I hate bubble wrap

[Akane]

I won't say other methods without bubble wrap don't work. I just had a really good hatch from eggs that came in cardboard cartons with shredded newspaper. However I have not seen a real difference between those packed in bubble wrap or plastic and those that weren't. So far everyone I've sent eggs to have had very good development and I use a heck of alot of bubble wrap along with plastic cartons. I got 200 quail eggs in trifold plastic cartons and hatched over 100 of them despite the corner of one carton being broken from the weight of all the eggs being packed in one box (that was my only complaint of their shipping method). No one has proven to me that eggs really do need to breathe before incubating and some have shown reasons for it to be false.

My problem with packing peanuts is simply that they do not hold things in place well enough if lots of other packing materials are not used. People seem to think they can just wrap the egg in something real quick and throw it in a box very well filled with packing peanuts and it won't get shaken up. They do arrive unbroken that way but generally scrambled. Packing peanuts cushion well but shift around a lot during shipping and allow things to wiggle past them since they all slide past each other creating small gaps.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

This is how I ship my eggs out. I personally don't like bubble wrap, it takes to much time wraping each egg and I feel that the eggs do need to breath. But if a customer wanted bubble wrap, then bubble wrap it is.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Oooooo... nice! Where do you get the foamy stuff and how do you cut such neat holes in it?

 

[deerman]

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You can buy it on ebid, for most size eggs. I received quail eggs in the foam, 19 out of 105 were broken.

 

[deerman]

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cup is not close air tight,

 

[Pine Grove]

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For a fact, Chukar Partridge eggs wrapped in plastic will have 80%+ hatch rate even after 30 days...

 

[kartking22]

I just shipped out a trial bunch of pheasant eggs to Fudgie. Still waiting to see if they all made it OK.
My method doesn't use bubble wrap or foam as a cushion. Keep in mind that these are pheasant eggs. Bantam eggs can be packed this way also.
1. Use a standard egg carton.
2. Sprinkle planer shavings in the bottom of the cartons. This is that curly wood chip type material.
3. Place each egg in the carton until full making sure that they are snuggly set.
4. Cover eggs with more planer shavings and close the carton. Shake the carton to make sure that all eggs are tightly secured. Add more shavings if needed.
5. Wrap the carton in plastic wrap to ensure that it doesn't pop open during shipping.
6. Place cartons in a box large enough to use crumpled newspapers on all sides of your cartons.
7. Shake your package again to ensure that EVERYTHING is tight and ship with confidence.

No bubble wrap, no packing peanuts,and the wook chips can be used to put around your flowers or other plants in the garden.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

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You are going to laugh when I tell you how I do those circles. The foam I get from JoAnn Fabrics when they are having a good sale and if I see anyone throwing out any foam cushions I will pick them up and wash them. If they are really thick, I cut them in half using a large bread knife. Now for the circles, I showed my DH a picture of what I was looking to do. We tried using the hole saw for doors attached to a drill, but it just ripped the foam up. So my DH went to the autoparts store and bought a piece of tailpipe reducer connector about 6" long and it's 2" that reduces to 1 1/2" diameter on the other end. My DH sharpened the one end really sharp. I place it on the foam and just push down and twist. It cuts such a nice circle and it's really easy. I put down a thin piece of foam or styrofoam on the bottom of the box, then I put my foam with the circles in. If the foam is kinda thick I will cut the circle that was removed from the hole and cut it in half and put it back in the circle, it gives the the egg a cushion underneath as well. Then I place a piece of foam or something on top to keep it all together. I have to give my DH all the credit for this one.
Thanks for the interest!!

 

[dancingbear]

I received 2 dozen + 4 extras, turkey eggs from Murray McMurray, in foam with holes like that. It was nice they sent 4 extra, because 4 were broken. Of 2 dozen, I got 1 dozen hatched, so that was pretty good. I thought about using that myself, but then the bubble wrapped eggs keep getting here unbroken, (except one bunch, one layer bubble, only around the center, end open, in an egg carton. Several broken, air cells toast) so I don't know if I want to try it or not.

But credit where credit's due, 4-H Chicken Mom, that's an absolutely ingenious way of cutting the holes! I've pondered how the heck that could be done. How's your breakage rate? I might reconsider trying that method, maybe the bunch from MMH was a fluke, or maybe they missed cracks in the eggs when they packed them. It seems like it would be easier and faster than bubble wrap, too.

The only shipments I've received that had zero breakage, were wrapped in bubble wrap. This last one I got on Saturday, is from a lady I got eggs from last year. The first ones she sent were wrapped in paper, in an egg carton, padded with wadded newspaper. Several were broken, and I got 1 egg to hatch. This shipment, I asked her to use bubble wrap, no egg cartons, center the eggs in the box, etc. She did as I asked, and these arrived in really good condition, even the air cells are not badly damaged, except one. From Arizona to KY, so I consider that a fairly good test. I wasn't able to get eggs from Louisiana without bad air cells, even with bubble wrap.

Egg cartons used in shipping haven't worked well in the ones I've gotten. They had broken eggs. Mostly, I think, because they weren't snug in the cartons, there was room for movement, which, in shipping, always means room for slamming around in the package. Those eggs need to be kept from shifting and bumping anything, even soft things. The material they're packed in needs to absorb shock. IMO, wood shavings or paper isn't very good for that. The exception is shredded paper or wadded up paper, to pad the bubble wrapped, (or maybe foam padded) firmly secured eggs in the center of the box. Sheets of paper wrapped around eggs don't do much, if anything, to reduce shock.

ETA: I wouldn't shake a package with hatching eggs in it for any reason. Shaking them could damage them, all by itself. I gently turn mine to see if they shift at all. But shaking is a no-no.

So far, all my eggs that I've sent out, in bubble wrap, have arrived intact. But they were guinea eggs, too, hard to break those little buggers.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Ahhhh... like a biscuit cutter.

Very nice. What are your breakage rates like? Your method looks really secure as long as you can keep the PO from crushing the box.

The image makes me think of those fancy fruit boxes you get at Christmas with high priced apples and oranges nestled in the foam. BYC should do an "egg of the month" club.