Shipping and Receiving Pea eggs contest!

[frenchblackcopper]

Rules are simple here,this thread is started because so many people cannot afford live adult birds and the only logical way is to buy fertile eggs and have them shipped.This will be a "before and after" thread,meaning you will need to ask the person on the receiving end of the shipped eggs if they are willing to participate.To make this contest fair to everyone,the shipper must provide pics and a description of what methods they use to pack eggs.Any shipper can be used,United Parcel,Fed-Ex,United States Postal Service,,and any method can be chosen,,such as Priority shipping, 2 Day Express mail,ect,,but you must tell us the method and guaranteed delivery date.
I'm hoping we can arrive at the best carrier,best way to pack eggs,what some shipping boxes actually looks like upon arrival,and also what happens to the eggs packed inside.
I have had eggs shipped to me in styrafoam cups,nothing but packing peanuts in the entire box with the eggs loose inside that box.I had one shipment put inside of 2 boxes,each one being larger than the next.One shipment came to me that had to take 3 rolls of toilet paper to wrap 12 eggs.
Since much of the success of hatching peafowl eggs depends on both the shipping and the proper incubation of the eggs,it's only fair the pair of participants who experiences the highest hatchrate wins the contest.If you ship several shipments of eggs this season,each shipment can be entered as long as the buyers willing to accurately submit pics and then how many actually hatched out and lived.
I'm sure some unforseen questions will come up,but we can work thru those when they arrive.So here are the rules

SHIPPER-1) Post a pic or more of your technique for packing eggs to be shipped
2) Tell how many eggs and what varieties are in the shipment
3) Tell what carrier is used and the delivery time in days
4) Tell us the final destination of the shipped eggs( No it cannot be next door or to yourself),,no less than 150 miles or entry does not count.Post the miles to the buyers zip code
5) Cost to ship and weight of shipped package if possible

BUYER 1) Take a picture of the outside of your package once it is delivered and look for damage to the box.If there is damage this is where this thread will help everyone by then getting pictures of the contents.Was any eggs broken? If so where were they located in the box? The outside edge?Did the shipper try and put all eggs in the middle area of the box to avoid slight exterior damage by shipping?Was your package double boxed? If so and the outside box is damaged it will be interesting to see what the interior box looked like in relation to it's placement inside the larger box.Did this interior box also get damaged,or was it spared?
2) Give us the delivery date.Was it on time or a day late?
3)Examine for air sack displacement before they go into the incubator and tell how many air sacks are loose if any
4) 30 Days after incubation began you must then accurately report how many hatched.

We will then look at the highest hatch rate relative to distances-days until delivery the eggs travelled.Perhaps everyone that decides to try this could contribute some hatched peas to the winners? If we wait for the possible last entrants to hatch their eggs many entrants flocks may have stopped laying by that time,if we were to all contribute a few eggs to the winners..And most of the time the buyer may not have peachicks to give away to the winner,thats why their buying eggs to start with
Ideas for contest winners? We missing anything? Is there enough interest?

 

[wolftracks]

I must be tired. So this is only for Pea owners and ..........ok I know it's about shipping, but what about fertility and other things that go along with a successful hatch? Maybe I need to sleep. LOL I'd like to see what you do with this though. It sounds interesting.

 

[Fowler Hencock]

Sounds like a lot of work!

The hatch rate is a wild card, because somebody can pack as securely as possible, but if the Post Office decides to x-ray your package, it means nothing. The only qualifier that would reflect actual packing success would be breakage rate, or lack thereof.

In my personal experience, as far as eggs I've purchased goes, the highest breakage rate has been with the store bought soft foam egg packers. Unless the shipper skips every other hole, the egg slots are too close for peafowl sized eggs, and the foam is soft enough that they can actually knock together, if the box if jolted hard enough.

I've gotten the styrofoam cups, newspaper, paper towel, and toilet paper wrapped eggs. One gentleman had a solid block of styrofoam which was cut in half, and half egg shaped voids had been scooped out with a spoon, eggs set inside, and the two halves put together, encasing the eggs like a mold. A clever idea, but no real cushioning against jolts.

Bubble wrapped eggs seem to have the lowest breakage rate. The only problem with bubble wrap, is when they seal the egg up completely with it, and tape it shut. The eggs can't breathe when they are sealed that way. The shells are porous, and allow oxygen to enter and gasses to escape, as nature intended. What I always do, is roll my eggs in bubble wrap, tape the center, and leave both ends of the short bubble wrap tube open for fresh air. If you tape the center snugly, the egg can't slide out the ends. Then, the bottom, sides, and remaining space in the box is filled with wadded newspaper to eliminate shifting. The box should be filled to the point that no movement is detectable when you jiggle it.

I haven't had a single broken egg reported when I pack this way. And I've had folks report that the box is beat up, mangled and ragged looking by inept handlers, but the contents have always been intact.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Okay, I'll start this because Georgialee here on BYC has agreed to add followup on her eggs shipped today. She had an ad here looking for Opal eggs,I replied and after fertility had been checked I shipped her 13 eggs on May 10th,,she got the beat up box with 3 broken eggs inside and most air sacks was broken loose.She wrote me a few days ago she had possibly 3-5 that shows development but I offered to send her some more.So here is the pics I took packaging her eggs this time with the information about shipping

 

[frenchblackcopper]

1)First I wrap all eggs in bubble wrap but eggs ends are open.Next I wrap in newspaper and tape the end so each egg is fully surrounded by newspaper.Next is placement inside the box and adding newspaper first on the bottom,then around the sides as eggs are put in the middle and layered.I then taped aluminum foil around this box,then started the process of newspapering the insides of another larger box.

Now the rest of the information 2) eggs shipped was 5 Opal B/S,6 Bronze,8 Midnight B/S

3) Used Fed-Ex ground this time,delivery by Thursday
4) Final destination Strawberry Plains Tennessee-383 miles (You can use this link to learn distances between zip codes)
http://www.allplaces.us/dbz.cgi

5)Cost to ship was $14.89-box weight was 8.35 pounds,box was roughly 16x16x17"s

Box was NOT marked indicating whats inside,,just a plain brown cardboard box was used and taped shut very well.

 

[DAS]

I agree that bubble wrap and newspaper are the best. They seem to have the best shock absorbing traits. Most of the eggs I've received in foam shippers have been broken when they arrived. They same goes with saw dust. When saw dust is used, and the packaged is kicked by a postal worker(for example), my opinion is that the eggs are being bounced against a solid surface and there is no give. The eggs break or crack. When using bubble wrap or crunched up newspaper to surround the eggs (eggs wrapped in bubble wrap as well) it acts as more of a shock absorber. I've never had an egg broken that I have shipped this way. The key is to make sure there is enough padding around the eggs so that the eggs do not move in the box.

As far as wrapping in aluminum foil. All the eggs I've received this way have been damaged.

One other thing is the size of the box. It doesn't matter whether I ship 2 pheasant eggs or 6 peafowl eggs. I always use the large shipping box.

 

[wolftracks]

I don't have Peas, so have never sent their eggs. I have sent eggs wrapped only in newspaper, like fine china. Not broke and almost all hatched, but people kept requestion bubble wrap. I think the plastic has something to do with the eggs not developing at times, but there are so many that do it that way and good hatches happen, so maybe that's just my opinion. I do know I have a terrible hatch rate with shipped eggs and almost all are in bubble wrap. I got a great hatch once and they were wrapped only in newspaper.

So the way I wrap is with bubble wrap almost all times. I pad the bottom of the box with paper and plastic shopping bags. Then I add paper all around and twist more plastic bags and tuck them around the sides for more padding. My eggs are wrapped separately in bubble wrap, then I tape 2 or 3 eggs at a time together. Then I tape however many eggs I am sending in rows of 2 or 3 until I have a padded carton look. Then wrap the whole thing in more bubble wrap. If I had a box I'll put that into the shipping box. I also try and find small boxes for things like small glasses. I wrap each egg and place them in the sections the glasses go and use that box and a really stuffed shipping box. I've trying lots of ways including placing the wrapped eggs into ice cream tubs.

I think it just depends on who's working as to if the eggs will make it undamaged. Mine are probably damaged at out hub. Just seems to make some sense. I think I need to see what days I recieve the most damaged boxes.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Fowler and wolftracks,,this is a TEAM effort,,shippers or sellers with any conscience won't enter this and send old or unfertile eggs.Yes it took some time to take the pics,ect,but it also took me over an hour to wrap and package the eggs,,maybe 20 seconds to snap 4 pics while in the process,,and maybe 5 minutes to upload the pics here,,and everyone knows pea eggs are TOUGH to hatch so the buyer will use the best methods they can to get a chick to hatch out,,theres money involved for the shipping and cost of the eggs,so I believe both will do their best for success here.Yes,the wildcard is the shipper and the way the box is handled but hopefully we can get an idea if several people try this as to which shippers handles the boxes best and which packaging works best when boxes do get damaged.
Maybe we can come up with a calculation used as a "value" for each entry here.For instance,,,my shipment was comprised of 19 eggs,,shipped 383 miles,,maybe give each egg a value of 1,,and add the miles giving a shipped value of 402
When Georgialee recieves her eggs,,we then subtract 10 points for every broken egg,or floating airsack damaged egg .If no damage value stays the same.Then at hatching time,all chicks that finally makes it thru hatching and living adds 100 points.
If Georgialee gets her eggs and there is no damage or loose airsacks upon arrival,and she hatches out 15 chicks from 19 eggs,,1500 points will be added to the 402 points used for a starting value based on length of travel and number of viable eggs sent,,this entry would be worth 1902 points.
Naturally more eggs shipped and longer distances adds up to more points in the beginning,,,but we all know longer distances means more handling and time spent in the back of a rough riding truck down our pot hole infested roads.So many points could be deducted once hatching begins.Ideas?

 

[wolftracks]

My idea is to come in and read along. LOL
This sounds like a great project. I doubt I have any input that is of value, but I love watching and reading things like this.

 

[DAS]

The biggest problem I see with this, is getting the response back from the buyers. Obviously the people on BYC will help out, but if you sell some eggs on Ebay or other places, chances are the buyer will not take the time to give you the feedback your looking for. They just want their eggs.