Ordering Eggs?

[hallerlake]

Because of the rough treatment during shipping, you should only expect about half of shipped eggs to hatch on average. If you could find someone local you could pick up the eggs from, that would be best. Go to your state thread on BYC, see what you can find and express an interest, or check Craigslist.

 

[Stacykins]

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Definitely not recommended to get shipped eggs with this blasted heat wave. When things cool down, it will be better to ship eggs. If they get too hot, it kills the embryo because the proteins in the egg denature.

 

[yinepu]

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it really depends on the post office and how they handle them during shipping.. the last chicken eggs i received were in REALLY bad shape by the time the post office got done with them.. poor handling plus excessive heat is not a good combination at all for eggs!

 

[dsqard]

I highly recommend Brahma eggs then. I absolutely love how friendly they are. There are quite a few sellers on here. I bought some from Carole at Fowl Visions (you can google that) I believe she is a member on here but I am not sure of her member name. I bought some different colored Brahmas from another member on here as well. I was very happy with both sets of shipped eggs. I will see if I can track down the name of that other member.

 

[colebarnhart]

You can also look on Ebay as well as, here on BYC. Some of the hatchery's sell hatching eggs also, I know Murry McMurry's has them for sale.

 

[dsqard]

The name of the other member with Brahma eggs is aceschix. She doesn't have an auction listed right now but you could PM her and see if she has any available. Here is a picture of some of the light Brahmas I hatched from her eggs back in March.

 

[FeatheredObsessions]

Pretty girls!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Our 4 bators haven't stopped going yet. They cool down only long enough to be cleaned, set back up and shipped eggs unpacked and put inside.

When you get eggs shipped during the hottest months I have found it better to put the eggs straight into the bator with the turner off for the first 24 hours. This keeps the, warm, but still to settle. If you leave them on the counter, they cool down from the heat of shipping. Now if the temps got high enough while they were in transit they could intact start to incubate in the shipping box. This is the reason to place directly into a pre-heated bator. This way you don't run the risk of cooling and thus killing the embryo development.

I hatch shipped eggs all of the time and have great hatch rates with the Brinsea bators. Hoping to upgrade to a cabinet style next year.


You need to shop around for eggs, read up on breeds and figure out what you like. Non aggressive is too broad a want. Do you want brown, white, or colored eggs? Do you want large eggs or small eggs? How many can you keep if in city limits? Since you don't need a roo to get eggs, pick a breed or multiple breeds based on your climate and the birds ability to handle the extreme heat or cold and for the egg production and color you want.

If you have never hatched before, don't break the bank for a rare breed right off the bat.

 

[jm93030]

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Personally if you dont have much experince in incubation
I will recomend you to order chicks

Ideal poultry has lot of specials going on

you can get 25 pullets (females) for $1.35 each

or silkies for $1.25 each
and their shipping cost is very low

you can get 25 girls all diferent breeds for less than 50 dls mareks vaccinated

there are times when I feel that ordering eggs is a waste of money

usually my best hatchings on shipped eggs are before or after hot weather

I dont like ordering eggs during hot weather it just doesnt work for me

waste of money

 

[jettgirl24]

My personal favorite for friendly, docile birds who are also great layers are Barred Rocks. Mine are the sweetest hens. They follow me around for treats, love to be held, and lay nice sized brown eggs (and lots of 'em)! There are usually hatching eggs in the for sale section so definitely keep them in mind

And I wouldn't discourage you from hatching them, it's a whole lotta fun and very addicting

Just keep in mind as someone said earlier, that with shipped eggs you can really only expect to get about half. Also keep in mind that most batches of eggs will wield about 50% roos so you have to be prepared for what to do with them.