Odd hatch dates

[Project Blue]

I'm pretty careful about writing down the hour and date incubation starts but am having very early hatches with shipped eggs from the same seller. My question is the seller selling eggs that have been partially incubated?

I received 8 eggs with the first batch, one broken and one egg looked very old. There was not enough padding in the box so I expected a poor hatch, and indeed only one hatched. The remaining 6 were yolkers. That chick was 2 days early, but very lively. Ok, so then the second box arrives 4 days after the first. These 8 eggs look fresher and are better packed. Hatch date is Wednesday July 23rd and I put the eggs in the incubator at 4:30 pm. Sunday morning a chick peeped, but did not hatch until after midnight early Monday morning sometime. The other 7 eggs are still incubating with no peep holes. The two groups of eggs were in separate incubators with consistent temperatures and humidity. I really didn't expect chicks until Thursday since I put them in late in the day. It's also in the 90's in most of the South, so.....what happened? Partially incubated during shipping? Partially incubated by hen then shipped? What are the chances of viability? Is this a phenomenon with shipped eggs that I'm just not aware of??

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

In total over the years, I've received probably 15 different shipments of silkie hatching eggs.

I've incubated over 500 eggs this year alone, most of them mine, but many shipped ones. I invariably always have one hatching a day or two early, whether my own, or shipped. Thus, I do a five-day lockdown versus a three-day as it happens too often.

I'm not sure what you mean by "fresher," as I couldn't tell the difference between a month-old egg and a day-old egg.

Even if someone sold us eggs that had been under a hen for a few days, the embryos would most likely die, though it's been heard of eggs starting, then going dormant, and picking up again days later once brought to 99.5F. I just know shipping is hard enough on them when they haven't started developing, so it's doubtful they'd make it had they already been incubated for a few days.

If you suspect this from this seller, and buy again, I would just candle them before putting them in the incubator and see if you can detect any development. I once had one egg delivered in my shipment that had probably a two-week-old embryo in it. It was dead though. The breeder blamed her husband for it.