Huge mistake?

[CrazyChickens09]

I bought a dozen fertile hatching eggs off ebay and as of today(8 days incubation) none have proven to be fertile! am I out of money and luck?

 

[KPenley]

You could be

if they were shipped. I think that 50% is considered really good for shipped eggs and lots of people have 100% failure hatches too. I'd wait until day 14 to make sure though.

 

[mstrawn3]

Yea, shipped eggs are a real gamble... Especially this time of year with low temps and low fertility. I've had good and bad luck with them.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Unfortunately its very difficult to tell for sure if the egg was fertile or not fertile even after setting.... did you rest your eggs and not turn the first few days since they were shipped? Shipped eggs are very tough, silkie, polish are the worst for me so far.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

The yolk of an egg is held in place on each end by what is called Chalaza. These are delicate cords that keep the yolk centered in the egg. When you crack open an egg, you notice a white stringy thing on the yolk, this is the Chalaza. When eggs are shipped they encounter postal handlers that toss the packages, sorting machinery, bumpy vehicle rides, temperature changes and possibly X-ray Machines! So by the time the eggs get to you they are pretty much scrambled inside. So if you are going to buy eggs and have them shipped to you, be aware that the viability drops TREMENDOUSLY. There are rare instances when they ALL arrive safely but it is always a gamble.

 

[cochins1088]

Like others have said, the eggs could have been fertile but the shipping caused none to develop. It's happened to me before and well as other times where I'd only have 1 or 2 develop out of 24 eggs! Having eggs shipped is always a gamble. If I were you, I would contact the seller and explain that none developed. Don't demand anything, just simply mention that you are a bit dissappointed as none of the eggs developed. Sometimes sellers will reship another batch of eggs for simply the price of shipping.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Like others have said, the eggs could have been fertile but the shipping caused none to develop.  It's happened to me before and well as other times where I'd only have 1 or 2 develop out of 24 eggs! Having eggs shipped is always a gamble.  If I were you, I would contact the seller and explain that none developed. Don't demand anything, just simply mention that you are a bit dissappointed as none of the eggs developed.  Sometimes sellers will reship another batch of eggs for simply the price of shipping.

Good post!

I've had 100% hatch rate with shipped eggs. I'v had absolutely horrible hatch rates with shipped eggs. These were from the same source.

There are a lot of things the shipper does not have control over. Just let them know what happened and go from there. Morally they don't have an obligation to do anything for you but some people will.

Good luck!