Is it to late?

[DUCKGIRL89]

Is it to late in the year to sell hatching eggs???

Thanks!

 

[DB_Tex]

It's probably OK in the southern states and the southwest where I am-- I'm not thinking twice about ordering turkey poults in February... but then I'm in Phoenix. If I lived in say, Wisconsin-- there's no way I'd attempt hatching.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Aahhh. Ok. I was just wondering because I was trying to sell rouen hatching eggs, but I guess nobody wants ant because its getting cold.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
It's not too late to buy hatching eggs. I think it's probably more the fact that you only have one hen that you're selling from.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Whats wrong with only one hen?

 

[Katy]

Quote:
To get a decent amount of eggs to send the first eggs laid will be bordering on too old to ship out. Add the shipping stress to older eggs and your hatch rate is going to go down even further.

They'll all be from the same parents.

Plus the fact that you haven't checked fertility on them.

 

[cassidy22]

I'm in northern Colorado, and I never brood chicks after September, or before March. Too cold at night to keep the brooder warm enough, and they have to be in the brooder much longer than in the spring and summer, when I can put most birds outside by 3 weeks. It's just no fun watching baby birds die in the cold. Can't speak for warmer states, though.

I also know that my fertility rates drops drastically,and I go from 90-95 egg fertility in the summer, to closer to 50-60% in the fall. I've never tried winter hatching. My egg production drops this time of year, too, so I'd rather keep the eggs for sale then try to hatch them. I generally have more eggs than I can sell in early spring, which is when I incubate, and never enough in the fall, so I sell them.

 

[StevenW.]

Quote:
Why do you say that?