Shipping eggs? Challenges?

[columbiacritter]

I want to get some quality orpingtons of different colors next year so I'm going to have to get hatching eggs. Do I need to wait until temps have increased enough they won't get killed in a cold mail truck?

Is there a shipping window folks aim for to get better viability from their eggs?

I'm probably going to have to get eggs from several sources which means staggered hatches. What do you do about upping humidity for the early hatchers when some of the eggs are far from hatching?

I know to let them sit for 24 hrs to let the air bubble settle and temps even out. Any other tips to increase the hatch rate of shipped eggs?

 

[Katy]

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[puredelite]

Has definitely been a challenge for me with shipped eggs. First batch of Araucanas out of 20 eggs sent hatched only 2. Was sent 40 more that are in the 'bator now, if I have the same average should get 4 this time! Eggs were packed very well and none were broken or cracked during shipping. Not doing too well with shipped chicks either, had 18 shipped by USPS and took FOUR days to get from Illinois to Virginia! Somehow 3 made it out of the 18, talk 'bout survivors! For what they charge for shipping such a small box one would think that they would give you just a little better service. The way mail bags are handled and tossed around it is really amazing that any would hatch at all!

 

[SeaHen]

I'm an absolute novice at hatching shipped eggs, so I probably shouldn't be commenting, but I'm feeling very positive about my first experience so far.

I won 6 Silkie eggs on eBay a few weeks ago, and the seller included 2 extras. They had to cross the continent to get here as I'm in OR and the seller is in PA, and scarier than that was that they were in transit over the 4th of July weekend and were delayed by several days. They were all intact and viable when they arrived, and I let them rest for all of 8 hours before my excitement got the better of me and I stuck them under my broody hen. It's now 2 weeks into their incubation and all 8 are thriving! Of course, the real test will come on hatch day, so I'm trying not to count my chickens before then..

I've done one unplanned-for staggered hatch that had a fair outcome. Other than the unfortunate loss of a few eggs due to humidity issues, I would say it worked. BTW, it was the trial run for my home-made incubator and I had both duck and chicken eggs in there. In the future I personally will increase the humidity very minimally during lockdown, as the recommended level caused problems for both the hatching babies and the ones still incubating.

I'm looking forward to reading what others have to say.