shipped eggs hatch rate?

[OldMcDnld]

I buy a lot of shipped eggs every year. From all over the country. And I've had hatch rates from 80% to 0%. I've found its mostly due to how they are handled mostly. And partly how old the eggs are. Shipped eggs are always a gamble. I've spent a lot of money on eggs that never hatched. And bought egg pretty cheep that hatched great. But that's just the way it goes.

From what I've read, it seems like the freshness of the eggs has a very big impact on hatch rate. Of course handling being the biggest.

 

[OldMcDnld]

Tomorrow is day 18!
It felt like it was going to take forever but it's getting close now

I'm a bit worried because the hatch date is the first day of my work week

 

[rottlady]

did a final candle on barnevelder eggs tonight (day 13). they got a ride in car here 6.5 hrs on a cold day in just an egg carton. looks like3 clear, 4 possible quitters???, 5 ok

did the others as well Delaware (day 10) 2 clear, 1 possible quitter? and 12 ok these flew up from NC priority mail

Crested cream legbar (day 10) just 4 eggs but they all look ok flew here from Washington state

4 sizzle eggs from a local girl- not shipped- all clear

 

[allbreednut]

Fun to read about your experience, but it does no good to "anticipate" a certain hatch rate -- they'll hatch the way they want to, and sometimes you'll be pleasantly surprised and sometimes the opposite.

But for anyone who worries about shipping hatching eggs, I have a story from years ago. I had some New Hampshire Bantam eggs shipped from Wisconsin to Texas. I had them in an old-fashioned "hand-turn" incubator, and at the time, people had told me that leaving the eggs out to cool for a few minutes each day would help the hatch.

So, of course, one night I forgot the eggs and left them out overnight, in a room with little heat and outside temperatures in the low 40s. The eggs felt like ice the next morning.

And I still got a few New Hampshire Bantams! If the eggs come from a well-managed flock, they can go through a lot and still produce. I understand that a lot of it depends on the stage of incubation when you decide to abuse them, and I was just lucky.

 

[rottlady]

oh yes. I know much can still go wrong. I am just happy to get to this point ok
My house is 57-59 so when hand turning the eggs they cool significantly even with a heat pad under the incubator down to like 73-76F I'm guessing when a hen gets off her nest to eat they would cool far more
We have a wild turkey nesting somewhere behind the house in the woods. she shows up every 3 hrs to eat under the bird feeder. Temps have been 20-30 up until yesterday so guessing her eggs must be like ice each time she goes back

 

[OldMcDnld]

So it's day 19. I'm hoping to at least hear some peeping from under them

 

[OldMcDnld]

did a final candle on barnevelder eggs tonight (day 13). they got a ride in car here 6.5 hrs on a cold day in just an egg carton. looks like3 clear, 4 possible quitters???, 5 ok

did the others as well Delaware (day 10) 2 clear, 1 possible quitter? and 12 ok these flew up from NC priority mail

Crested cream legbar (day 10) just 4 eggs but they all look ok flew here from Washington state

4 sizzle eggs from a local girl- not shipped- all clear

Is it possible that the Sizzle eggs carried the lethal gene?

 

[rottlady]

have no clue the girl who bought my older Barnevelder chicks gave them to me as part of the price. Dad is a white Silkie and mom is a Frizzled black Cochin. Matters not to me because I was not going to keep them

 

[OldMcDnld]

If all goes well I plan on keeping all the pullets. I just have no idea what to do with the extra roos as I can only accommodate one

 

[OldMcDnld]

Progress on the coop

Not sure what do do about the mess, what to use for new roofing or what to do with the slide