Egg shipping hack!

[AngeJD]

I have been selling my extra call eggs locally, and reluctantly agreed to ship a half dozen to someone in a small town about 6 hours drive away...reluctantly since I know shipped eggs always carry a high risk, and because I had no clue how to best pack them up safely. The shipped eggs I'd received ranged from being wrapped in Kleenex then bubble wrapped, to an egg carton sitting in a box of packing peanuts. None of those hatches worked out very well.

I've been lucky with 100% fertility on my eggs, and wanted to figure out a better way. My 6 year old daughter gave me the inspiration and it was brilliant! She had taken a bunch of boxes halogen bulbs came in, and was using them to store her favourite Easter eggs!

There's already an existing cut out in the box, where the base of the bulb sits. I cut the corners to accommodate an egg and then stuffed it tight with soft hamster bedding (or Kleenex, whichever...I just happened to have some!). Tape it up and then send in a box with some packing peanuts.

I just heard from the customer...took 3 days to get there, and not a single detached air cell! She's on day 5, and showing all 6 fertile!! She said she'd never seen eggs packed this way and thought I sent her light bulbs haha!

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I haven't shipped eggs but this is a great idea!

 

[Tonyroo]

That's definitely a great idea, but how do you get more boxes to accommodate the amount of eggs you will eventually ship?

 

[AngeJD]

That's definitely a great idea, but how do you get more boxes to accommodate the amount of eggs you will eventually ship?

Don't buy LED bulbs lol. The regular halogen ones will burn out. I doubt I'll be shipping many, since I don't really have a flock, but I have enough for 28 more eggs haha.

 

[Mellowmalt]

not really practical to have that many bulb boxes lying about unfortunately but the idea is great. I certainly share the sentiment that people just send whatever eggs they have without candling them and pack them in a polystyrene egg case which is just not enough.

I feel everyone who sends eggs in the post should understand an egg drop test. I think the gg drop test is done from 4 meters or so height and if you drop the package the eggs should not break. Now most people would just build a parachute which would obviously do nothing in transit through the post but you can build air bags and add dampening layers.

If every person were to follow that principle then eggs would arrive without detached aircells. My last lot, just a plain polystyrene case, not even toilet paper to cushion the eggs in the case and 1 developed, then gave up around day 14, the rest were all too shaken up. It's frustrating.

Now you might say ok that all sounds great but also expensive. Not at all!

Airbags are very cheap in the form of.... bubble wrap
A dampening layer..... packing peanuts + cardboard

So the cheapest way to wrap eggs safely would be kitchen or toilet paper wrapped around the eggs in a polystyrene case with bubble wrap wrapped around them.

The best way would be in a carboard box with packing peanuts and a polystyrene case + kitchen paper.
Like this if the box is dropped the box will take most of the shock and the packing peanuts will protect the polystyrene case. Without any protection a poystyrene case is cheapest but usually insufficient. If my last seller had spent just half a dollar more on packaging then I would have received useable eggs and I wouldn't have had to ask for a refund which I only got 1/3 back. Again frustrating for everyone involved.