Texas

[Aggiedusty]

I just put a dozen +or- to 3 brooding hens today. EE eggs of my own stock. Have 41 of same EE eggs to hatch in a week from incubator. Gona get real busy soon. My question is this. Has anyone here ordered eggs from a poultry farm and how was the Shipping handling? Reason I ask, two days ago my box of 300 egg cartons came in delivered by UPS. I was setting in den, icing my new knees, and heard a huge thud on front porch. No problem right it’s cartons. But the only thing written on this box was the words EGGS! And he drops it harshly onto concrete and with a small end down obviously not upright the way it should have been. There are some breeds I would like to work with but eggs can be much more affordable if they arrive intact. Help?

I mean 10-12 eggs to each hen depending on her size. The dark Brahma brooding can handle more than a blue Australorp hen. I have six Blue hens and three decide to brood at same time. They are the next in line to get their own coup so their eggs can be hatched as self Blue Australorps.
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[RUNuts]

Egg shipping is an issue. I just received 25 and 3 hatched. Wrong time of year and pullets, but 3 hatched. 3 early quitters. Box was bashed. I was told to pick the box up at the PO. I tried to pick them up from the work PO, closer. However, they delivered them to workplace. Lots of anguish over egg shipments on here.

You pay your money and take your chances. Wish I had a better answer.

 

[janiedoe]

@Aggiedusty I'd consider buying shipped eggs but it seems like such a waste of money. All our packages look like hell when they arrive. Especially the ones that are marked "fragile".
I've found a few local sources on facebook chicken groups. I'm not too picky as long as they are clean and their adults look well cared for & healthy. I love mixed breeds (esp. easter eggers) so I don't worry about getting breeder stock.

 

[Aggiedusty]

Egg shipping is an issue. I just received 25 and 3 hatched. Wrong time of year and pullets, but 3 hatched. 3 early quitters. Box was bashed. I was told to pick the box up at the PO. I tried to pick them up from the work PO, closer. However, they delivered them to workplace. Lots of anguish over egg shipments on here.

You pay your money and take your chances. Wish I had a better answer.

I was afraid of that. I couldn’t believe the handling of this box labeled eggs but lucky it was just egg cartons. Had it been eggs they would have been scrambled inside .

 

[Aggiedusty]

@Aggiedusty I'd consider buying shipped eggs but it seems like such a waste of money. All our packages look like hell when they arrive. Especially the ones that are marked "fragile".
I've found a few local sources on facebook chicken groups. I'm not too picky as long as they are clean and their adults look well cared for & healthy. I love mixed breeds (esp. easter eggers) so I don't worry about getting breeder stock.

I had seen Columbian Plymouth Rocks for first time and just have to have some. They are a heritage breed from back in early 1900s. Sounds like chicks arrive in better condition than eggs. I’ve never had a problem with day old chicks.

 

[Aggiedusty]

Thank you for the reply. I've decide against adding anything with feathered feet after this last rain. I have a langshan girl who has to have her feet cleaned after every torrential downpour. That seems to be the only kind of rain we get nowadays.
I'm probably just going to keep my little flock going without adding outside chicks for another year. My rooster loves to spread his seed and his hens love to brood. I've given a lot of chicks to friends this past year so I'll trade some eggs locally to get new blood in my flock. It's so much easier to let the hens brood and raise them anyway.

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My other hens will not allow other chicks that are not theirs to Rome around away from mother with out hurting them. So I’ve had to take chicks away and raise them myself.

 

[oldhen2345]

So wonderful to have those connections and memories for life. I bet those cookies are a real treat too! I have my grandmother’s twin sister’s potato sour dough starter from their ranch in Oklahoma. It makes a wonderful sweet bread. She and uncle Clyde In addition to raising cattle raised hundreds of turkeys for the meat market for extra cash in the 60s and 70s. As a small child in the early 60s, they scared the dickens out of me,

LOL my Scotch/ Irish grandma lived on a ranch in West Texas. We would visit for the summer sometimes. She had one angry old turkey that made its home in an old jeep that didn't run. If we got too close, that turkey would chase us all over. Scared the bejeebers out of me - I'm still scared of turkeys. I remember she used to put some fertilized hen eggs underneath the stove to incubate - don't know how she did it, but she got live chicks.
I bet that sweet bread is wonderful- I can almost smell it. I dearly do love potato bread - wanna share the recipe?

 

[AllenK RGV]

Egg shipping is an issue. I just received 25 and 3 hatched. Wrong time of year and pullets, but 3 hatched. 3 early quitters. Box was bashed. I was told to pick the box up at the PO. I tried to pick them up from the work PO, closer. However, they delivered them to workplace. Lots of anguish over egg shipments on here.

You pay your money and take your chances. Wish I had a better answer.

I would second that on taking the chances with shipped eggs. This year it sounds like I'm finally going to be allowed to get my Malay. The person I found is in Michigan to supply them. USPS has done a horrible job for me with eggs so I think I'm going to just FedEx them this time or see if day old chicks are possible because USPS does just fine with peeping chicks. maybe shippers of eggs should make a recording to play on an endless loop and write live chicks on the box to get eggs here safely.

 

[AngelaPrivate]

I just moved here to Waxahachie area outside of Dallas. I have 4 barred rock chicks and 4 buff orpington chicks.

 

[Aggiedusty]

I just moved here to Waxahachie area outside of Dallas. I have 4 barred rock chicks and 4 buff orpington chicks.

Are you new to Texas as well. Welcome to our state if so. And welcome here at this Texas thread with some incredible people to chat with and learn wholesomely from. If not new, still very glad to meet you from a freshmen here!