The difference between shipped eggs and picked up eggs...

[cgjsmith]

I set 14 shipped eggs and 18 eggs i got from a guy down the street. Of the 14 shipped eggs, 5 of them never developed and none of them have piped. of the eggs i got down the street all have pipped 4 have hatched. I'm waiting to see how many actually hatch I'm afraid I drowned some of them because humidity got up to 90% but even with that high humidity some of them that have pipped have paper lining like a dried out egg. I don't understand why/ C

 

[MissPrissy]

The act of shipping, being shaken, boxes dropped, temperature extremes among other things often causes the death of the tiny embryo inside the egg.

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

Agreed. 11 out of 15 shipped have hatched for me and all where fertile.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

I had 23 shipped to me, they all began development, had 1 blood ring and 2 stopped developing. Of the 20 left, I had 14 hatch out.

For the ones that didn't make it, one was partially zipped (I believe one of the other chicks laid against the zip and suffocated it) and the others were suffocated in the shell. I had a bad humidity problem, it was too low for much of the hatch. I did have to help the last few hatch, they had pipped but couldn't zip because of the membrane wrapped around them.

 

[PurpleChicken]

So far since september I have had a 25% hatch rate with shipped eggs and
an 80 to 100% rate for my mutt eggs or local pickups. Most of my shipped
eggs came from people here I trust 100%. There are other variables but
it is clear to me shipping is hard on eggs.

Now Party, one of our silkies and my master, was a shipped egg and she
says I must continue hatching shipped eggs. I must comply. :|

 

[BamaChicken]

PurpleChicken your new avatar threw me off. It's cute but I just got used to that purple chicken.

 

[ebonykawai]

I started out with 18 shipped eggs, which were delivered in a snowstorm.

10 never got started, and one stopped developing after about a week. 7 are left in my bator, it's day 13-14 right now.

 

[horsejody]

On my first batch of shipped eggs there were 12. 5 hatched, 2 fully developed but died in the shell and I had some blood rings. On my second batch of shipped eggs 14 out of 15 hatched and 1 stopped developing halfway through. So, I got one group with a mediocre hatch and one group with great hatch. Personally, I think if the person sends you very fresh eggs and packs extremely well, you will be fine. Right now my laying hens and rooster are getting older so the fertility is low. So I am in a position that shipped eggs are my best option.

BTW if you are looking for someone that ships fresh fertile eggs, okcarla (she is on this forum and sells on Ebay) packs eggs like Fort Knox. I think those eggs would have been good even if the box had fallen right off the postal truck.

 

[cgjsmith]

the ones which I had shipped were BLRW's and I have heard they have low fertility as well. but not one egg has hatched pipped or even made a move to hatch I recndled and all but 3 look like they stopped developing around 8 or 9 days ( I try to only candle at a week so I don't over candle ha ha.) Crystal

 

[mothergoose]

It is very true that shipping can be very hard on eggs, but the opertunity to get stock from breeders all over the country is pretty amazing and worth the chance in my opinion.

I have had both good and bad experiences, but the good have outweighed the bad.

Lately, I have had some super shipped batches.

I have some RIR from BamaChicken that out of 21 eggs, 15 are going strong. (from Alabama)

I have another group of Malay eggs from Dick Horstman. Out of 15, 13 are doing great. (from PA)

Another group of Marans eggs from ginasmarans out of 13, 10 are doing great.(from TN)

It is a gamble, but sometimes you win!

Christie