Hatching shipped eggs

[Stephanie8806]

Okay, so I’d love to hear about anyone’s tips or experiences hatching shipped eggs! I ordered a dozen From a reputable small breeder that will be here in March, and I’m looking for as much input as I can to help.

From what I surmise, shipped eggs usually have a lower hatch rate... I can understand why... but I also know that lots of people have had success doing it! There’s a saying, smart people learn from their mistakes, but wise people learn from the mistakes of others... so I’m here to learn about what did and didn’t work for you!

My selected breeder has recommended incubation instructions, as well as recommendations for resting eggs once they’re received. I’ll likely follow her recommendations pretty closely, but would love to know more!

 

[kyeschicks]

I will start off with saying yes, the hatch rate is lowered. I'm currently trying to hatch shipped eggs (total of 39) and I have about 15 that are developing. I do have a few blood rings, but on day 9 I will start pulling the ones that look clear and the ones that are for sure blood rings since you can tell by that day.

What I would recommend is to let the eggs rest like your buyer suggested. I've read to let them sit with pointy end down for 12-24 hours but most people prefer 24 hours. I started incubating them after 12 hours with pointy side down. You don't want to turn them right away so I had the automatic tuner off for 2 days, some people say don't turn for 3 days.

The ones with detached air cells, I have them in a separate incubator where there is no turner that way they can remain upright with pointy egg down. I do go in there and turn them myself while keeping them upright and a little slanted to the side. Number of times to turn is suggested differently by others, I turn my at least 4-6 times a day.

On the ones with detached air cells, I have noticed that a couple have a re-attached air cell and I move them to the other incubator with automatic turner after I clearly confirm that the air cell is intact.

I would also recommend to not handle the eggs as much as necessary, just because they have gone through a lot from the shipping process. I admit, I probably handled mine more than what I should and could have played a role in my hatching rate. It's hard to keep away from them, but this is best for shipped eggs.

I have read that when lockdown comes, you should stop turning the detached air cell eggs on day 17 instead of day 18 to allow an extra day for them to get settled for hatching. That is all I can think of! If you have any questions, I'm here to answer if I can.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Definately rest the eggs up. I didn't my fist group (know to rest but apparently upwards wasn't an instinctual direction for me and they stayed sideways until I placed them).

I have done it 2x in a great incubator and otherwise had all but one of my own eggs actually hatch in the same batch as one of the shipped times.

1st was a dozen Ayam Cemani from Florida. 3 made it to pipping day, but 1 had two membranes for some reason and never broke the second. The other two will be a year on April 30 and May 1.

2nd was three dozen celadon from somewhere east. About half made it to popping but a good portion were way late and I had actually had to bator cooling to do egg topsies and I didn't know. It was about 2 days between the survivors and these ones popping so we learned there's a cool spot (didn't have a turner this time because there were too many). 12 made it to hatch, 1 needed assistance and later had to be culled for Wryneck but I'm not too surprised because it was not hatching on it's own. I have 8 left (4 flew away) and they will be a year on May 21.

 

[Stephanie8806]

I will start off with saying yes, the hatch rate is lowered. I'm currently trying to hatch shipped eggs (total of 39) and I have about 15 that are developing. I do have a few blood rings, but on day 9 I will start pulling the ones that look clear and the ones that are for sure blood rings since you can tell by that day.

What I would recommend is to let the eggs rest like your buyer suggested. I've read to let them sit with pointy end down for 12-24 hours but most people prefer 24 hours. I started incubating them after 12 hours with pointy side down. You don't want to turn them right away so I had the automatic tuner off for 2 days, some people say don't turn for 3 days.

The ones with detached air cells, I have them in a separate incubator where there is no turner that way they can remain upright with pointy egg down. I do go in there and turn them myself while keeping them upright and a little slanted to the side. Number of times to turn is suggested differently by others, I turn my at least 4-6 times a day.

On the ones with detached air cells, I have noticed that a couple have a re-attached air cell and I move them to the other incubator with automatic turner after I clearly confirm that the air cell is intact.

I would also recommend to not handle the eggs as much as necessary, just because they have gone through a lot from the shipping process. I admit, I probably handled mine more than what I should and could have played a role in my hatching rate. It's hard to keep away from them, but this is best for shipped eggs.

I have read that when lockdown comes, you should stop turning the detached air cell eggs on day 17 instead of day 18 to allow an extra day for them to get settled for hatching. That is all I can think of! If you have any questions, I'm here to answer if I can.

Thank you so much!!! That is all good information! That’s interesting about not activating the turner until day 2 or three I hadn’t seen that before.

Every week or so I seem to come up with more questions or things I’m uncertain about... I’ll see someone doing it one way and be unsure of what I’m seeing. I’ll definitely let you know if I have more questions!

Ive never hatched chicks before, always purchased live... but in my experience, even though they say “you’ll probably get a rooster” if you buy chicks at TSC or anywhere else, I still haven’t gotten one. I’d love to have one because I’d prefer to let a broody hen handle it from start to finish, or even hatch my own fertilized eggs... but you need a roo first

In short, this is a whole new experience! Hatching eggs, incubating them, ordering them shipped through the mail, all of it!

 

[Stephanie8806]

Definately rest the eggs up. I didn't my fist group (know to rest but apparently upwards wasn't an instinctual direction for me and they stayed sideways until I placed them).

I have done it 2x in a great incubator and otherwise had all but one of my own eggs actually hatch in the same batch as one of the shipped times.

1st was a dozen Ayam Cemani from Florida. 3 made it to pipping day, but 1 had two membranes for some reason and never broke the second. The other two will be a year on April 30 and May 1.

2nd was three dozen celadon from somewhere east. About half made it to popping but a good portion were way late and I had actually had to bator cooling to do egg topsies and I didn't know. It was about 2 days between the survivors and these ones popping so we learned there's a cool spot (didn't have a turner this time because there were too many). 12 made it to hatch, 1 needed assistance and later had to be culled for Wryneck but I'm not too surprised because it was not hatching on it's own. I have 8 left (4 flew away) and they will be a year on May 21.

Thank you for your experience! I’m in WA and mine are getting shipped from Minnesota... it’s far away, but I know the chickens were raised in a climate similar to mine... in future years if I have to buy chicks or eggs, I may try picking them up from somewhere in my state.

That’s interesting about the double membrane! In that case, would it have been helpful to pierce the second membrane? Since it still would have done all the “hard work” of hatching, per say?

Thats also interesting about the quail! I only have chickens right now, but am definitely interested in adding both quail and Turkey to our homestead situation down the road.

 

[kyeschicks]

Thank you so much!!! That is all good information! That’s interesting about not activating the turner until day 2 or three I hadn’t seen that before.

Every week or so I seem to come up with more questions or things I’m uncertain about... I’ll see someone doing it one way and be unsure of what I’m seeing. I’ll definitely let you know if I have more questions!

Ive never hatched chicks before, always purchased live... but in my experience, even though they say “you’ll probably get a rooster” if you buy chicks at TSC or anywhere else, I still haven’t gotten one. I’d love to have one because I’d prefer to let a broody hen handle it from start to finish, or even hatch my own fertilized eggs... but you need a roo first

In short, this is a whole new experience! Hatching eggs, incubating them, ordering them shipped through the mail, all of it!

I hope nothing but the best for you! Yes, I had to do some research and re-teach myself how to incubate eggs. Last time I hatched chicks I believe was about 3 or 4 years ago. But as a nurse, knowing the why's of what I'm doing helps me know that this is a good way to hatch shipped eggs. You want to settle them for 12-24hrs because you're wanting the yolk and air cell to re arrange into a proper position. The no turning allows extra time for these to re arrange. Even after doing those things, I had a lot that still did not have re-attached air cells so I have to incubate them differently so that the air cell remains at the top. This is new to me because I have always laid them horizontal, but it makes sense to keep the air cell at the bigger end which is where they'll naturally rotate to and be able to poke through the air cell and hatch. What concerns me is that the embryo might get stuck to the air cell since it's not really moving as much as the regular-air cell eggs are, but this is a learning experience too and it has been recommended from what I've researched. The pointy end is placed down because the air cell is on the bigger end.

This time is the first time I'm keeping track of what I'm doing in order to see how the hatch rate is affected. I plan on making an article that improves hatch rates for eggs!

Keep me updated on your journey! I would like to see how yours do. If you create a new thread just mention my name and I'll be notified. My username will change here shortly so just a heads up lol it will go from @Skitz to @kyeschicks

 

[Stephanie8806]

I hope nothing but the best for you! Yes, I had to do some research and re-teach myself how to incubate eggs. Last time I hatched chicks I believe was about 3 or 4 years ago. But as a nurse, knowing the why's of what I'm doing helps me know that this is a good way to hatch shipped eggs. You want to settle them for 12-24hrs because you're wanting the yolk and air cell to re arrange into a proper position. The no turning allows extra time for these to re arrange. Even after doing those things, I had a lot that still did not have re-attached air cells so I have to incubate them differently so that the air cell remains at the top. This is new to me because I have always laid them horizontal, but it makes sense to keep the air cell at the bigger end which is where they'll naturally rotate to and be able to poke through the air cell and hatch. What concerns me is that the embryo might get stuck to the air cell since it's not really moving as much as the regular-air cell eggs are, but this is a learning experience too and it has been recommended from what I've researched. The pointy end is placed down because the air cell is on the bigger end.

This time is the first time I'm keeping track of what I'm doing in order to see how the hatch rate is affected. I plan on making an article that improves hatch rates for eggs!

Keep me updated on your journey! I would like to see how yours do. If you create a new thread just mention my name and I'll be notified. My username will change here shortly so just a heads up lol it will go from @Skitz to @kyeschicks

Perfect thank you so much! I’m sure as a nurse this is all so fascinating!!! I’m “just” a stay at home mom and it’s all been so interesting to learn about!

Two questions I just thought about:
1. A lot of resources I see tell you to mark the air cells for various reasons... but they also tell you to candle without the big end down... how do you mark the air cell if that’s the end on the light???
2. I see mixed reviews, but some people say letting the incubator run and get up to temperature before inserting the eggs is ideal, but I’ve also seen that some people prefer to bring the eggs “up to temp” at the same time as the incubator heats up... do you feel there’s more of a benefit to either?

 

[kyeschicks]

Perfect thank you so much! I’m sure as a nurse this is all so fascinating!!! I’m “just” a stay at home mom and it’s all been so interesting to learn about!

Two questions I just thought about:
1. A lot of resources I see tell you to mark the air cells for various reasons... but they also tell you to candle without the big end down... how do you mark the air cell if that’s the end on the light???
2. I see mixed reviews, but some people say letting the incubator run and get up to temperature before inserting the eggs is ideal, but I’ve also seen that some people prefer to bring the eggs “up to temp” at the same time as the incubator heats up... do you feel there’s more of a benefit to either?

Every occupation has its own strengths, being a mom is a lot of work! They help with the foundation of every child, so you're not "Just" a stay at home mom

Question 1.
You mark the air-cell in order to monitor how much moisture has been lost during the progress of incubation. The air-cell should be getting bigger as incubation progresses and allows for more air for the chick to breathe while they manage to externally "pip" where they can now get oxygen from outside. There is also another way where you weigh them and monitor the weight that has been lost, but I have not looked at that method in-depth.

I usually don't even mark them (which I should, especially since I'm trying to hatch seramas and they're more delicate) I only monitor them and make sure they're growing and when lockdown comes I do outline the air-cell just so that I know where I should be expecting that external "pip". Here is a picture from @yinepu that shows you how big the air-cell should be at what day.

Like I said, I usually do not even mark them because most of the time if they're shipped, the air-cell is going to be in different shapes and positions making it hard to monitor. At least in my opinion. If I had to chose, I would choose the weighing method especially for shipped eggs.

Question 2.
I'm not sure about this. I would think that you should let the eggs heat up with the incubator. The other way makes me feel like when you're trying to boil eggs, you boil the water first and then add the egg and it cooks it faster lol. I like to think of mother hen, she heats up the eggs progressively and doesn't throw them in to a hot environment lol. Either way, I don't really think it matters. Both are going to heat up one way or another, I just personally like to heat them up as the incubator heats up. You do have to make sure your incubator is in good working condition before placing the eggs, so I do recommend to test the incubator without eggs and turn it on for 24hrs while monitoring to see if the temp and humidity stay regulated.

 

[Mellowmalt]

as to question 1, I turn eggs all around for candling. There is no harm doing it while candling, the thought is turning it with the large end down puts excessive pressure on the membrane holding the air cell but I have never found it to be a problem and it certainly would not cause a detached air cell or anything remotely to be worried about imo.
But what is better if you are worried about the air cell staying at the top is to use a torch and just move the torch. So leave the egg placed on a bottle cap or something and move the torch from having been underneath it to shine from above!

as to question 2 : let the eggs warm u to room temperature first. I have found a guide stating 6 hours to be good for this. I additionally then stick it into a slightly warmer box to warm up further but no I would never warm up eggs to warm up with the incubator.
In the first 24 hours the temps and humidity will fluctuate wildly, you need to set it to the right level - it will invariably heat up too much and then stabilize to start with. The first 5 days of incubation are the most crucial days and this is where (me included) people ususally haven't got things dialled in properly yet which they should be.
I can track the humidity and temperature readings throughout the whole incubation process and the first 3 days on this attempt were a disaster, humidity went up to 90% at one point. Temps dropped excessively when opening the incubator - vs small dips once the incubator is warmed.
It is not worth putting the eggs in to warm at the same time. Will you be there at the exact time the incubator overheats before it settles? Probably not and in most cases it should be fine but I know steady conditions will be better.

You want to warm the eggs up slowly, that much is very true. They will warm slowly even if the incubator is set to the right temp already - it will still take several hours to warm the eggs up. The main point is to avoid condensation forming on the eggs which happens if they are too cold before being added to incubator. So warming on a router or computer before adding them would help too and it might be tempting to warm them up with incubator if it were able to heat up perfectly, instanstly and then stay steady but that doesn't happen. It takes 24 hours for all surfaces to heat up evenly.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Thank you so much!!! That is all good information! That’s interesting about not activating the turner until day 2 or three I hadn’t seen that before.

Every week or so I seem to come up with more questions or things I’m uncertain about... I’ll see someone doing it one way and be unsure of what I’m seeing. I’ll definitely let you know if I have more questions!

Ive never hatched chicks before, always purchased live... but in my experience, even though they say “you’ll probably get a rooster” if you buy chicks at TSC or anywhere else, I still haven’t gotten one. I’d love to have one because I’d prefer to let a broody hen handle it from start to finish, or even hatch my own fertilized eggs... but you need a roo first

In short, this is a whole new experience! Hatching eggs, incubating them, ordering them shipped through the mail, all of it!

If you ever come to montana, I'll just give you a male. A pretty one too, not just a toss away.

Same with quail eggs