Oh dear, all my duck eggs candled clear! :(

[awesomefowl]

stumble-n-mumble, what part of LI are you from? I used to live there! On the South shore.

 

[awesomefowl]

I contacted the seller. I hope I haven't been scammed.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
We really need a sarcasm smiley on here. Goosedragon has lots of experience with waterfowl and their eggs.

katharinad
Blood vessels should be visible around day 4. If you don't see anything by day 7 then they are no good at all. At that point you should open them and check for the fertility disk. If you don't see one then you should confront the seller and request a refund including shipping. The seller needs to learn when eggs are fertile etc and to check for it. They do not need an incubator for that, simply crack the egg and look. You just see a lot of sellers on ebay that don't know what they are doing. I hate it when they blame the shipping carrier and who know what else. The fertility disk is a clear indicator that they left the nest fertile or unfertile. I also find it crazy that sellers get good feed back simply for shipping and not the product. Shipping does only some damage, but not to the point that they are all bad. You should expect a 30% or better hatch rate. Anything under 30% points to other issues. Did you know that vitamin and mineral deficiencies cause poor hatching rates? I have never seen a single seller stating that their ducks are on a better diet or supplements for the absolutely best egg production possible. Very frustrating. Always ask if they provide supplements on their laying hens. Then you get mixed eggs with all kind of sizes including double yolkers, which is another no no. Best is to order in spring, but wait at least 2-3 weeks before you order, because that is the time frame ducks need to get back into swing. This of course varies with some breeds. I hope my rant gives you a little bit more information and what to look for.

I sell quite a few eggs and I would never base their fertility on the "disk". People are going to see what they want to see in their eggs and certainly most people don't have the experience to know what they are or aren't seeing. That is the reason I only sell while I am hatching eggs here at home.

A hatch rate of under 30% can be the result of shipping with nothing else to blame. Nothing is certain from shipped eggs .....shipped eggs are a crap shoot under the best of circumstances.​

 

[TennesseeTruly]

Quote:
We really need a sarcasm smiley on here. Goosedragon has lots of experience with waterfowl and their eggs.

katharinad
Blood vessels should be visible around day 4. If you don't see anything by day 7 then they are no good at all. At that point you should open them and check for the fertility disk. If you don't see one then you should confront the seller and request a refund including shipping. The seller needs to learn when eggs are fertile etc and to check for it. They do not need an incubator for that, simply crack the egg and look. You just see a lot of sellers on ebay that don't know what they are doing. I hate it when they blame the shipping carrier and who know what else. The fertility disk is a clear indicator that they left the nest fertile or unfertile. I also find it crazy that sellers get good feed back simply for shipping and not the product. Shipping does only some damage, but not to the point that they are all bad. You should expect a 30% or better hatch rate. Anything under 30% points to other issues. Did you know that vitamin and mineral deficiencies cause poor hatching rates? I have never seen a single seller stating that their ducks are on a better diet or supplements for the absolutely best egg production possible. Very frustrating. Always ask if they provide supplements on their laying hens. Then you get mixed eggs with all kind of sizes including double yolkers, which is another no no. Best is to order in spring, but wait at least 2-3 weeks before you order, because that is the time frame ducks need to get back into swing. This of course varies with some breeds. I hope my rant gives you a little bit more information and what to look for.

I sell quite a few eggs and I would never base their fertility on the "disk". People are going to see what they want to see in their eggs and certainly most people don't have the experience to know what they are or aren't seeing. That is the reason I only sell while I am hatching eggs here at home.

A hatch rate of under 30% can be the result of shipping with nothing else to blame. Nothing is certain from shipped eggs .....shipped eggs are a crap shoot under the best of circumstances.​

I was giggling as I was reading Goosedragon's post. LOL

Laurie

 

[katharinad]

Eggs are being shipped all the time. They are being shipped worldwide among breeders that can quarantine them correctly during incubation and after hatching. I had eggs arrived almost frozen, with a hole in the box, and x-rayed. Yet, 80% of them hatched. I also had eggs that arrived in perfect condition and only 20% hatched. It's not all shipping at all. I only expect 30-50% of shipped eggs to hatch since shipping is not ideal at all. Anything under 30% has more going on. Why is it that ebay shippers deny that there is such a thing as a malnourished egg? Or poor mating rate? Poor fertility before shipping? Odd sized eggs being shipped? Those things exist and must be put into the equation. It's a cheap way out to blame shipping. Sorry, but it truly is. BTW the xray machines used by the Post Office to not pose harm to the eggs. This is another way out for ebay sellers. The fertility disc is not a myth either and can be helpful in determining if an egg was fertile to start with. The best bet it to test incubate, because you will know after a few days if they start. This still does not rule out malnourished eggs, which will die a little later on during incubation. They may not even hatch, or the ducklings die shortly after hatch. Hatching eggs should only be sold with confidence that your hens are on supplements and that you have tested fertility. Something that is almost always being left out by ebay sellers.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
We really need a sarcasm smiley on here. Goosedragon has lots of experience with waterfowl and their eggs.

katharinad
Blood vessels should be visible around day 4. If you don't see anything by day 7 then they are no good at all. At that point you should open them and check for the fertility disk. If you don't see one then you should confront the seller and request a refund including shipping. The seller needs to learn when eggs are fertile etc and to check for it. They do not need an incubator for that, simply crack the egg and look. You just see a lot of sellers on ebay that don't know what they are doing. I hate it when they blame the shipping carrier and who know what else. The fertility disk is a clear indicator that they left the nest fertile or unfertile. I also find it crazy that sellers get good feed back simply for shipping and not the product. Shipping does only some damage, but not to the point that they are all bad. You should expect a 30% or better hatch rate. Anything under 30% points to other issues. Did you know that vitamin and mineral deficiencies cause poor hatching rates? I have never seen a single seller stating that their ducks are on a better diet or supplements for the absolutely best egg production possible. Very frustrating. Always ask if they provide supplements on their laying hens. Then you get mixed eggs with all kind of sizes including double yolkers, which is another no no. Best is to order in spring, but wait at least 2-3 weeks before you order, because that is the time frame ducks need to get back into swing. This of course varies with some breeds. I hope my rant gives you a little bit more information and what to look for.

I sell quite a few eggs and I would never base their fertility on the "disk". People are going to see what they want to see in their eggs and certainly most people don't have the experience to know what they are or aren't seeing. That is the reason I only sell while I am hatching eggs here at home.

A hatch rate of under 30% can be the result of shipping with nothing else to blame. Nothing is certain from shipped eggs .....shipped eggs are a crap shoot under the best of circumstances.​

I was giggling as I was reading Goosedragon's post. LOL

Laurie

I found it funny too......

 

[Katy]

Quote:
I agree that eggs are being shipped all the time.....I don't agree that they're being shipped worldwide too much tho.

I very rarely purchase shipped eggs anymore simply because I have the breeds now that I want, but back when I was buying quite a few I was always happy if any hatched, let alone 30-50%. I've had everything from 11 of 13 hatch to 1 out of 18. Did I blame the seller no, I didn't. No matter what you think shipping is the culprit most of the time. Eggs that start to develop and then quit can also be the result of shipping damage. There are sellers that shouldn't be trusted, but buyers also need to do their homework and make sure they ask all the questions if they feel like all the info is not posted on the auction.

I don't guarentee my hatching eggs simply because there are too many variables that can affect the hatch rate that I have no control over....whether it's how they were handled in shipping to the buyer being inexperienced and unrealistic in what they expect the hatch rate to be.

 

[chickensioux]

 

[duckyfromoz]

Although not a planned or contolled experiment- I can give some hatch results from eggs laid by my ducks over a ten day period. 12 were incubated by myself. 11 hatched. 8 were posted to a location aproximately 100 klms away. 2 hatched. 8 eggs were collected and driven by the buyer to their home approximately 150 klms away- 7 hatched. All eggs were set within 7 days of being laid.

All 3 incubators were of different types- but the results I think clearly show that the posted eggs had the lowest hatch rate.

A reputable seller would only ship the eggs with the best chance of hatching - same size no shell deformities and fertility tested in batches at home as well, but this alone does not maen a good hatch will result.
Shipping eggs does reduce the viability of "FERTILE" eggs to hatch as does the buyers handling, incubation type and techniques after recieving the eggs.

 

[stumble_n_mumble]

heyyy!! i am from the mastic-shirley area, not sure if you know where that is! lol