Hatching eggs on ebay

[TheWickedChicken]

I'm not in the market for purchasing hatching eggs, but the other day I came across several listings for hatching eggs on eBay. I'm super curious, is this a fairly normal and validated way to purchase eggs? Would you trust buying hatching eggs from eBay? It just seemed so strange to me, but I'm brand new to world of owning and selling chickens.

 

[AlleysChicks]

Honestly I thought it was strange when I first started with chickens last year. But after not being able to find the breed I wanted locally I ended up buying some off eBay. But with shipped eggs you don't always have a good hatch rate. Only 5/10 of the ones I bought are developing and I still have a ways to go.

 

[TheWickedChicken]

Honestly I thought it was strange when I first started with chickens last year. But after not being able to find the breed I wanted locally I ended up buying some off eBay. But with shipped eggs you don't always have a good hatch rate. Only 5/10 of the ones I bought are developing and I still have a ways to go.

Yeah, that's what I figured would happen with shipping, but I suppose that's unavoidable if you can't find eggs locally.

 

[AlleysChicks]

Yeah, that's what I figured would happen with shipping, but I suppose that's unavoidable if you can't find eggs locally.

Yep. And don't spend a lot. I bought some locally for the EHAL, went and picked them up. Only 3 hatched, the majority were infertile. So it's a gamble buying eggs no matter the transportation to your home.

 

[JerAtwater]

I just got 1 out of 8. Purchased 6, sent 8 and only 1 hatched.

1 didn't make it out of the egg. The rest don't even look to be fertile.

 

[Angel25119]

I am new to incubating eggs. I just bought 12 silkie eggs from eBay. On day 9 now. They all look good but one so far. Hoping for good results. I was a little skeptical at first buying from eBay but I didn't spend a lot.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

I also went for it and bought 48 eggs off Ebay. I wanted to try some inexpensive shipped eggs before moving up to fancier eggs. This is my third hatch and in general I've had pretty low success. Definitely still learning.

Of the 48 eggs (no "extras") 3 cracked during shipment, 1 dropped. About 70% had detached aircells. I incubated without turning for 5 days. All but 1 aircell had reattach. They shipped early on a Friday and arrived Monday about 4pm. 4 solid days in transit.

75% fertility (11/44 yolkers). Of the 33 remaining eggs 13 made it lock down. Today is day 20 and they've started hatching! I don't expect all the eggs to all hatch but I'm still really happy. My previous hatches I got 1/20 and 1/12 with locally sourced eggs (including my own). Ouch! You can see why I'm so happy with the Ebay eggs.

Shipped eggs open a whole world of possibilities. Around me people are asking 20/dozen for barnyard mix hatching eggs. Most online opinions seem to support a 50% hatch rate on shipped eggs.

 

[EggMan1991]

If you can't get the breed you want locally, Ebay is great. However, I wouldn't spend any more than $50 for rare or "proven bloodline" breeds on Ebay. If you're looking for rare or expensive breeds then take the time to research them thoroughly, along with the Sellers you find, and BE PATIENT. I'd rather spend twice as much with an accredited and proven seller directly from their website over an independent seller on Ebay concerning the aforementioned.

 

[davedavey]

Ive ordered several hundred quial eggs on ebay. And have had from 70% to 90% hatch rates.

 

[ChrisNich]

I had good success with the quail eggs I purchased on eBay last year, and have three sets of eBay bantam chicken eggs in my incubator right now. Like any buying forum, there are good and bad sellers. But it's not as hard to tell them apart as you might think. You can look at a seller's feedback learn a lot. But mostly I read the description carefully to get an idea of whether or not the seller knows what he or she is talking about. I also write sellers with a question or two, figuring that the care they put into their answers is reflective of the care they put into their processing.

Full disclosure--I'm an eBay PowerSeller, though I don't sell eggs.