SO - I need a little advice on shipped eggs.

[HennyJenny]

I bought eggs from two different sellers and they are taking a really really very long time to get here via priority mail. In fact this is day five and they are still not here. Assuming that they finally show up on Monday - unbroken and they sit at the post office until I can pick them up at lunch and bring them home and open them up and let them settle. I'll be talking about putting eggs in my incubator on Tuesday that are about 9 to 10 days old AND have spent about 7 days in the care of the USPS, traveling from the east coast to Nebraska.

Is there really any point in putting these in the incubator? If I was to candle them - would I be able to see anything that would tell me whether they were too damaged to develop? (Please note - this is not a Post Office rant - nor do I have any issues with the sellers - I am willing to cut my losses and not incubate these eggs if it is pointless)

I have two incubators going that I have been able to maintain temp and humidity in for the last 4 days (without eggs in them) BUT this is my first time trying to hatch any eggs at all.

What think ye experts?

 

[melody123]

They are still hatchable, although you'll have a lower hatch rate than if they were fresh hatched.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Both packages are taking a long time? Then I would suggest that it is the postal service's issue for the delayed shipments, not a seller issue.

I generally say 7 days in transit is the max I would set eggs. I've hatched eggs that were a lot older here at home, but they had not been shipped. Hopefully they will show up soon.

 

[equine chick]

Are you sure they were sent when they claimed to be sent. Do you have a tracking number?

 

[rmixon1492]

dont feel bad... i ordered eggs, from Texas, and this is day 14... never got here, cant find them, dont know where they are, lost in egg hell.....or usps hell...lol. seller shipped more though, and i already have them..but he said that if they came, to put them in the bator, some would still hatch...

 

[HennyJenny]

Kandace - I was pretty clear that I didn't think this was a seller issue.

The eggs of both sellers are clearly still in the hands of the USPS (via the tracking numbers) and as of this morning - my little country post office does not have the eggs.

The question is - this is Saturday - if the eggs were to actually show up on Monday should I go ahead a put them in the incubator on Tuesday or is it just a waste of time. The assumption on my part is that if (for whatever reason) priority mail is taking almost a whole week to get to where it's going that maybe these eggs have had a rough journey and are aging quickly. I have a four year old and a seven year old that will just be really disappointed if all I have after 21 days is exploding eggs (ok maybe the 7 year old would find that cool). AND given that I have never incubated eggs before - the age and treatment of the eggs combined with my lack of experience will result in 21 days of worry and work with no results.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Quote:
I didn't mean to sound like a prude.

I apologize if I did. If they don't arrive today, I will be more than happy to ship you another set. I want you to have success with these. I know how tight $ is for everybody right now, I want to make things right. If they need to be reshipped, I'll put insurance on them for you so that if they are lost, the USPS will be more apt to send us a refund on shipping.

OH! By the way, if they don't call you when they arrive, it's definitelty their fault. I wrote your # in HUGE letters on the top of the box with instructions. LOL!

 

[Sweetfolly]

I would put them in the incubator for a week, and then candle to see if any of them are developing.

Don't cut your losses and toss fertile eggs that may still have a chance!

 

[Happy Chooks]

I'd put them in anyway, you don't have anything to lose. Sorry you have had trouble getting your eggs. It shouldn't take that long. I got eggs from Michigan and Virginia shipped to me in California and they got here in 2 days.

 

[HennyJenny]

Kandace - this is totally not your fault. You are very kind to offer more eggs and I would be happy to buy them from you

Let's see if these show up on Monday. There must be some east coast bottle neck with the post office - as the others I had shipped from GA on the same day are still not here either.

I'm kind of a results oriented person - the universe does what it does - and the eggs aren't here - so stuff happens - I can live with that

- I was just trying to figure out whether or not to invest 21 days of love and care and my own ineptness

into eggs that have had a long journey. My husband also keeps raising eyebrows at empty incubators that are running full force

The other issue is that I have actual chicks coming the first week in April - so if I start moving hatches later into March I'm looking at needed more brooder space than I have in April.