question to all who sell hatching eggs?

[virginbred]

is there a way to verify fertility of the eggs you are selling? do you collect and sell after incubating for several days to know you have a viable embryo? do you take part of a clutch of eggs and hatch to know if your fertility rate is high enough to sell viable eggs?

my reason for asking is that i've collected several sebastopol eggs from my geese and put them in my incubator only to find my fertility rate is very low...these are first season geese and i understand i'll have better rate in the coming years...

any insight would be helpful...thanks for reading...virginia

 

[Luvducks]

Sorry, I do not know but would like to see the answer. AND, wanted to tell you what a beautiful bird you have!

 

[lockedhearts]

I do test mine before offering For Sale. If you have a young pair, give them a month or so and test again. I had a young pair of Bantams, first eggs I tested were clear, but in a couple months I tested again and all were fertile.

 

[PQ]

As said above give it a little more time...
Also... man lucky you. They are beautiful birds!!
Good luck next batch.
I would be happy to test it for you

 

[Webfoot]

I start selling eggs after the fertility rate (checked at 5 days) for that breed has reached 80% in my incubator. I do a test batch again each month to make sure the fertility rate hasn't dropped. Eggs are all shipped within 2 days of laying. You can't incubate them for a few days and then ship them--that would kill the embryos.

There's no way to know with 100% certainty that every egg you ship is fertile, but you can eliminate a lot of doubt by incubating test batches.

Webfoot

 

[aberfitch]

you incubate and try to hatch before you sell the eggs. Spend a lot of time watching them to see if they are breeding. The more they breed the higher the fertility rate.

 

[virginbred]

thanks for the compliments on my birds...i've got around 20 eggs in the incubator at the moment...hoping to get a hatchable egg or 2...

white parents...

saddleback parents...

 

[Webfoot]

Wow, I'm jealous! They are beautiful.

Webfoot

 

[BluegrassSeramas]

I hatch a batch or two before I advertise fertile eggs also.

 

[Calebs Acre]

I watch to see that the birds are breeding and then I set eggs in the incubator. With my runners, I set three sets of eggs, approximately 40 of them, and had less than 10% infertility, so I began offering the eggs for sale. I have maintained a 90% or better fertility rate in the incubator, so I continue selling.

With my dewlap toulouse geese, I have placed 18 eggs in the incubator and the first one was infertile, but all of the other show veining and movement, so I know am confident to sell them.

On the other hand, I received two different shipments of eggs from an eBay seller, a total of 10 goose eggs, and NONE of them have been fertile. I have to question the fertility when I get two different shipments and not a single egg shows any sign of veining or activity. The boxes arrived in excellent condition and the eggs were packed superbly.

My sebastopols are very young and their fertility is all over the place this year. I could not confidently sell eggs because even my fertile eggs are not reaching the hatching stages, as they are quitting very early. The humidity is staying SPOT on, as is the temperature and other goose eggs in the cabinet are developing, so I am blaming my Sebbies. LOL. I figure if they start to hatch, I can always sell older birds or babies. Don't want to risk disappointing people by selling very questionable eggs.