Shipping fertile eggs

[Broke Down Ranch]

OK, so I have been shipping and receiving hatching eggs thru the mail for a very long time. And I understand the postal system can be very rough on the eggs, often rendering them unhatchable. But I wanted to ask everyone here - does shipping fertile eggs render them INFERTILE? As in, the blastodisc showing no signs of having ever been fertilized?

The reason I ask this is because many times I have seen people say that shipping makes them infertile but to my way of thinking, once fertile they stay that way. Now, that does NOT mean they will hatch because they are fertile - just that if the eggs are fertile when they are packed in that shipping box, they will still be fertile (tho possibly unhatchable) when they are unpacked at their final destination.

What say you? Once fertile, always fertile?

 

[gamebirdsonly]

I would agree with you.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

I would agree with you.....

The seb eggs I received (NOT from you)--four out of the five look infertile.

The lady I bought them from said it was probably because of the up/down in the plane & that ruputured the airsac, or something?

They are completely clear....

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

Thanks for your replies! Equibling, we were talking about spending so much on eggs to only get duds - I spent a LOT on some colored sebbie eggs and all 3 were infertile. She blames the USPS for being rough on them but I am standing my grounds that once an egg is actually fertile, no amount of shaking/x-raying will make them infertile, only possibly unhatchable. I guess I should have known better than to buy from this person - a couple years ago I had some seb eggs on ebay and she sends me a message asking what they were crossed with since there was no such thing as a "smooth-breasted" sebastopol.....

BTW, glad you hear your eggs made it safe and sound - crossing my fingers they hatch for you

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi!
I say once fertile, always fertile.
But there is no way to tell whether an egg is no longer viable / hatchable due to mishandling OR whether it was infertile --- unless you open it and check.

I just candled some eggs that were on Day 6 and half of them candled clear.
2 had wobbly air cells so I hadn't expected them to develop.
I opened all of them anyway just to check.
Only 1 of the clears had a visible 'bullseye' and that was one of the eggs with a wobbly air cell.

That would mean there were 5 INFERTILE eggs in the group and 2 were nonviable/unhatchable due to usps mishandling (well, 3 actually because there was a broken egg).

I'm not sure how long you can incubate an egg and still be able to tell fertile from infertile when you open a clear. I know by Day 10, it's hard to tell one way or the other.

Good luck, it must be terribly frustrating.
Lisa

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

I cracked these open to check. They had been under a hen for 2½ weeks so maybe I waited too long but seems like the bullseye would be mostly visible even at that timeframe. So if they incubate too long it messes with the bullseye? This is the very first time I have ever cracked open to check fertility on eggs incubated for this long. And the only reason I DID check is because I had spent a LOT of money on these eggs......

 

[speckledhen]

If you open them carefully and the yolk is intact, you should still see the bullseye after incubation, if they were fertilized. I know this because I have one hen who has some sort of genetic problem. Her eggs were fertilized, definitely. I was seeing the bullseye in every one I cracked open, but no one, and I mean even myself, incubating at home, could ever get one to develop. I'd open them up after a week or more and the bullseye would be there plain as day. They just would not develop.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Cyn, what do you use to crack the eggs open at that point without damaging the insides?

 

[M.J]

that is once fertile always fertile so there still sould be a red spot unless it was shakken and busted open then the proff of it is lost

 

[speckledhen]

I take a butter knife, hold the egg in my hand and tap it all the way around the circumference, carefully. Then I gently lay the yolk into the bowl/plate while touching the egg onto the surface, not dropping it.

Even fertile eggs will not have a red spot unless there has been some development, MJ. My girl's eggs never started developing.