Egg injury during shipping...can we do anything about it??

[becky3086]

I really don't think anything will make a difference as far as the eggs being scrambled. You can ship them all sorts of ways and not have one broken but if your box gets shook, no matter how you have them packaged the eggs are still going to shake because the whole box is moving.

 

[BeardedChick]

but if your box gets shook, no matter how you have them packaged the eggs are still going to shake because the whole box is moving.

Did you ever do that experiment in elementary school building a package for an egg and then dropping the egg from 1 story up? I remember doing that and for certain packings, the egg didn't get broken.

I could be entirely wrong, but it seems to me that there should be a way to package that dampens the shock better.

What I remember from school is one of the kids packaged their egg in a ziplock with water and paper towels and then some kind of outer casing and the egg made it.

So I was thinking that something like a viscous foam like memory foam or the stuff that Skito uses in their saddle pads might do a very good job of reducing concussion. It would be cost prohibitive, but that's another matter...​

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Yes...if you can use some packaging materials that ABSORB the shock of the "shaken box"...fewer eggs will be affected with "shaken egg syndrome"

I'm researching...will let you know what I've found.

BTW Bearded...I'm not seeing a written test plan yet.

 

[BeardedChick]

OTG, I have wondered if there's a way to open up an egg and tell if it's been shaken hard enough to damage it... I mean, it's obvious if it's scrambled, but do you think we could tell if the embyonic plate is damaged or the aircell? I am inclined to shake some eggs and then open them up...

Maybe for lunch, I can have scrambled eggs, eh?

Anyway, last time I got shipped eggs I sacrificed one to check the temperature and I opened it to see if it looked damaged, and I couldn't see anything... But then I haven't looked at enough of them to know what signs of damage I'm looking for, ya know?

 

[becky3086]

My point is that if you move a box back and forth, not matter how much padding there is the egg inside will still move back and forth. Therefore getting shaken just as much by movement of the box. No it won't be as bad if the egg doesn't move inside the box but it will get the same amount of movement as the box gets no matter what you do.

 

[BeardedChick]

My point is that if you move a box back and forth, not matter how much padding there is the egg inside will still move back and forth. Therefore getting shaken just as much by movement of the box. No it won't be as bad if the egg doesn't move inside the box but it will get the same amount of movement as the box gets no matter what you do.

You're right. However, different materials are going to absorb or transmit shock more or less.

It's like the difference between falling on your head wearing a foam helmet or a helmet made of steel. The steel is going to transmit almost all of the impact, the airspaces in the foam are going to compress and the shock will be dampened. So the total force can be reduced depending on the material.

Part of the question is whether it's the small amount of vibration/shaking that is inherent in ALL vehicle transportation creates more problems, or if the problem primarily comes from rough handling (ex. the box being tossed or dropped).​

 

[becky3086]

If it was just vehicle transportation I don't think the air sacks would break like they do. I think a lot of it must be rough handling but then I have never worked for the post office and with all the packages that come through, it may be hard to handle all the fragile packages as carefully as you would want them to.

 

[BeardedChick]

If it was just vehicle transportation I don't think the air sacks would break like they do. I

Yeah, a broken air cell is a pretty good red flag. Do all damaged eggs have broken air cells or can the damage be more discrete? I have opened several that seem to have aircells intact, but they are non-starters for some reason.

Don't know if it's damage from shipping, temperature, or what.

I have wondered about the effect of vibration during transportation and whether it's damaging - especially when eggs are going all the across country.​

 

[WiseChicks]

And another thought to add to the equation..... does positioning the eggs horizontally or vertically to the "top" of the box make a difference? (Top being where the address info would be.) It would be my theory that the box would be most likely to make a majority of its' journey with the address pointed up, for quick and easy scanning/reading......

This fall, I received a batch of eggs that had been wrapped in thin foam around the "waist" of the egg and then set into a cardboard egg carton. The egg carton was then taped close, with a little breathing room, put into the middle of a box filled with shredded paper all around the carton. It was a very lightweight package, and, to me, that seems to produce both a breathability factor, and a lessening of the jarring factor....

And now I need to find a few random hens to put in with my 2 mystery roosters to get eggs to experiment with. My son IDOLIZES the Mythbusters, and this is soooooooo up his alley. (FWIW, he has done egg-loft rocketry competition and has done the 'egg-off-the-top-of-a-building' experiment)

Katie

 

[BeardedChick]

Great points, Wisechicks!

If we could just make up some myths, propagate them all over the internet, maybe we could get the Mythbusters to do our testing for us.

I like your idea about positioning them relative to the shipping label. It makes a lot of sense, and I'd think the aircell might do better if it's positioned at the top when the stressful event occurs.

Hah, think I'll go drop some eggs and make lunch.