't think that is the case. I don't want to call out this seller unless i have my facts. i have seen failed "fertile" eggs...ie. blood ring, turned the wrong way, shrink wrapped but all show evidence of a air cell.

this is what they look like: (the one that is labeled infertile - 3rd pic)

http://www.cultivatingdust.com/2012/06/09/candleing-eggs/

should i accuse the seller of sending me eggs that were not fertile and demand replacement? please advice...

fyi: I am incubating and on day 15, so i would imagine that the 5 viable eggs i have, i may lose one or two

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, hope you are enjoying BYC!

I would never accuse someone of something but rather talk with them, express my concern and see what solutions they may offer. You attract more flies with honey than vinegar... and never get anywhere with nastiness. Though I get we live in a harsh and sometimes cruel world, approaching with an attitude that we all make HONEST mistakes and giving the benefit of the doubt makes my heart much more content. I kill them with kindness. If things don't work out for the positive... I try not to be bitter but chalk it up to an x $ value lesson that will pay for itself in the future. I once paid $20 each for straight run (lied about the breed) chicks plus drove an hour each way to get them... after expressing how excited I was to find someone local with that breed. I placed an add opposing theirs and got several replies stating the same thing with different breeds than one I was looking for. I just flag their add every time I see it. Even though they quit listing the breed I was flagging for, it still says to improve your natural farm, and I think that's a LIE! Now I KNOW what that breed chick looks like and could not be fooled again (even for other breeds). But I learned the right questions to ask... and it has changed my chicken buying life forever!

Crack the eggs open and check the blastodisk or blastoderm. Take pics to verify and send the seller. Even fertile eggs may not develop. Ask questions like what is their usual hatch and fertility rates or how they verified fertility. What is the age of their birds?

My younger Silkie pullets are throwing infertile eggs. It could be too much fluff or more likely since the others are fine, their system just isn't mature yet. I didn't know that a gal who still lays eggs could have non fertility, but I guess they can. At the opposite end they could be too old. Did they happen to be NPIP... and is it illegal to ship eggs with such certification, or just chicks.. I wonder?

I'm not sure what air cell has to do with fertility. The air cell should be extremely small on fresh eggs and would get larger throughout incubation with or without fertility because it's JUST about evaporation, as far as I know. Air cells can be displaced and broken apart during shipping. Did you happen to follow instructions for resting shipped eggs and not turning for so many days in the beginning?

Hope your hatch comes along well!

 

[Pyxis]

An air cell has nothing to do with fertility (infertile eggs have air cells just as fertile eggs do), and there is no way you can tell by candling that an egg that it is infertile.

Additionally, shipping is very hard on eggs. Eggs shipped through the mail can get so beat up in transit that even a perfectly good fertile egg is just too damaged to develop. We are trying to ship embryos through the mail, where they undergo sorting on conveyor belts, being picked up and tossed by machines and postal employees, long bumpy rides on trucks and on planes, and sometimes they are even x-rayed. Honestly, it's really amazing that any eggs at all can develop and hatch after being shipped.

Unless you crack open an egg, look at the yolk, and can see whether it has a blastodisc or blastoderm, you cannot tell whether that egg was ever fertile. And after shipping and then being in an incubator, even that is quite possibly not going to be able to tell you.

The seller sent you an extra egg, and you have five eggs developing. With shipped eggs, you're lucky if you get even half to hatch. Very often you don't get even that many. So far, you are heading towards having more than half of the eggs you bought hatch, which is very good for shipped eggs.

I wouldn't go accusing the seller of sending you infertile eggs or demanding more, because there's a very good chance they were fertile when they were shipped, but shipping damaged them so they couldn't develop, and there's nothing the seller can do about that.

 

[GeoGreyWolf]

I agree with Pyxis.. When it comes to fertile and infertile eggs there is no way to tell unless you either crack every egg open to tell, or put in incubator until they show signs. I am new to the whole hatching eggs, but as an example would be my ducks, I have 1 male and 3 females. One of my females started to lay eggs, unsure if my male was doing his job I collected 16 eggs. I cracked 2 open, one showed the bulls eye and one did not. I set the remaining 14 eggs. On day 7-8 I candled to find out 3 of the remaining 14 were fertilized. So 11 were infertile. No way of telling. Now imagine this with shipped eggs, the seller might see the mating happen, or may not. On top of that no 100% guarantee that the male actually succeeded with his seed.

 

[TinasUrbanGarden]

All good Advise, thank you!

..and yes, NPIP

 

[nightowl223]

I would suggest you let the seller know that some of the eggs look like what you indicated, what you called "freckled." That is a sign of poor eggshell development, called porous shells, which means the hens they are from are not getting enough calcium and possibly not enough vitamins & other minerals. There will be an air cell in there, but you won't be able to see it because of the weak porous spots in the shells. Those porous shells can also allow germs into the egg which can prevent embryos from developing, as well as kill them before hatch.

Simply let the seller know that, when you candled, you saw that X number had weak, porous shells, and that they might want to up the calcium and vitamins/minerals for their hens. Who knows, you might get a bit of a refund? Still, I'm certain they will want to know about it, so they can take care of it. I know I'd want to know!