HOW BEST TO PACKAGE EGGS FOR SHIPPING DO"S AND DON"TS

[brahmapapa]

thanks so much for sharing great stories and staying in the positive, here"s a big chicken hug...

 

[brahmapapa]

I'm getting my dozen tomorrow from an "unknown" ebayer and now that I've read this thread, I am on pins & needles to see what I get. The only other time I've ordered eggs (from now-defunct EggBid) they came individually wrapped in bubble wrap nestled in more bubble wrap and they were in excellent shape and I had great results (it was four years ago and I've forgotten the exact details of the hatch).

I'll be biting my nails until I see my package tomorrow!

I hope they are well packaged and I sure hope you have a great hatch, let us know how they were packaged, candle them and let us know interior condition, and keep us posted as to your hatch rate...thanks for sharing cluck cluck hug hug

 

[brahmapapa]

most sellers are willing to accomodate a buyer as to how they want thier eggs packaged for shipment. I have seldom been refused my request to a seller, so if we all learn the best tecniques here and request the style of packaging that we want, we are more likely to get better hatch rates.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

thought I should share this...... http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/content.php?41-Heat-Packs-and-Cool-Weather-Shipping

 

[GasMenagerie]

I hope they are well packaged and I sure hope you have a great hatch, let us know how they were packaged, candle them and let us know interior condition, and keep us posted as to your hatch rate...thanks for sharing cluck cluck hug hug

They came well packaged - all 12 were intact. They were in bubble wrap then newspaper wrap then had peanuts for filling. There was also a warmer pack in there.

When I unwrapped them two of the eggs were quite warm from the pack, the others weren't so much. A concern?

Since they are wheaten maran eggs they are quite dark and my hand held candler gizmo may not be strong enough. I took one into the bathroom and in the super dark it worked ok. This is my first time at candling, so I'm going to try and see what I need to be looking for then go into the darkroom with the dozen.

I have my fingers crossed!

 

[stefan333]

That is an interesting link. Hmmmm? It made me wonder about something. I've never had a heat pack in any of my eggs that hatched great. They were sent in winter, all were obviously cold when I got them, but had amazing hatch rates. The last batch I got had a heat pack. Could that possibly explain why a few appeared to have been incubating already? A few eggs were in bubble wrap right on top of the heat pack. Also the heat pack was already cold when I opened the package, as were all the eggs, and it only took a little over 24 hours to get to me once shipped. I wish I would have noticed which were directly above the heat pack. Very curious on how heat packs affect eggs. Any thoughts?

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I would double box the eggs, and have the heat packs in the outer box, this is actually how I got my eggs in the mail today.

 

[ozexpat]

I copied this over from my getting-the-flock-out-of-here thread as it may have relevance here. It really could be a great idea to get the road-warrior byc-ers involved in a hand-carried-plane-ride-shipping experiment

Quote:
TSA is not an issue but its best to make it very easy for them.

Standard check luggage is always xrayed because its fast. At LAX oversized luggage - such as a golf bag is not xrayed as it cannot make the turns on the massive automated conveyer systems. When I check in, I get a luggage tag from the airline and then go to the oversized luggage area and a TSA inspector opens the golf bag and rubs the cloth pieces inside the bag and puts them into the "sniffer" to analyze for explosives residue. They do not open the individual boxes with eggs wrapped in them.

For a small amount of eggs and to be sure you know how they are handled, carry on is easy. When you go to the screener tell them that you have live eggs that you have live eggs that need manual inspection. They may balk if they are new at the job but should ask someone more experienced. I use 3 piece foam inserts. I tape the bottom piece of foam to the larger "holed" piece. They take the eggs and foam out of the box, then put the box through the xray and use the "sniffer" on the eggs while still in the foam. The top piece of foam is not taped so they clearly see the big end of the eggs.






This is the box I carried them in, inside the golf bag. I placed a thermometer with a min/max reading nest to the box to see how cold/hot the golf bag got along the way.

The TSA process adds 5-10 minutes but I would add half an hour.

If traveling internationally, TSA procedures are the same. Its customs in the country you are traveling to that you need to know and meet the requirements as far as documentation goes.

 

[Overoberyl]

That is an interesting link. Hmmmm? It made me wonder about something. I've never had a heat pack in any of my eggs that hatched great. They were sent in winter, all were obviously cold when I got them, but had amazing hatch rates. The last batch I got had a heat pack. Could that possibly explain why a few appeared to have been incubating already? A few eggs were in bubble wrap right on top of the heat pack. Also the heat pack was already cold when I opened the package, as were all the eggs, and it only took a little over 24 hours to get to me once shipped. I wish I would have noticed which were directly above the heat pack. Very curious on how heat packs affect eggs. Any thoughts?

I would think a heat pack would do more harm than good...as you observed, it can start the incubation process, and then inevitably when the heat pack runs out, the eggs get cooler, halting the process and introducing the opportunity for early deaths and defects. Weighed against the likelihood that they will actually get so cold as to freeze without a heat pack, I think I'll opt for cold eggs if I have the choice.

 

[Overoberyl]

I recently shipped eggs for the first time. Having bought hundreds and hundreds of shipped eggs I already had an idea of what would work and what wouldn't...my dilemma now is, that I wish there were some way to ship eggs without creating so much trash & waste. On one hand, I think it is important not to reuse packing materials for the sake of cleanliness, but on the other hand, I want to do this with sustainability in mind. I do think using shredded paper or newspaper that can be recycled is a great option, I also have been using shredded paper made from recycled materials that I bought at Staples. It does cost me a few $ but I think it is worth it...now if only there were a way to get around using the bubble wrap! I think some locations will accept it for recycling, but not all...does anyone know if the foam piping can be recycled?