Hatching shipped eggs tips

[ChanLillie]

What I have learned from eBay is that there are a lot of reputable breeders who don't know any other way to sell. My first mistake was from eBay, but since I read this thread: INCUBATING w/FRIENDS! come HATCH, LEARN, & Chat! w/hosts, Sally Sunshine & BantyChooks
things have gotten a lot better for me. I now really open a dialogue with sellers on eBay. A lot of them are just like us--that's just the method for selling that they understand. So, I find a listing I like, message back and forth with them a bit. If they seem annoyed by questions, I move on. If I get a sense that they really care, I hang in there. I think it really depends on what you're looking for, and I just don't deal in absolutes like "all of one thing is bad" or "all of another is good." I have gorgeous birds from a BYC member who shipped and I have beautiful eBay birds ;-)

I met a really great breeder on ebay that definitely does not fit into that category.. But every other one I have gotten was awful. Maybe I need to just learn to pick them better like you said.. I just have been devastated with the amount of disappointment I've had lately.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

We used to eBay sell stuff. They broke anything glass. No matter of we used peanuts with a whole box of bubble wrap. We stopped using them. UPS doesn't have as much disgruntled employees.

 

[Pyxis]

I took your advice and set my forced air at 99.5 and humidity at 60% and I had my first set of shipped eggs ever to hatch on time. So far 3 out of 6 today which is hatch day. Thank you SO much!

Awesome! So glad you're getting a good hatch

 

[livhatcher]

I met a really great breeder on ebay that definitely does not fit into that category.. But every other one I have gotten was awful. Maybe I need to just learn to pick them better like you said.. I just have been devastated with the amount of disappointment I've had lately.

I feel like once I became empowered (and not a big chicken!) to ask the tough questions---questions that challenged listings or practices, things got better. If people don't want to answer your questions or act defensive, then maybe they have something to hide or aren't as good as they say they are. They may say their parent birds are Greenfire Farms---that's a big selling point, but that may just mean they bought a few overpriced chickens that don't meet SOP and are selling some eggs to try to recover their costs. Are they going to ship eggs collected within the past 24 hours? Will they label the box as you ask? I'm really lucky because I can text with my mail carrier. I have not had problems since I started becoming my own advocate instead of just waiting on a box. You kind of have to get tough!!

 

[ChanLillie]

Awesome! So glad you're getting a good hatch

Omg now it's 4 and another pipped! Geeze, why couldn't we have talked weeks ago?!

 

[ChcknNurse]

I took your advice and set my forced air at 99.5 and humidity at 60% and I had my first set of shipped eggs ever to hatch on time. So far 3 out of 6 today which is hatch day. Thank you SO much!

I'm so glad it's more successful!

Have you seen the diagram of air cells? I have done both egg weights and air cells. IMO, best route is air cells. Weights sometimes made me panic. But, if the air cell is large enough, during lockdown, it will make up for the difference. There is a drawdown and this has worked for my outliers, better than panicking and putting them in low humidity in the 15-18 days (which can mean drawing moisture from the chick instead of albumin).

I hope it continues to improve for you!

 

[ChcknNurse]

I've read that by day 10 you may not be able to tell any longer whether it was fertile or not. I've never cracked an old clear myself. Have you tried with your own eggs to see whether they all or mostly still show a bullseye at that age? I'm curious whether what I read was true or not.

I've never heard this, and I'd like to know where you heard it... I've heard various bunk. Regardless, it's not necessary to wait that long. For example, around 4/5 days, when it's dark, I shine a bright light through the eggs (while still in the incubator). It's pretty obvious which are developing. Try it a few times and you will see. It doesn't have to be a massive ordeal. I just take about a min to see what is developing. Before I crack an egg, I do a more thorough candeling to confirm. It's always the same result.

 

[ChcknNurse]

I met a really great breeder on ebay that definitely does not fit into that category.. But every other one I have gotten was awful. Maybe I need to just learn to pick them better like you said.. I just have been devastated with the amount of disappointment I've had lately.

Hey, share the good name, & breed from eBay! Because I have had enough junk!

I bought a dozen eggs and paid enough, for sure. I couldn't find the breed on here Only 3 developed out of 12, no question. After 3 days, only 3 veined. At 5 days, stark constrast & I began cracking a couple. Not fertilized. But, because people are told to rate based on arrival of eggs, they don't get the negative comments. Rate on hatch! Some are sending crap mixed eggs and advertising prime breeds! I explained immediately that only 3 were developing. There was no attempt to replace even part of the shipment. I have 2 Brinsea Octagon. I took pics... nothing. It's dishonest.

I had another shipment of 6 eggs that were all fertile, not beautiful typey chicks, but cute still.

 

[ChcknNurse]

We used to eBay sell stuff. They broke anything glass. No matter of we used peanuts with a whole box of bubble wrap. We stopped using them. UPS doesn't have as much disgruntled employees.

I'm confused, who do you mean?

 

[ChcknNurse]

I feel like once I became empowered (and not a big chicken!) to ask the tough questions---questions that challenged listings or practices, things got better. If people don't want to answer your questions or act defensive, then maybe they have something to hide or aren't as good as they say they are. They may say their parent birds are Greenfire Farms---that's a big selling point, but that may just mean they bought a few overpriced chickens that don't meet SOP and are selling some eggs to try to recover their costs. Are they going to ship eggs collected within the past 24 hours? Will they label the box as you ask? I'm really lucky because I can text with my mail carrier. I have not had problems since I started becoming my own advocate instead of just waiting on a box. You kind of have to get tough!!

Are you in a small town? I would not be able to text my mail carrier. However, I pick up my boxes at the post office.

I have seen a person advertising eggs that is very suspicious (and obvious) to me. It says a breed and there are only chick pics, no adult birds. I sent a message asking about their adult birds. They stopped advertising those and started with another breed, only chick pics again.