Incubating Eggs before Shipping

[kathyinmo]

That's a really good point, Lisa! Something to consider, for sure!

 

[EweSheep]

Want to ship eggs?

Go out of town to the next big town, label the box in your address to be shipped and bye bye box, see you home tomorrow or two days or whatever.

Then try doing the settling process and incubate.

I would love to know how many of you were successful and how many were "duds".

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote:
No, its not really the point but it would help with that some I guess. The point is that some people believe that incubating a short time before shipping makes the egg stronger inside an better able to take shipping. Not just having a few cells that have to survive the trip but thousands an more likely that some make it.

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
No I don't believe any of the commentators believe shipping an egg which has been incubated three days makes "the egg stronger inside an better able to take shipping." it's all about shipping fertile eggs.

The question is how does a setting hen hatch all of her eggs with in a 12-18 hour time period instead of however number of days it took her to lay the eggs?

Joe

 

[silkiechicken]

For work I have incubated eggs for 2.5 days and took them out to slow their development for 16 hours before putting them back in. Most survived. However, add shipping and unknown weather, that would be tougher.

I would however believe in people incubating for 3 days to verifiy fertility, and sending fresh eggs. By 3 days of incubation, cracking open or candling and egg will show how many are fertile.

A hen can hatch all her chicks in a day simply because she does not start to set (incubate) them untill she has all she wants... for some silly hens, it is more than they can deal with and they end up with very few chicks because the pea brains try and set on more than they can cover.

Quote:
And that idea makes no sense at all. Once the embryo is at day 3, all the cells other than the gametes have become determined. In other words, they have a fate path to reach. There are already a few hundred if not a thousand cells in the blastocyst of a fertile egg (making that bulls eye), before the egg stops awaiting incubation.

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
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Personally I don't believe many people keep good enough records to track their flocks fertility. So a question to someone selling eggs is "How's your flocks fertility? What is your shipped eggs hatch rate?"
If they are not following up on their own sales ... they are not doing their job as egg sellers.
Joe

 

[BlacksheepCardigans]

Quote:
Heck, they're already past the stage where they could "lose a few" by the time they're laid, aren't they? The blastodisc can't partially die off and regenerate; the cells may not be specialized at that point but it's well beyond the point where cells can be lost and the embryo still survive.

I think the theory behind incubation before shipping is to preemptively remove all the clears and 1/2/3-day quitters, which are either unfertilized or likely to be the result of some genetic mis-match and would never have hatched no matter how beautifully they were handled, and send those which show strong veining and development. Like others, I think an overnight shipment would probably result in the majority hatching. I'm not so sure you could go 2-3 days. One of the reasons that you're supposed to gather frequently and store in a cool place is that once the temperature gets over about 70F the eggs are going to start developing whether you like it or not. Hatchability is reduced, not improved, when that happens.

 

[primal woman]

Quote:
Very interesting post.
When I raised parrots, I could see fertility at 2.5 days incubation in pure white eggs.

I candled some 3 day incubated brown chicken eggs (barred rock and dark cornish) and found they were fertile. THEN the power went out! Power was out for 15 hours and my house got down to 48 degrees inside. I am going to hang in there. Candled today and still looks good, but too early to tell.
This happened yesterday. I will try to remember to keep you posted on the results. But it makes sense it could work, especially the youngest incubated eggs that have not spread their veins all over yet.
I don't produce enough eggs yet to send. But I could accept some eggs if someone wants to send me some. How about Cornish, rocks and/or muscovy ducks! Oh, what the heck; how about macaws, cockatoos or caiques!! chuckle.

Thanks for posting this intriguing topic.
Two Lyon Electric incubators, and lots of experience incubating eggs.

 

[geosheets]

Quote:
I think the point of only incubating for 3 days is because the circulatory system hasn't really developed yet. Once you get past the three day point the egg is dependent on heat and rotation to help develop the circulatory system... 3 days or less, the emrbyo may go dormant and still hatch when re-incubated. I don't see where a 3 day incubation will benefit at all other than you may be able to tell fertility in a light shelled egg. The egg will still be subjected to the same postal service roughness that damages the air cells. Shipping in cooler weather and keeping the air cells in the upright position during shipping are about the only two things I know of that can help reduce the air cell damage.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi! If anyone would like to try a group of pre-incuated eggs for Mon, 1/3/11 shipping (all you need is PayPal to be able to cover S&H) --- send me a PM.
I'll wait til late tonight to set these eggs and they should be in the right time frame (somebody correct me if that is wrong).
Another question... I usually wrap eggs for shipping in bubblewrap. Would there be an issue with using bubblewrap on these pre-incubated eggs (as in do they need to 'breathe' at that point during shipping?)?

What about duck eggs? Do you suppose the same time frame would apply?
Thanks!

Lisa