Road Warriors Egg Transportation - take your eggs to work or on vacation

[farmhand]

So the xray process does not harm the eggs?
farmhand aka Clifford aka Grampa

 

[JerseyHen]

Research from 1935 suggesting that mild radiation doses might accelerate development...
Effect of X-rays on the Incubation Period, sexual Development and Egg-laying in White, and Brown Leghorn
Chickens. J. M. Essenberg. Poultry Science, Vol. 14,
1935, p. 284.

The USPS probably radiates a good number of shipped packages too...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/590749/does-usps-xrays-boxes-yes-proof-in-thread


Additional Mail Security Measures
Some of the mail that is sent through the United States Postal Service will pass through an X-Ray machine. There are no specific guidelines as to what may or may not be x-rayed, though mail sent to or through larger cities is likely to pass through an X-Ray machine.
Note: Marking a mailpiece "Do Not X-Ray" will not forgo the X-Raying of a mailpiece, and may result in the item being considered suspicious
If you have additional questions about X-Raying of items, contact your local Post Office.
The only mail currently being irradiated is mail sent to federal government agencies in WashingtonDC, for ZIP Codes

beginning with 202, 203, 204 and 205. Mail to these Zones is accumulated at a site near the Brentwood Road facility, and then shipped to New Jersey to be irradiated. This process in New Jersey takes approximately 24 hours. Mail can take three (3) to five (5) days longer to reach its destination than it did prior to irradiation, but is generally not more than three (3) days. Mail returned from New Jersey is aired out for a short period before it is processed at a postal location designated for sorting all Government mail. Once the United States Postal Service provides mail to Congress and other affected government groups, some have their own mail rooms that do additional security checking before the mail is sorted and actually given to the recipients. Customers may send either Priority Mail or Express Mail items for expedited handling. This mail is not irradiated unless it is sent to the White House.
Mail may arrive in a plastic bag(gie) with a letter explaining the sanitization process (if the mail was sanitized).
Irradiation can have a negative effect on some plant, food, medical and electronic devices. While some people have reported mild symptoms after handling irradiated mail, substantial biological and medical testing has found no link between irradiated mail and those symptoms. Because the irradiation process can dry out paper and "yellow" the mail, there may be more paper dust or roughness associated with this mail. The irradiation process does not create any harmful radiation. The process was developed in consultation with scientists and experts both within and outside the federal government, led by the White House Office of Science and Technology.

 

[ozexpat]

So the xray process does not harm the eggs?
farmhand aka Clifford aka Grampa

the x-ray process is avoided by carrying the eggs on the plane and asking TSA to do a manual check rather daythan putting them through the machine

As a side conversation, I work with xrays every day. A human embryo that is less than two weeks old is not effected by diagnostic xray procedures. It takes a considerable dose to cause a miscarriage. I spent a long time last night looking at dosages from airport xray machines and its my theory that the dosage may lower hatch rates but not render all eggs infertile.

In April I am going to Las Vegas for the weekend. I think I will be driving there and flying back. I will see if I can conduct an experiment by taking 12 eggs in a hand carry that does not go through xray and 12 that go in checked luggage an compare the hatch rates.

it could be interesting.

if you know of any hard data on chicken egg fertility and xrays, i would love the link.

 

[JerseyHen]

I just did a literature search using the mesh headings "xray, radiation, chicken eggs, hatch" and found a rather interesting list of old research on the matter. Apparently radiating eggs was a popular study to perform in the past. There was also some information on red laser treatment of eggs. It seems that the radiation (at low doses) increases the activity of certain enzymes. If you go past a particular mark there is an exponential decrease in hatchability. Pretty neat stuff. I might have to xray some eggs at the university and see if they hatch.

 

[ozexpat]

I guess we have been looking for similar stuff ... lol

 

[ozexpat]

I just did a literature search using the mesh headings "xray, radiation, chicken eggs, hatch" and found a rather interesting list of old research on the matter. Apparently radiating eggs was a popular study to perform in the past. There was also some information on red laser treatment of eggs. It seems that the radiation (at low doses) increases the activity of certain enzymes. If you go past a particular mark there is an exponential decrease in hatchability. Pretty neat stuff. I might have to xray some eggs at the university and see if they hatch.

do you have a link on the doses?

radiation safety offers would have my eggs for sticking some under the cath lab xray tube

 

[JerseyHen]

This is what happens when medical people get involved with chickens and give each other ideas... lol.

 

[JerseyHen]

gah! just closed the window on that one. It was an article from 1958. Let me see if I can find it again.

 

[JerseyHen]

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1601-5223.1958.tb03488.x/pdf

http://www.pjbs.org/ijps/fin4.pdf

http://ps.fass.org/content/35/6/1327.abstract

http://radiology.rsna.org/content/31/1/94.extract?related-urls=yes&legid=radiology;31/1/94

http://radiology.rsna.org/content/25/6/739.extract

 

[farmhand]

This is what happens when medical people get involved with chickens and give each other ideas... lol.

Maybe we need to find a coroner member to inspect these eggs?