Need help troubleshooting bad hatch rates from shipped eggs

[slc]

I Need help troubleshooting bad hatches.

I have had the worst hatches this year. The hatch rate has been so terrible from shipped eggs that I'm at my wits end.

I use a Genesis Hovabator 1588 with an automatic turner. I use a few different thermometers to double check themperature including an electronic hi/low temp/humidity thermometer. Humidity is checked daily . The incubator is supposed to do the rest. Temp stays about 100. I know there are no spikes because the hi/low readings never show such.

Last year I incubated a few sets of eggs with much better hatch rates than I am able to get this year.

So far I've gotten the following:

Out of a batch of 14 Chantecler eggs, 2 hatched
Out of a second batch of 13 turkey eggs I got 3 (two died on day 1)
Out of a third batch of 12 NN eggs I got ONE!
And now I have a batch of 13 Araucana eggs that are two days past hatch date and NO CHICKS, not one! Actually my attempt at Araucana eggs last year failed too.

So far I've spent $200 for rotten eggs.

Is the USPS radiating the eggs shipped with X-rays? Excessive heat? Pressure issues from air travel? Is it the feed, like the cows that keep aborting calves from the new organism found in GMO grain?

At this rate I am doomed. Can anyone help me figure this out?

 

[Love my Critters!]

I wish I could help. I have the exact same problem. I had one batch that was a 0% hatch and my latest one, I had 4 develop and hatch out of 24 eggs! I'm worried that the shipping is too hard on them, although there is no way of knowing if all the eggs I have received were actually fertile.

 

[Gypsy07]

Shipped eggs are always a gamble, but even then I'd think you should be able to get slightly better hatch rates that what you've been getting. Before you blame x-rays or rough handling, have a think about your humidity. Are you absolutely SURE your eggs have lost the correct amount of moisture going into lockdown? If you have fertile eggs available from your own birds, it would be a good idea to put half a dozen of them in with each batch of shipped eggs that you incubate. If they hatch out okay, you'll know your incubating skills are spot on. But if they don't, you'll know that something's not right in your bator.

That's where I'd start anyway, if only to reassure myself that it WASN'T my fault...

 

[cashdl]

First off, everyone has a bad hatch with shipped araucana eggs. So don't feel lonely there. I ship Araucana eggs all over and am always happy and surprised when they hatch. I have eggcellant hatch rates at home, but shipping wrecks havoc on already fragile embryos.

What is your humidity set at? I use a dryish hatch method for my eggs and get really good results. I incubate at 24% humidity and hatch at 45%. Also shipped eggs should be shipped wrapped with pointy side down, just like they are stored in a carton. It helps stabalize the air cell. You wont get as many bubbles if any.

Other than that, not sure.

Lanae

 

[slc]

Love my Critters! :

I wish I could help. I have the exact same problem. I had one batch that was a 0% hatch and my latest one, I had 4 develop and hatch out of 24 eggs! I'm worried that the shipping is too hard on them, although there is no way of knowing if all the eggs I have received were actually fertile.

I do candle them at about 7 days and remove the duds, still get the bad hatch rate. I spent good money to get this incubator that is supposed to be reliable. Everyone but me has good results. I don't get it.​

 

[Love my Critters!]

I have a "cheaper" bator, but I do spend a lot of money on the eggs I order. When I incubate my own eggs, I have fantastic hatch rates. It is only the shipped ones that give me issues. I always let my "rest" pointed side down for 24 hours once I unpack them, before I put them in the bator. Other then that I don't know anything else to do to the shipped eggs to help them.

 

[scatteredeggs]

my first time to hatch. had the 59 quail eggs shipped, rest them for 6 hours (shipper said 6-8 hours) before setting out in a DIY styrofoam incubator.
chicks started hatching after day 16th, one by one. at the end of day 18th no more activity despite having 2 eggs that pipped 24 hours before. hatched 9 out of 59.
when i eggtopsied, found several infertile, some in early stages of development and at least 3 more reaching full term.
i did a post mortem and came up with ways to improve my incubator - (1) enable turning without opening the incubator, (2) stabler temp (i noticed temp dropped to 97-98 in the second week), (3) get the chicks to hatch almost at the same time to lessen opening and humidity drop during hatching. ( i think i'll be able to do this by having constant 99-100 temp all thru out).

there are no local eggs nearby so i'd be shipping more eggs to incubate. but in the future, will look to hatch my own.

 

[HenPenny]

I have almost 100% success in hatching eggs from local supplier. The last eggs I bought and had shipped were a very bad hatch rate. Out of three orders three different suppliers a total of 36 eggs 5 hatched into live and healthy chicks. So I really believe it's the shipping and handling that determines most of it. I did eggtopsies this time because I was curious at the bad hatch rate. About 10 eggs were not fertile. About 10 developed and Quit. They did not pip. The others died after pipping. I will still try it though because some breeds I cannot find local. And I really do enjoy hatching them myself. I just won't spend more than $20.00 trying.

 

[kidcody]

I've had horrible luck hatching eggs that are shipped through the mail. I also spent a lot of money on these eggs and out of 14 eggs I had 2 chicks hatch. Thats means each chick cost me $60.00 each! I let the farm know what happened because this was my first time buying eggs this way. They were so rude and basically said they didn't care and it was my problem not theres. I would really reconsider having eggs shipped in the mail. There are some breeders that are after the money and don't care about the small back yard person who just wants to have a few beautiful eye candy chickens. I've had no problems hatching local eggs. I recommend local stock only.

 

[FeatheredObsessions]

Welcome !



I don't think all sellers of eggs are bad. It is a very hard thing to do ...sell eggs and ship. You can take all the best care ever! and still have the buyer feel cheated. After the eggs leave your hands they really are out of your control and that is the entire trip! bad weather, bad shipping, bad incubation.... a lot can go bad once the seller drops off the eggs. I know that there are bad sellers out there but there are a lot of good ones too! I have heard so many terrible stories about buyers requesting refunds.... one in particular the seller shipped eggs. Eggs left out in the coop and never hatched so buyer wanted refund......... guess what no incubator no broody! Just left the eggs outside and wanted a good hatch! REALLY!?! I know not every buyer is that silly but after dealing with a lot of silly buyers it surely gets hard for the seller to treat every buyer who has a problem with extra eggs. Some buyers even act as though the eggs are just free things the seller has laying around which isn't the case either.