Shipped eggs--are they worth it?

[SharW75]

I have been wanting to order some hatching eggs in a couple peafowl colors that I don't currently have in my flock. I've had decent success in the past with shipped chicken eggs, but I know peas are on a whole other level than chickens when it comes to incubating and hatching.

I have a pen of young birds with interesting genetics and I'm going to incubate some eggs from them as well, so my question is should I even bother with shipped eggs? Or should I just stick with my homebreds? I don't want to spend $150+ on dud eggs when I could be spending it in a better way.

 

[KsKingBee]

You don't sound like you like to gamble, and that is what shipping peaeggs is, a gamble. I sell eggs, cheaper than what you might expect, because it is a gamble on both the buyer and the seller.

I advertise four for $100 plus $25 postage and then ship six because I KNOW they are not going to all develop. Then again, some folks will get them all to hatch, which is a better hatch rate than I get myself with my own eggs.

My gamble is my reputation which is scrutinized by people that had the bad luck of the PO scrambling their eggs, leaving them to get overheated, or they just didn't have the stars aligned so the eggs would develop. When none of the eggs hatch, I send them another batch free, just because I can.

So for the buyer, the risks are; are the sellers reputable, did the eggs get wrapped well enough to survive the trip, did the box get dropped-kicked, etc.? And do I know what I am doing?

I say get some brooding chicken hens going and find some local eggs or just set the ones you collect.

If you don't want to throw money away and need that certain color, buy young birds when they are the least amount of money. Then you know what you are getting.

 

[SharW75]

Well, maybe I have a little gambler in me, after all. @KsKingBee , I just messaged you on Facebook about eggs from your sex-link color pen.

 

[KsKingBee]

I wondered if that was you. I posted the eggs a week ago and have 60 gamblers in the book.

To answer your question and for the benefit of others, I'll say this. It depends on your level of expectations, how much you pay for the eggs, how the PO treated the package, and the luck you have with the incubator. Never gamble with money you can not afford to lose. That said, expect 25 to 50% of the eggs to develop; don't set your sights too high. I've had many people tell me they had great results and some couldn't get an egg to develop. If I have tons of eggs, I will send them replacements free of charge because I feel sorry for them and it makes good feelings. There are so many variables in things that can go wrong, I have to roll my eyes when someone asks for a guarantee. Here are a few tips that will help improve your odds: when you get them, let them rest on the counter point down for a full day. When you set them, set them point down and do not turn them for two or three days. This will help the air sac adhere so the developing veins will attach. Most people who have not tried to incubate pea eggs don't understand that they are not like chickens; they can be very difficult to get to hatch. If you can time a broody for when the pea eggs arrive, you will have much better chances.

 

[SharW75]

I definitely understand that it's a gamble. Thanks so much for the tips. We hatched out our own in an incubator last year with good results, and I plan to set more from a different pen this year. We do have some little cochin hens that tend to brood at the drop of a hat, so if, by some chance, the stars align, and one goes broody at the same time as these eggs arrive, we'll pop them under!

 

[KsKingBee]

I definitely understand that it's a gamble. Thanks so much for the tips. We hatched out our own in an incubator last year with good results, and I plan to set more from a different pen this year. We do have some little cochin hens that tend to brood at the drop of a hat, so if, by some chance, the stars align, and one goes broody at the same time as these eggs arrive, we'll pop them under!

You can increase your odds, when I contact you for payment before shipping and if you happen to have on hand golfballs, put about ten balls in a nestbox. Hens when they see a clutch of 'eggs' are likely to go broody.