Ok- If I do this again, what should I do differently next time....

[farmgirljen]

I got a dozen BCM eggs.... There were a few broken upon arrival, thanks to the PO, I am sure...

I let them set for about 6 hours at room temp before putting them under my broody hen.... I had one chick hatch, the rest were all bad, and never even formed... So- should I have let them rest longer before setting them, should I just buy an incubator, and skip mother nature? I would like to do it again, but I have a $20 chick, now...and my hubby is a little disgusted with this project,lol...

 

[Chicky Tocks]

I will say that BCM eggs have been the hardest for me to hatch. One reason being that the only way I've been able to procure them is through the mail. Shipping is especially hard on eggs and it tends to knock their hatchability down to a bare minimum. I have never had any problem getting good hatches out of eggs that I've either bought close to home, or hatched from my own. It's the shipped eggs that cause me grief.

I have two little $10 chicks from my last BCM egg purchase. That just wasn't a flock for me, and I lucked out and found an exceptional breeder of the BCM right here close to home and I bought three more chicks at $10 apiece. I'm $50 in now and I hope, hope, hope I get more pullets than roos~! Finding a source closer to home is my only suggestion of what's different to do.

 

[1shelby1]

Yes,I tried a few times also-just not great mail service.Out of 3doz I have one -and it's a rooster....
Closer to home or chickies for next time!

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

LOL!!!! I have several 100.00 silkie chicks due to single hatchs. I can't wait until next year when they are laying and setting their own!!!

 

[Akane]

If you get broken eggs without the box being completely smashed then it's bad packaging. Eggs should not break without the box deforming if they are packaged correctly. Eggs that can break just by moving around in the box needed way more padding and any surviving eggs are likely scrambled. Many good sellers will offer you replacement eggs if they are broken at no more than the cost of shipping if any cost because they know short of their packages being run over by the mail truck the eggs will get there in one piece. I know of several people who ship 100s of eggs a year all across the country and can count on one hand the number of broken eggs their customers have received.

Try to find someone with good reviews on their packaging and hatch rates and don't buy from the other person again. It is always a gamble when you buy online. I spent $30 on 3 dozen eggs and I have 5 chicks with 3 that are looking like roos. The person did not package them tight enough and despite no broken eggs nearly 2 dozen were completely scrambled from shifting around in the carton. Eggs absolutely cannot move in the cartons or the box in order to have a chance at arriving safely. If you find someone that knows that and that collects fresh eggs (the older the egg the larger the air sac and the more easily damaged as well as hatch rates going down anyway) then you are pretty much guranteed to get chicks and possibly lots of chicks. The post office would have to do something serious like one person got their package shut in a door and another had their package thrown out the window of the mail truck on to the driveway while the truck was still going quite fast. No one can package eggs for things like that but everything short of it should get you some chicks if they are good eggs packaged well.

 

[farmgirljen]

I bought from someone on here with an excellent success rate, and hatch rate.... I would buy from them again because of that. I am new at this, and have much to learn on the hatching end of things...