How Far is too Far?

[brownfoxfarm]

I live in Illinois & have been looking at hatching egg auctions a lot recently. If we can get a decent hatch rate, I think this is a great way to freshen the blood of our flock. BUT I don't know how far is just too far to ship from. I've seen sellers in California, Texas, & Florida that I'd love to purchase from, but then I worry about the time in transit and the temps this time of year.

I'd love to hear from folks with experience hatching shipped eggs...

What's the farthest away that you've bought eggs from? How was your hatch rate? Was it at this time of year? Would you do it again?

Joyce
http://brownfoxfarm.weebly.com

 

[christybmom9802]

I just set shipped eggs yesterday. From what I've read you should expect 50% hatch rate from shipped eggs but I think it depends a lot on seller and how they pack eggs, along with transit and fertility of chickens. Before I purchased eggs I read tons of reviews in the hatching eggs forum. I also asked the seller to add a heating pack to the box. I read from others that when shipping during winter months they got a better hatch rate when doing that. My eggs traveled from Washington to Indiana and I only had one detached air cell which means the postal service was very gentle! So from here on out my hatch will depend on my incubator and the fertility of the eggs.

I know I read a lot of useful information from Sally Sunshine about how to handle shipped eggs in her thread iary & Notes ~ Air cell detached shipped eggs

 

[brownfoxfarm]

Thanks for your response! I suppose if I have the eggs shipped from say, Ohio, and they are treated roughly or the temperature bottoms out while they are left for hours on a loading dock, then they will have a worse hatch rate than eggs shipped from as far away as California with more favorable conditions over the longer trip.

I have eggs in transit from Tenn. & the seller was kind enough to include a heatpack free of charge. They left Knoxville this morning & it's a 10 hour drive from here to there for a regular trip. So I'm hoping against hope that they arrive tomorrow. Fingers Crossed & Prayers Said!

Joyce Brandon
http://brownfoxfarm.weebly.com

 

[christybmom9802]

Thanks for your response! I suppose if I have the eggs shipped from say, Ohio, and they are treated roughly or the temperature bottoms out while they are left for hours on a loading dock, then they will have a worse hatch rate than eggs shipped from as far away as California with more favorable conditions over the longer trip.

I have eggs in transit from Tenn. & the seller was kind enough to include a heatpack free of charge. They left Knoxville this morning & it's a 10 hour drive from here to there for a regular trip. So I'm hoping against hope that they arrive tomorrow. Fingers Crossed & Prayers Said!

Joyce Brandon
http://brownfoxfarm.weebly.com

Good luck

!

 

[tbridegroom]

my first set of shipped hatching eggs i only lost 4 out of 18 i think it was.. im still not sure about how to candle for the detached air cell so im just going to check in 7 days

 

[Overoberyl]

my first set of shipped hatching eggs i only lost 4 out of 18 i think it was.. im still not sure about how to candle for the detached air cell so im just going to check in 7 days

When I first unpack shipped eggs, I candle them to see if there are any cracks and to see what the air cells look like. You just candle like you would any other egg, you should be able to see the air cells at the top (large end) of the egg. I usually tilt the egg slightly, if the air cell moves inside the egg, rather than staying put, I know it's detached. With a detached air cell, if you turned the egg horizontal, the air cell would stay on top, and be sitting on the long side of the egg rather than the short end...if they are detached I don't turn for 5-7 days to give them a chance to re-attach. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

I once had a 100% hatch from eggs that came all the way from CA to south FL. Sure, a shorter distance sometimes means they have less opportunity to be mishandled, but they can still be scrambled even coming from the next state over...unfortunately the only way you would know for sure is giving it a try, and then even if you have a bad shipment it doesn't mean the next one wouldn't be just fine...it's a gamble no matter what!

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I suppose distance increases the probability of rough handling but in reality it only needs one postal hub to ruin your hatch. I've gotten shipped eggs three times up the east coast. Beautifully packaged yet at some point in journey were ill treated. It could be my local hub for all I know so any eggs shipped from any direction would have horrid results. People get eggs shipped from Florida to Alaska with excellent hatching success so distance really isn't the big factor rather direction of travel. Like I know not to trust shipping up the east coast but very well could have excellent success with eggs coming from the west. If not then I'd be reserved to say it's my local hub and simply can not bother with shipped eggs.

 

[brownfoxfarm]

Well, it looks like even having them shipped from a nearby state is no guarantee... Mine were just going from TN to IL and they didn't arrive today. So they are going to be sitting around with temperatures only getting to the mid 20s today and Sunday. Ahhh!

 

[christybmom9802]

Well, it looks like even having them shipped from a nearby state is no guarantee... Mine were just going from TN to IL and they didn't arrive today. So they are going to be sitting around with temperatures only getting to the mid 20s today and Sunday. Ahhh!

I call the post office with my tracking number and usually ask for the distribution center's number. I often times end up driving to pick them up at the distribution center as soon as they arrive to avoid additional handling. Good luck