Eggs on EBay?

[Fyrekitten]

Hi!

I'm new to the Site but have been a fan of it for several months now. My Husband and I love it and have several Barred Rocks and Rhode Islands. We just picked up some Gorgeous chickies of various ages from another gal that uses this Site that is in our area. I must say she had fantastic birds.

Anyway, here's the question - we usually buy chicks or birds but I saw that there are egss at ebay for some very nice breeds and the seller looks to be reputable with good reviews. Any thoughs? I understand that viability is always and issue and since I'm in NYS the weather isn't very nice here right now (along with most of the States right now

) Some egg sellers are within the same State so I was looking for feedback. Out of a dozen eggs if I hatch half a dozen I would be happy. We've done the hatching thing before with a Little Giant Incubator and had two beautiful Australorps grace us with their presence.

So let me know and thanks for a great Site! Love Chickens and Thanks so much "MuggsMagee" for the new babies.

Bridget/Fyrekitten

 

[perolane]

If you have sellers in your state, the odds may be better. I have purchased LOTS of hatching eggs via Ebay...hatch rates probably 40%...usually less. The shipping is really rough on the eggs. If you're happy with that hatch percentage...go for it!!

 

[happyhens44]

Quote:
Well, I have heard a lot of good stories with good,and bad stories. To me, buying eggs from ebay, is a 50/50 chance. It might not always be the buyer thats a problem, Its a lot of the time the Post office also. So when you buy eggs, alot of the time you will have a few broken eggs, So you should look at the feedback people left this (seller) and see if theres any comments like "wonderfully rapped " or something making sure its rapped good. Then I'd read through some of the feed back, Looking to see, if people commented on, how many hatched or how many out of the dozen were fertile.


I hope this kind of helps good-luck

 

[gryeyes]

I have purchased ("won auction bids") eggs on eBay several times and hatched quite a few chicks from those, and they've been shipped from many, many states away from mine. I have also hatched eggs from the egg auctions here on BYC, and get better results for the most part. Healthier stock, respected members with great feedback, and more care taken with shipping. Now, I have found a couple of sellers on eBay who don't happen to also be members of BYC, who are also good sources.

Shipping ANY distance seems to scramble eggs pretty badly. I've had hatch rates from 5% to 90% on shipped eggs.

Luckily, I'm one of those folks who are happy when ANYTHING, even just one egg hatches. I don't feel shorted or that I've been cheated in any way. But then again, I don't go nuts with bidding wars, either.

 

[debilorrah]

I would stick with buying from BYC members. There is a bit more accountability here than on eBay.

 

[happyhens44]

Quote:
Ha, I wish I has like you!!!! Im huge with bidding wars, Say My limits idk ($10 ) and my mom will put a bid on for me *then someone knocks the big up,* then im like "Mom!!! mom We have to out do them!!!!! " shes like " but you only have $10 to spend" "mom!, Ill pay you back!!!! " "fine"

~20 mins later bidding wars over

*see's how much I Owe my mom*

"What did I do!

"

then I usually spend my next 3 allowences paying my mom, and the thing I wasted my money on turns out to be a peice of junk.... oh well

 

[midget_farms]

I've got a pile of eggs in the bator now that I purchased on ebay. THis is my first set - so I'm hoping for the best.

There are a couple things that you can do to help your hatch along.

1) make sure the seller has TONS of good feedback. The occasional negative is OK because there are always people who blame the seller when the post office piles crates of bricks on top of them.

2) try to find a seller near to you - I've heard that flying in the cargo hold at 36000 feet is hard on eggs. Its best to get one with as short a travel as possible.

3) contact the seller & let them know your concerns. If they are good - they will respond & take extra care. If they don't - maybe you don't buy from them.


Beware of dark eggs or eggs of certain colors etc. The eggs that arrive never look like the ones in the pics or as dark etc.

 

[Cynthia12]

I live in Utah, took a chance with some from PA from hinkjc on here. I received 16 eggs, 9 hatched. Not bad for such a lengthy shipment. First time I ever ordered that far from home, but glad I did. This was a couple of months ago..weather was great.

 

[bel]

Bought a lot of shipped eggs from all over the USA last year, both on ebay and byc, distance wasn't my enemy so much as poor packing was. Some sellers pack well, some don't seem to even try.

The odds of running into poor packing was a lot higher with ebay sellers than here on BYC. It just seems like sellers here care more about the results. If you buy on ebay definately do check feedback to see what buyers said about packing.