I am not sold on this eggs thru the mail thing

[20736]

Granted, this was my first experience.
And the eggs came a long way.
When 17 eggs got here, 1 was broken and 5 had leaked egg white out thru the shell, so I had 11 to place in the incubator.
At 8 days, I candled and only 2 showed development. Of those two, only one pipped. Looks like the bad one didn't have an egg tooth when he gave it up. Or it broke off.
Now, the survivor is taking close to 48 hours just to get half way out of the shell. Poor thing is exhausted, and slimy, too.
One out of seventeen is not a good result.
However, I wonder if we realize we are breeding for a "mailing" gene when we do this. Obviously, the eggs that hatch made it thru the handling of the Post Office and still developed. I would hypothesize that continued mailing of eggs from chickens that hatched from mailed eggs and then the second generation eggs hatch, those chickens should produce better "mailing" eggs.
I would go further to say some breeds will probably be better "mailing egg" candidates, and that data also needs to be collected.
Anyway, that's it - I got chores to do.

 

[aoxa]

It's a toss up with mailed eggs. Especially ones from such a distance. I'm sorry for your hatch rate.

Sounds like the slimy chick could have something to do with humidity in your incubator as well.

 

[Charm1704]

I have 17 pens of chickens, 3/4 came from shipped eggs....If they get X-rayed or mishandled most do not hatch...a lot depends on the shipper, if their eggs are good to begin with & they package them properly for shipping. READ their feedback, see if they have repeat buyers. I take pride in my shipping and my feedback and hatch rate are excellent, I have repeat buyers...Accidents have happened...I have replaced the eggs for shipping..I want my buyers to be happy...take your time and shop around...~Charm1704

 

[mstricer]

I've had good hatches and bad from shipped, as said before it dpends on how well packed they are my last eggs I got from DMrippy were packed great all 15 were clean and intact. Just depends

 

[SamLParks]

This is making me nervous!

I'm expecting my first hatching eggs through the mail EVER today...

 

[snooptwomey]

There is no such thing as breeding for "mailing genes". And the only thing that will make the eggs hatch better after mailing them is the way they are handled by the post office, not certain breeds producing eggs that are better for mailing. its all the bouncing around during shipping that messes the eggs up, nothing to do with breed or how many generations of mailed eggs the eggs came from. I have shipped eggs before, and the results were maybe 3 of the 8 hatched. I had got shipped eggs myself too, and 2 of the 12 hatched. It was my first hatch.

 

[CherylR]

I would just like to say that I have had a good experience with hatching eggs shipped to me through the mail, so don't give up hope. I had 5 out of 12 hatch on eggs shipped to me here in NY from Washington state, and 10 out of 16 shipped to me from New Hampshire. You know going into it that there are no guarantees on shipped eggs, but I think it helps to choose to buy from those with good feedback and repeat customers, as Charmed said. It may help to try to buy from those closest to you when possible. Good luck SamLParks... and don't give up, 20736!

 

[SamLParks]

The corner of the box was crushed, so much for the word FRAGILE written all over it. I got 24 eggs and even with the corner crushed only two had slight cracks. No goop or wetness. We sealed the cracks with nail polish and put all 24 in the incubator. We will candle in 5 days to see of any are developing. I am caucously optomistic I'm just over the moon that none were destroyed!

 

[MnMPoultry]

Unfortunately, what takes place between the breeder and the customer, is beyond anyone's control. Sorting machines, conveyor belts, people getting paid $10 an hour to sort packages between conveyor belts, etc. all have an impact on the viability of the eggs. Shipped eggs are a gamble.

I don't think it's been mentioned in this thread, but something can be said for letting the eggs settle before setting them in an incubator. It's kind of a hard thing to prove, that doing so increases your chances of hatch, because there are so many other variables, but I typically go ahead and sit my eggs in an egg carton for a couple of days after they arrive (pointy end down, of course!).

 

[CherylR]

I, too, let my eggs settle for at least 24 hours before setting them...it makes good sense to do it. In my case, I then had a broody hen sit on eggs which i think is the best way to go. It eliminates all that incubator/temp/humidity business that seems so complicated...and then the hen does all the work raising them!