Should I count my losses now

[Kolbeslayadayinn]

I purchased some Orpingtons off of EBAY from someone who had decent reviews. We made arrangements on a shipping date and when I went to check in, they are no longer a registered user. Too my surprise though, I did get the eggs.

They were filthy! Poop and mud all over them. I let them sit 24 hours and then I did the best I could, gently cleaning them with hydrogen peroxide before placing in the incubator.

I candles a few before placing and was kind of bummed as I felt these are not all fertile and appear very porous.

I candles one tonight for example

(Pictures are not easy to aquire)

Am I wrong in thinking I should count my losses now? Or wait and see?

Thank you

Ali

 

[Debbie292d]

I purchased some Orpingtons off of EBAY from someone who had decent reviews. We made arrangements on a shipping date and when I went to check in, they are no longer a registered user. Too my surprise though, I did get the eggs.

They were filthy! Poop and mud all over them. I let them sit 24 hours and then I did the best I could, gently cleaning them with hydrogen peroxide before placing in the incubator.

I candles a few before placing and was kind of bummed as I felt these are not all fertile and appear very porous.

I candles one tonight for example

(Pictures are not easy to aquire)

Am I wrong in thinking I should count my losses now? Or wait and see?

Thank you

Ali

I'd put them all in, then candle around Day 7 and toss them then if you see all clears. You never know though so I wouldn't toss them yet.

I've bought eggs on eBay several times and I too check the reviews so it surprises me someone with good reviews would send you a mess.

 

[CluckEmUp]

cleaning them with hydrogen peroxide

And by doing that you removed the protective coating on the eggs. Only clean them with water next time. I'm fairly new with this though so not sure what the effects are, but it won't be a 100% hatch because the coating stops bacteria from entering the egg. Edit: Now I read that even water can remove the coating, so I guess don't wash them at all?

It's difficult to really see anything to be honest, I would put them in the incubator and wait for 3-5 days. If you see veins growing then they're good. By day 7 and you still see nothing I would probably toss them, yea.

 

[Kolbeslayadayinn]

It surprises me too that all of a sudden they are no longer a registered user.
That said, they could of easily not sent me anything, which in the shape they were in, maybe that would of been the better option.
I'll candle them Day 7 and go from there.

 

[Birdinhand]

To wash or not to wash, when there is a lot of potentially bacteria laden soil is a bit of a conundrum. Best practices says not to wash, but three weeks at high humidity and heat and a lot of excrement, hmm. Not 100% sure what I’d have done. But that’s past you now, what’s done is done. By all means try incubating them. I stopped doing mailed fertile eggs because the suspensatory ligaments that keep the yolk centered are actually quite delicate and break with jarring motions typical of shipping.

So, by all means, I’d incubate them and as others have said, candle at day 7 or so and see if you can detect signs of viability. I’d say, as in many things in life, taking a “high hopes and low expectations” approach is the root of all happiness . Dont be disappointed if half the eggs don’t make it, even a few is nice but low viability is typical with shipped eggs. I always found it a bit ironic that shipped day old chicks are orders of magnitude more robust than the original eggs.

 

[Kolbeslayadayinn]

I was really torn on whether to wash them and I tried my best just to spot wash where I could.
I'll also add the way they shipped was not as good as the other two (welsummers & Marans) but I also expected better from those two as they have a significant social media presence and I am not disappointed in what I received.

I'll check them Sunday and report back the results.

In the meantime, I'll be looking forward to my cream legbars arriving and deciding if I want to try another Orpington breeder.

 

[Kolbeslayadayinn]

And by doing that you removed the protective coating on the eggs. Only clean them with water next time. I'm fairly new with this though so not sure what the effects are, but it won't be a 100% hatch because the coating stops bacteria from entering the egg. Edit: Now I read that even water can remove the coating, so I guess don't wash them at all?

It's difficult to really see anything to be honest, I would put them in the incubator and wait for 3-5 days. If you see veins growing then they're good. By day 7 and you still see nothing I would probably toss them, yea.

There is a thread on here How I get 100% hatch Rate on chicken eggs.
I followed their advice and spot washed where I could.
I was well aware that the extremely covered ones would run the risk of contamination, but it was too me, better than letting them sit in there covered in poo and mud and running the risk of contamination that way.
Sort of a danged if I do, danged if I don't

 

[FunClucks]

And by doing that you removed the protective coating on the eggs. Only clean them with water next time. I'm fairly new with this though so not sure what the effects are, but it won't be a 100% hatch because the coating stops bacteria from entering the egg. Edit: Now I read that even water can remove the coating, so I guess don't wash them at all?

It's difficult to really see anything to be honest, I would put them in the incubator and wait for 3-5 days. If you see veins growing then they're good. By day 7 and you still see nothing I would probably toss them, yea.

I wash all my hatches in hydrogen peroxide because I often want to set semi-dirty eggs. They wash with H2O2 commercially to remove mites or any transmissable diseases you can't see with your eyes. As long as you get all the poop off and keep the brooder sanitized and clean, and always wash your hands before handling the eggs, I've seen no negative impact on hatching. I've had great hatches where all developed and 80-90% hatched when using H2O2.

Setting clean eggs is of course best. The bloom, even when it's naturally applied, is not usually 100% present in all areas of the egg. Poop introduces bacteria. It's a toss up whether it makes it through the bloom. I wouldn't wash in water, because the bloom does help, but if I have a dirty poopy egg I want to try to incubate, I'll scrub off the poo with H2O2. If I scrub one egg with H2O2, I'll do all the eggs in the batch, so as to remove all the bacteria I can from the incubator, because my eggs roll around on the same surface to turn them.

 

[WoDia]

There are many opinions on whether to wash soiled eggs. Yes, there’s possible contamination issues. But, I’ve spot-cleaned eggs (just taking what will easily be chipped or rubbed off), and I’ve also gently wiped eggs with a damp cloth to get the stuff off. In my experience ONLY… they all hatched. Just be gentle about it. Since you have them now (even though they’re not in optimal condition), there’s nothing wrong with taking a chance and seeing what happens. Since the the shells aren’t in the best condition, it may be difficult to see much by day 4. By day 7, you should be able to see for certain whether they’re developing or not. Give us an update.

 

[Kolbeslayadayinn]

Day 7 and overall I don't see any changes. Nothing telling me there is a chick developing in the Orpingtons.
Eggs didn't smell bad though.

This is my 1st hatch, so maybe I'm missing something

I'll recheck Sunday