Haha, Deerfield beat me to it - I was about to come on and give a report on the eggs I brought back with me from AlohaChickens by smuggling them through airport security. Actually I can't even remember if I ever told the whole story on here or not so I will copy and paste it here just in case:
So the brief story on these eggs is that I took the 18-count and double wrapped it in two plastic bags in case of breakage. Then in my small "suitcase" that is a carry on bag, I placed a layer of clothes on the bottom, the 18-count of eggs, and then more clothes on top so that they were packed in really tightly. I figured the less they could move around in there the better. Then I wheeled the bag to an airport shuttle where the driver picked it up and threw it in the back of the van before I could utter the words "careful with that!" At the airport, I wheeled it until I got to security, then put it on the belt to go through the x-ray. From there it was wheeled for long stretches to get to the right gate and went on the first plane in the overhead compartment. At the connecting airport, the bag was wheeled along endless passages in one terminal, then onto a train to change terminals, then wheeled to the gate, where I learned that the next flight was on a tiny commuter jet and they weren't allowing anything bigger than a purse to be carried on - everything else had to be gate checked. I carefully handed my bag to the loader, who seemed to carefully put it on his cart but I'm sure once passengers are out of sight, they throw those bags to get the plane loaded faster. Upon arrival, I expected to pick up the gate checked bags immediately but we were told they would be coming off the carousel, so I had to wait 20 minutes for my bag. My suitcase came down the carousel upside down and I just knew the eggs were goners, so I grabbed my bag, headed for the exit and didn't even open the suitcase until next day. When I did, I found that the eggs were completely unscathed. Not a broken egg among them, not even a crack. My on-order Rcom incubator had arrived in my absence so I set it up, loaded in the eggs and away we went. I was stunned on first candling to find all but one developing. Last week I candled again and all looked good except one that I think quit developing around day 10. I left it in there but don't expect it to hatch.
Anyway, although the experiment is not complete until we have live chicks, just the fact that they will develop after a journey like that seems promising. I keep telling myself that all the jostling they got on that trip was surely less than they get at the hands of the USPS. So - if you have travel plans and there is a breeder in the area you are going, it seems to me that picking up eggs and carrying them back yourself may be a better way to go than having them shipped.
Oh - I just checked on them again and I'm hearing quite a bit of peeping. Only one pip so far but from the peeping I know multiple chicks have pipped internally so I expect quite a few external pips by the end of the day. Incubating is always exciting - who am I kidding - but I really do love the "experimental" aspect of this hatch in particular. I can't wait to see what pops out.
Oh - AlohaChickens, a couple of the eggs were marked with a red star and I'm trying to remember why. Are they the ones that came out of the pen with the SFH rooster? I will *try* to note which chicks come out of those eggs but you know how it goes at hatch time sometimes.