The Great Egg Shipping Experiment!

[ozexpat]

I like that letter!!!!!

thanks bama1

it gets interesting responses but I plan to educate - one shipper at a time

 

[pickitfarm]

So i have not been following the thread the last week in half since I was away.I picked up a dozen Rhodebar eggs and had a dozen Buff Orps shipped. The Rhodebars were beautiful and though they were white, they have thick shells and were very difficult to candle. Unfortunately the Orps where shipped and we received them with three broken eggs and after candling found one cracked. I did not get them from someone on BYC, but they need to improve their packing. Even the postal service stated they receive many fertile eggs and these were the worst. Let's just say, we did not have to open the box to determine there were broken eggs. (And the box was not damaged.) Like it was recommended on this thread, I checked the air sac and all of the Orps were detached. I could not tell with the Rhodebars since again their shell was so thick. We put 21 eggs in last Friday. I candled on the 4th day and was able to see veining on some of the Orps and others not so sure. Before I left the farm, I cancled a few and found that the cracked egg was a goner. My husband will candle them this evening since it is the seventh day. We had no problem testing the incubator and it seemed to be holding temperature and humidity. Once we added an additional hygrometer and eggs we experienced on the 3/4 day the humidity started to fluctuate a lot more then we expected. The temperature seems to stay steady. I hate to be negative so early on but I am afraid that none will hatch. It is my first attempt. I can say, that if I do not get any hatches from the bator it is going back. Those Rhodebars were not inexpensive. I have pictures of the Orps package. It was such a mess I am not even going to show you.

 

[ozexpat]

So i have not been following the thread the last week in half since I was away.I picked up a dozen Rhodebar eggs and had a dozen Buff Orps shipped. The Rhodebars were beautiful and though they were white, they have thick shells and were very difficult to candle. Unfortunately the Orps where shipped and we received them with three broken eggs and after candling found one cracked. I did not get them from someone on BYC, but they need to improve their packing. Even the postal service stated they receive many fertile eggs and these were the worst. Let's just say, we did not have to open the box to determine there were broken eggs. (And the box was not damaged.) Like it was recommended on this thread, I checked the air sac and all of the Orps were detached. I could not tell with the Rhodebars since again their shell was so thick. We put 21 eggs in last Friday. I candled on the 4th day and was able to see veining on some of the Orps and others not so sure. Before I left the farm, I cancled a few and found that the cracked egg was a goner. My husband will candle them this evening since it is the seventh day. We had no problem testing the incubator and it seemed to be holding temperature and humidity. Once we added an additional hygrometer and eggs we experienced on the 3/4 day the humidity started to fluctuate a lot more then we expected. The temperature seems to stay steady. I hate to be negative so early on but I am afraid that none will hatch. It is my first attempt. I can say, that if I do not get any hatches from the bator it is going back. Those Rhodebars were not inexpensive. I have pictures of the Orps package. It was such a mess I am not even going to show you.

my letter to shippers in my siggy was triggered after i got a plastic bag with 8 broken goose eggs with a thin layer of bubble wrap between them and no support.

dont freak about humidity. just keep the bator dry, candle and then adjust up the humidity if you need to slow down evaporation later.

good luck

 

[tommysgirl]

No movement in candled dorking eggs day 14 or day 16. Are they goners??? The eggs also seem to have a much smaller dark area than my other eggs but maybe that's because they are white to begin with...sigh...I see movement in my other eggs except for the Ameraucana in which I have never been able to see anything.

 

[ronott1]

No movement in candled dorking eggs day 14 or day 16. Are they goners??? The eggs also seem to have a much smaller dark area than my other eggs but maybe that's because they are white to begin with...sigh...I see movement in my other eggs except for the Ameraucana in which I have never been able to see anything.

Let them go. They may be fine--you do not always see movement.

 

[tommysgirl]

Thanks Ron!

 

[Loghousemom]

OZ, I think if there ever was someone to educate shippers on how to pack and ship eggs it is you! I love to read of your adventures.

WISHER, my thoughts are that some locations are worse than others for marking the boxes. The gal at my post office was surprised my box was not marked when it arrived. She said all the boxes she has seen were marked in some way that they were perishable. We had a nice conversation about some of the poor handling. She was dissapointed to hear that there was even a need for a thread like this where people needed to discover ways to protect their eggs from damage. I have an agreement with my local PO to call when any package too big for the mailbox comes through. Our dogs tend to chew on things left by the door, and our weather is often too cold to leave them outside for long. Plus the postman likes to wander around looking for a good spot to hide deliveries and then sets off all the alarms.

 

[ozexpat]

OZ, I think if there ever was someone to educate shippers on how to pack and ship eggs it is you! I love to read of your adventures.

WISHER, my thoughts are that some locations are worse than others for marking the boxes. The gal at my post office was surprised my box was not marked when it arrived. She said all the boxes she has seen were marked in some way that they were perishable. We had a nice conversation about some of the poor handling. She was dissapointed to hear that there was even a need for a thread like this where people needed to discover ways to protect their eggs from damage. I have an agreement with my local PO to call when any package too big for the mailbox comes through. Our dogs tend to chew on things left by the door, and our weather is often too cold to leave them outside for long. Plus the postman likes to wander around looking for a good spot to hide deliveries and then sets off all the alarm

My stimulus for writing was the most horrible shipment from a goose egg vendor. I ended up with 8 scrambled broken eggs in a plastic bag with a scrap of bubble wrap. The vendor did not account fro the weight of the eggs and did not put near enough packing around each egg to stabilize them.

Sad thing was the box looked pristine.

 

[Loghousemom]

I think I remember reading about that when it happened OZ.

I am a little scared to go home and open my newest shipment. It looks good, but its a tiny box and is supposed to have 10 eggs.....

 

[MeanV2]

I think I remember reading about that when it happened OZ.

I am a little scared to go home and open my newest shipment. It looks good, but its a tiny box and is supposed to have 10 eggs.....

LHmom keep us informed how your dirty eggs are doing.

Dan