egg topsy (no pics or vid)

[tankboss]

Well...I opened all 10 eggs that didn't hatch and it was like prepping for breakfast. There were no baby birds, no veins, or any signs of growth. Does this mean I was shipped infertile eggs?

 

[bobbi-j]

I'm not experienced in shipped eggs, but I don't think you were necessarily shipped infertile eggs. Maybe, but it could also be that something happened to the eggs in shipping that damaged them and they never started to develop. Hopefully someone with more experience than I have will chime in.

 

[tankboss]

Thanks. I was pretty disappointed in the hatch ratio but, more than anything, I just want to make sure I'm reimbursed if it's appropriate.

 

[bobbi-j]

How many did you start with?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Fertility is not the only thing that can cause an egg to not develop. When a fertile egg is laid the embryo is alive. If something happens to kill that embryo before it starts incubation, it will be clear. That could be something that happens before the egg is shipped or something during shipping, usually too hot or two cold or maybe shaken but it could be something else. That may or may not have been in the shipper’s control. It might have even been during your control after you received them.

I don’t know how many hatched but go ahead and contact the shipper. They might do something for you and probably have an interest in what happened. But if some hatched, they don’t owe you anything. That’s a risk with shipped eggs.

Often you’ll see on this forum where you will only get 50% of shipped eggs to hatch. Not true. I’ve had 100% of shipped eggs hatch. I’ve had 25% of shipped eggs hatch. It can vary quite a bit, but you normally don’t get great hatch rates with shipped eggs.

 

[bobbi-j]

Fertility is not the only thing that can cause an egg to not develop. When a fertile egg is laid the embryo is alive. If something happens to kill that embryo before it starts incubation, it will be clear. That could be something that happens before the egg is shipped or something during shipping, usually too hot or two cold or maybe shaken but it could be something else. That may or may not have been in the shipper’s control. It might have even been during your control after you received them.

I don’t know how many hatched but go ahead and contact the shipper. They might do something for you and probably have an interest in what happened. But if some hatched, they don’t owe you anything. That’s a risk with shipped eggs.

Often you’ll see on this forum where you will only get 50% of shipped eggs to hatch. Not true. I’ve had 100% of shipped eggs hatch. I’ve had 25% of shipped eggs hatch. It can vary quite a bit, but you normally don’t get great hatch rates with shipped eggs.

Thank you, Ridgerunner, you are always so informative. I know what I want to say, but the connection between my brain and my keyboard isn't the best.

 

[LTygress]

If the yolks were still in tact, you can always compare those to the forum pictures of "what a fertile egg looks like" here on BYC. I don't have the forum URL right now, and my phone doesn't like me to copy and paste it anyway. But that could also help you determine if the eggs were actually fertile and damaged during shipment, or not fertile at all.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Here’s a link to one of those threads with photos.

Fertile Egg Photos
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16008&p=6

My problem with that is that after I’ve incubated an egg long enough to see that it is not going to develop it’s usually so runny if breaks apart anyway and I can’t look for the bull’s eye. About half the time the bull’s eye will be on the bottom so you have to turn the egg over to look for it anyway and that is challenging with an egg that is delicate.

But you are right. It is a tool you can use to gather more information.

 

[tankboss]

How many did you start with?

I started with 13 eggs.

 

[tankboss]

Thanks guys... and thanks for the link Ridgerunner. I did a video of the eggs so I will crosscheck with the images.