How does one get fertilized eggs? (I'm in Minnesota)

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MirandaMarie

MirandaMarie

In the Brooder
7 Years
Oct 1, 2012
16
0
22
Minnesota
So my sweet girl Lyla (buff orpington) has gone broody. At first I was worried because I have never seen this behavior before. These are my first chickens and I have only had them about a year. So I jumped on this site and my fears were replaced with excitement!

I really want to get a few fertilized eggs for Lyla to hatch, but of course I have a few questions. The most important one is: where the heck can I get fertilized eggs? I live in the Twin Cities area in Minnesota. Do I order them from a website? Or do any of you know any local places to buy directly? Any suggestions would be really helpful and any other advice would be appreciated! This is all new to me!

Thank you!
 
MirandaMarie said:
So my sweet girl Lyla (buff orpington) has gone broody. At first I was worried because I have never seen this behavior before. These are my first chickens and I have only had them about a year. So I jumped on this site and my fears were replaced with excitement!

I really want to get a few fertilized eggs for Lyla to hatch, but of course I have a few questions. The most important one is: where the heck can I get fertilized eggs? I live in the Twin Cities area in Minnesota. Do I order them from a website? Or do any of you know any local places to buy directly? Any suggestions would be really helpful and any other advice would be appreciated! This is all new to me!

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Although I cannot help you ( I'm in Oregon) post an ad on Craigslist in your area or look for fertile hatching eggs... I sell mine thru Craig's list and since march hardly a week goes by that I haven't sold some... I charge $1.25 an egg
 
MirandaMarie said:
Oh wow I guess I never would have thought about Craigslist! I will definitely take a look. Thank you!
Click to expand...

Your very welcome, there is also a page here (sorry I cannot post links) for BYCers in your area... Maybe someone a lot computer savvy then me can direct you to it

Good luck and let us know how it works out!
 
If at all possible, drive to pick up your hatching eggs. The average hatch from eggs that come from the USPS is reported at 50%. However, that means there are a lot of lousy or zero hatches, too. I purchased expensive, exotic breed eggs, paid extra for overnight early morning delivery (instead of standard 2-day Priority, as most hatching eggs are sent), and got ZERO hatch. One chick pipped but then drowned. The rest were either not fertile or died in early to middle development. They also were not very clean. Half of them had poop on them (and more than just a little speck).

So I drove 500 miles round trip to pick up some chicks, and while there I purchased some hatching eggs that weren't expensive just to try it again and make sure it wasn't me or my incubator that was the problem. I had no other plans than that! I paid for 6, got a 7th free, and they were all completely clean (not washed, just naturally clean). One egg was either not fertilized or died extremely early but the other 6 all hatched on day 19! They are the cutest darned things (lavender Orpingtons) and we are now keeping them all.

Buff Orp eggs should be inexpensive, so you have little to lose, but I still highly recommend pickup in person, and don't take any poopy eggs! Also no washed eggs. It is sometimes done, but then they don't have the natural protection of the invisible "bloom" that the eggs have, so they are more susceptible to becoming infected and killing the embryo.

We have not hatched any eggs under a broody yet but probably will next year. We have two broody buffs right now, but my cockerels aren't old enough to breed this year.

Best of luck to you! It is so much fun!
 
kittydoc said:
If at all possible, drive to pick up your hatching eggs.  The average hatch from eggs that come from the USPS is reported at 50%.  However, that means there are a lot of lousy or zero hatches, too.  I purchased expensive, exotic breed eggs, paid extra for overnight early morning delivery (instead of standard 2-day Priority, as most hatching eggs are sent), and got ZERO hatch.  One chick pipped but then drowned.  The rest were either not fertile or died in early to middle development.  They also were not very clean.  Half of them had poop on them (and more than just a little speck).

So I drove 500 miles round trip to pick up some chicks, and while there I purchased some hatching eggs that weren't expensive just to try it again and make sure it wasn't me or my incubator that was the problem.  I had no other plans than that!  I paid for 6, got a 7th free, and they were all completely clean (not washed, just naturally clean).  One egg was either not fertilized or died extremely early but the other 6 all hatched on day 19!  They are the cutest darned things (lavender Orpingtons) and we are now keeping them all.

Buff Orp eggs should be inexpensive, so you have little to lose, but I still highly recommend pickup in person, and don't take any poopy eggs!  Also no washed eggs.  It is sometimes done, but then they don't have the natural protection of the invisible "bloom" that the eggs have, so they are more susceptible to becoming infected and killing the embryo.

We have not hatched any eggs under a broody yet but probably will next year.  We have two broody buffs right now, but my cockerels aren't old enough to breed this year.

Best of luck to you!  It is so much fun!
Click to expand...


That's what I was worried about with ordering eggs and having them shipped, especially since I only want 3 or 4 eggs. Thank you very much for the advice!
 
Shipped eggs do have their issues but if the price is right, you expect a low hatch and overorder to compensate (thrilling when you hatch more than expected!) then I wouldnt rule out shipped eggs particularly if they are for fun rather than business. I also have 4 mystery chicks due to hatch next week from a local petting zoos mixed flock sold as fresh eggs at 1.50 for six, if the ratio of boys to girls is reasonable its harder getting unfertilised eggs lol! Although I know nothing about these chicks which may be a pain later!
 

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