Shipped Eggs - Incubation Procedure, Tips & Tricks Wanted

[wishingbee]

I've got 15 LF salmon Faverolles eggs heading in my direction, and I want to be sure that I'm on the right track as far as understanding the special requirements of shipped eggs.

This is what I've found:

1. The air bubble can detach on a shipped egg, so it's important to let the egg rest (pointy side down) from 6-24 hours.
2. It has been suggested that it's best to incubate the eggs large end up and not on the side.
3. Don't rotate the eggs until the second day, it'll give the air sack a chance to reattach. (thanks, stephanie1992!)

And is that it? Is there anything else you seasoned veterans have experienced that might help me? Come on now, share your secrets!

(...edited to keep the information I'm finding out current..)

 

[stephanie1992]

dnt turn the egg turner on till the day after u put them in the bator, helps air sack reattach

 

[wishingbee]

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Good to know! Thank you, I've added it to my list of things I now know about shipped eggs!

 

[stephanie1992]

all my eggs where shipped

and there all doing fine and growing, ony a few r bad. good luck on urs. hope they all arrive in ok shape!

 

[wishingbee]

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Thank you- I am keeping my fingers crossed that the short distance they're traveling (from Oregon to WA) will be paved with pillows and nothing but soft surfaces.. haha! I'm so glad your eggs are doing well. I hope they continue to thrive!

 

[cmom]

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I agree, I put my shipped eggs in the incubator as soon as I get them and turn the turner on the next day which give the eggs time to settle and warm up.

 

[yinepu]

i have had shipped eggs with detached and bubbly air cells on several shipments of eggs.. I have tried waiting.. none ever reattached while sitting ..

so all I do is when they arrive unwrap them .. candle for hairline cracks and to check the air cells.. then mark any eggs with issues
I put them right in the incubator with the turner on.. never saw where waiting made any difference at all

i do incubate them with the pointy end down.. but I do not worry about letting them settle.. in fact the shipment that I DID let settle for a day had the worst hatch rate of any eggs I had.. however I believe the seller sent me old eggs to start with considering how large the air cells were upon arrival

 

[wishingbee]

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Good to know! Do you skip a day on turning, or do you proceed as if they were from your own hens?

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
Good to know! Do you skip a day on turning, or do you proceed as if they were from your own hens?

i put them in as if they came from my own flocks.. so as soon as they are in the bator the auto turner is turned on

what I found that made the biggest difference in my hatch rate for shipped eggs was if the yolks were scrambled or not (mishandling by the post office) or if they were old eggs .. other than that from decent eggs from sellers who know how to pack eggs I usually get anywhere from a 50 to 78% hatch rate on shipped eggs..
if they were old or mishandled I get anywhere from 8% to 25%.. but with those eggs you can tell as soon as you get them if it's going to be a bad hatch or not (scrambled yolks and large air cells)
I have gotten muscovy, quail, turkey and chicken eggs that have been shipped.. the species doesn't seem to matter any in how well they handle shipping

 

[wishingbee]

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50-78% is a fantastic rate for shipped eggs from what I've read- well done!

Out of curiosity, do you stop turning eggs on the 14th or on the 18th? I was reading Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens (new edition) and on page 284 it says "eggs need not be turned after the fourteenth day of incubation.." It seems like leaving shipped eggs for a few extra days before the hatch would be beneficial, especially if they've had a bit of a jostling in the beginning. In my mind, that would give them a bit more quality time to get ready for the big hatch day. Any thoughts on that?