Hatching eggs traveling by airplane?

[WVduckchick]

One of the things I love so much about this site is the wealth of information!! But sometimes I have trouble finding things too, so here we go...

I'd like folks to share experiences with incubating eggs that have traveled by air. I have some arriving today, and for some silly reason, it never occurred to me that they would fly! (not the chicks... the eggs.... lol!)

So how bad are the flight temperatures? How much more damage can a plane do? I'm thinking that individual post offices along the way are probably rough anyway!

I'm sure packaging is a big factor, as is egg freshness, etc... but the physical flight, and handling by the ground crew scares the bejezus out of me.

 

[orrpeople]

One of the things I love so much about this site is the wealth of information!!  But sometimes I have trouble finding things too, so here we go...

I'd like folks to share experiences with incubating eggs that have traveled by air.  I have some arriving today, and for some silly reason, it never occurred to me that they would fly!  (not the chicks... the eggs.... lol!)

So how bad are the flight temperatures?  How much more damage can a plane do?  I'm thinking that individual post offices along the way are probably rough anyway!

I'm sure packaging is a big factor, as is egg freshness, etc... but the physical flight, and handling by the ground crew scares the bejezus out of me. 

All of the hatching eggs I have ordered have made flights to get to me. They suffer about the same as any type of shipped eggs do. Wonky air sacks from being shaken is always the biggest problem, sometimes cracks, and (rarely) an outright broken egg. I think folks who regularly ship eggs have pretty much mastered the art of bubble wrap and packing peanuts, so there's seldom large, external damage. It's always the poor air sacks that take the beating. Definitely letting them settle for 12-24 hours before incubating after opening them and setting them in their air sack up position helps hatch rates!

 

[WVduckchick]

All of the hatching eggs I have ordered have made flights to get to me. They suffer about the same as any type of shipped eggs do. Wonky air sacks from being shaken is always the biggest problem, sometimes cracks, and (rarely) an outright broken egg. I think folks who regularly ship eggs have pretty much mastered the art of bubble wrap and packing peanuts, so there's seldom large, external damage. It's always the poor air sacks that take the beating. Definitely letting them settle for 12-24 hours before incubating after opening them and setting them in their air sack up position helps hatch rates!

Thanks. I'm sure you are right, and I've probably hatched ones that flew, I just never thought about it before now. Since these travelled 2500 miles in about 24 hours, it occurred to me. Duh! Heck, I've probably mailed ones that have flown without thinking about it.

She did a great job packing, and the air cells don't look quite as bad as the last shipment (from the same seller), although the outside box was kinda crushed.

 

[orrpeople]

Whenever one of those little chicks hatch, I am reminded what a complete miracle they are... shipped from another state (sometimes clear across the country!), handled by how many different hands!?, and then put into my incubator. Wow, they're pretty amazing!