THATS IT I QUIT

[Chickie Mamma]

Oh, don't give up.. I gave up too with shipped eggs (or I thought). Nothing but loose air cells, cracked eggs etc.. This is my 5th attempt this spring. 2 batches was my fault (hygrometer was not accurate), temp spikes on day 18.. This time I went with better breeders and they were packaged great and no loose air cells. I also found breeders closer to me so they didn't go cross country. I have wasted alot of money too. I bought chicks from Ideal because I gave up, but the quality was not what I wanted. Give it another shot, the weather is getting warmer and find someone closer to you to ship, it may help.

hang in there!!

 

[Dirt Road]

Fact is, most auction eggs will cost you around $30.00 - $40.00. While day olds are pretty cheap to ship, you have to buy quite a few to keep them warm, if the quality and breed you want are even available. If you buy older birds, the shipping will run you upwards of $50.00, plus the price of the birds. So--- if you get only 2 or 3 chicks from a dozen eggs it's still a bargain. As far as the risks of poor quality and poor packaging go, that is also a risk with chicks and started birds. Not much can change that except to be careful about who you buy from. It helps to buy from someone who is as close as possible. I have always had lousy luck with shipped eggs, but finally decided that's just the price one has to pay for a bit of new blood from (hopefully) high quality stock.
It can sure be frustrating though!

Jim

 

[Chickenmaven]

You need some local eggs. Even if you have to drive a few miles, it seems like it would be worth it.
I am helping out a local teacher who was as frustrated as you are. She was ordering eggs to incubate in the classroom. Spending $$$. Dealing with her disappointed students when they didn't hatch. My family is hooking her up with our "special"

mix of barnyard mutts!

Friend, you need to find someone local to hook you up. Where are you?

 

[chickie_mama]

Don't give up....

 

[sonew123]

what I wound up doing -which still cost me a little chunk- was getting tester eggs-I have 4 shipments coming this week of the birds I would like-I paid anywhere from 10-25$ per shipment-( I asked for more) That way if some eggs break-air sacks rupture-not fertile-I pray I get a few out of each batch of eggs-so with 50+ eggs coming if I get 10 to hatch Im one happy camper! It will have cost me 75$ for the 10- $7.50 per bird-then throw in the costs of food and such -it is still a bargain to me to have exactly what I want...If I get nothing to hatch well-I'll cry and incubate my own eggs from my BO and RIR mix-for meat and eggs-and try again next year!!! Dont give up-pray alot-be positive-I refuse to give up-especially being so new at this..

 

[Chickenaddict]

Never give up

I have only bought shipped eggs twice, the first time i got 10 eggs, dropped one and 2 never did anything so 7 out of 10 hatched. The second time I got 7 eggs and out of those 7 only 3 are making it, today is day 19. Sometimes ya win and sometimes the odds are stacked against ya. I would try getting eggs locally and see if that makes a difference.

 

[walkswithdog]

Quitting is easy. Certainly easier than persisting, learning and understanding that the postal system isn't actually set up for eggs, that all eggs are only potential, that what you do affects outcome, and that even professional hatcheries lose 1500-2000 egg hatches.

Learning your own bator, your own conditions, learning NOT to buy a ton of expensive eggs while you're getting a handle on the whole how to thing, learning to put them in, turn them and leave them alone for 18 days is all not simple.

Shipped eggs are always a risk, no matter what care a shipper pays in packaging. You will never know what heat, cold, pressure that an egg comes under in shipment.

You want some guarantee? There isn't one. If I REALLY want a shot at viable eggs not my own - I drive to get them.

Life isn't an equation. Do A and B and C in perfect order and bingo- life.

Hatching is a challenge each and every time you do it, no matter where the eggs come from, no matter how much or how little you spent on the incubator. Some produce more reliable results than others.

With a lot of research there are probably eggs of the breeds you want, in your state or nearby states. Still no guarantees, but better odds. Or find chicks in the breeds you want. If you drive there usually aren't quantity problems when you pick up.

Incubation is an experience based hope of an outcome. Sometimes that's joy and wonder and sometimes it's disappointment. I lost my first shipment of two types of eggs, all but one. And some of the next batch of shipped eggs. And I'll lose some of this next batch - probably.
And some in the next batch. Because shipping is a gamble, each and every time.

But I am getting some GREAT stock out of it over time. As my skills get better, as I get used to my homemade incubator, I get better results more of the time.

Had I quit at the first botched hatches, a lot of the feets on the ground here, wouldn't be here now.

If you can't take the gamble, or support the costs, then yes, quit. Or order fewer shipped eggs at once, rather than drop $$$ on tons. Practice on cheap eggs or free eggs. Then try again.

Quitters, by definition, cannot get better at compensating for shipped eggs.

 

[Peeper7]

I put an ad in the little local paper for fertile eggs for hatching and found someone nearby who had avg / mixed birds and the eggs not expensive.
Until you know you can hatch good, viable eggs, do some local eggs and don't spend a lot. If you are raising chickens then you can't be too far from someone else who does.
Then once you absolutely know you have your incubator skills under control, then experiment with those of higher value.
Good luck! Success is just failure turned inside out

 

[SunnyChic]

Quote:
Thank you for the wise words and encouraging suggestions; I'm a newbie too, and what you said will keep me trying!

 

[walkswithdog]

Quote:
Thank you for the wise words and encouraging suggestions; I'm a newbie too, and what you said will keep me trying!

You absolutely CAN get there! There are folks here who had a half dozen failures and more, some less but they stuck with it and now they're getting good hatch rates.

Some micro-climates can mess you up, sometimes there's a bacteria you haven't killed in the bator, in your water. Sometimes it's just a matter of figuring out how to modify your methods to rehabilitate and allow for shipped eggs.

It does come. Sometimes it comes hard. Sometimes it's so easy. It's worth it in the long run.

Good luck.