The Great Egg Shipping Experiment!

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ozexpat said:
Good luck with your hatches

So were all those poor hatches in the Genesis running too cold?

Air cells and airplanes dont mix. On wednesday I will be puttling a few hundred eggs on a plane for 14 hours. I will be happy if 25% hatch
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Yes, 3.5 degrees too cold, so it delayed the hatches by several days, and if any hatched, they were very weak chicks and had to be assisted. Once I bumped the temps up, after chatting with Ron, and hearing of similar problems with the Genesis 1588 unit from others experiencing the same problems, my odds improved substantially. However, I now won't order anything from the west coast, because the USPS uses airplanes (from what I understand, they subcontract to FedEx, which means the eggs go to the hub in Memphis, TN, no matter what, and then to Grand Forks, ND or Billings, MT, in my case, for location), which explodes the air cells and yolks into a scrambled mess. Complete waste of time and money invested, for that to continue.
 
kodster said:
Yes, 3.5 degrees too cold, so it delayed the hatches by several days, and if any hatched, they were very weak chicks and had to be assisted. Once I bumped the temps up, after chatting with Ron, and hearing of similar problems with the Genesis 1588 unit from others experiencing the same problems, my odds improved substantially. However, I now won't order anything from the west coast, because the USPS uses airplanes (from what I understand, they subcontract to FedEx, which means the eggs go to the hub in Memphis, TN, no matter what, and then to Grand Forks, ND or Billings, MT, in my case, for location), which explodes the air cells and yolks into a scrambled mess. Complete waste of time and money invested, for that to continue.
Click to expand...
Your bator was much more of an issue than the plane ride.

So I live in Los Angeles and hatch eggs here and in the Philippines. Some of my best hatches come from Florida.

The reality is that any location more than 300 or so miles away will end up on a couple of planes an a trip to Memphis. Thats how the hub system works. Its cheaper for the company to ship to one sorting area than have trucks rolling from every town to every other one.

I do try to get local eggs first. Then i try regional (for me thats Norcal). If not then I buy from anywhere.

I have had probably 50-60 hatches of shipped eggs. I spent a lot of time and money studying how I received eggs versus how they hatched.

My views are constantly changing with new data but how the egg is packed is critical. Also is environmental factors. Summer heats decrease hatch rates significantly. Saddled air cells from plane travel dont help but its not the biggest issue.

That being said, I would not recommend hatching shipped eggs unless you can constantly get 80% hatches on local eggs.
 
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ozexpat said:
Your bator was much more of an issue than the plane ride.

So I live in Los Angeles and hatch eggs here and in the Philippines. Some of my best hatches come from Florida.

The reality is that any location more than 300 or so miles away will end up on a couple of planes an a trip to Memphis. Thats how the hub system works. Its cheaper for the company to ship to one sorting area than have trucks rolling from every town to every other one.

I do try to get local eggs first. Then i try regional (for me thats Norcal). If not then I buy from anywhere.

I have had probably 50-60 hatches of shipped eggs. I spent a lot of time and money studying how I received eggs versus how they hatched.

My views are constantly changing with new data but how the egg is packed is critical. Also is environmental factors. Summer heats decrease hatch rates significantly. Saddled air cells from plane travel dont help but its not the biggest issue.

That being said, I would not recommend hatching shipped eggs unless you can constantly get 80% hatches on local eggs.
Click to expand...
Oz, I agree... I had to get the bator under control first, which I seem to have done successfully, thanks to ronott1's advice. And unfortunately, there is not much of a selection, if any, available of local eggs here in North Dakota, where I live. So, my choice is to buy from anywhere, and I have discovered that eggs purchased from the west coast to be shipped to North Dakota has the worst chance of hatchability for me... that includes Washington state, Oregon, AND California (northern California, to be specific), because of the hub shipping system. I used to live in Louisville, KY, which is UPS' hub, so I know all about how the shipping system works. I also used to drive as an over-the-road trucker, and have traveled everywhere except South Carolina as a truck driver (for some reason, never had to even pass through the state). What I have found is that I have successfully hatched from South Dakota (which I would consider "regional") and Texas. I received eggs from PapaBrooder and was only able to get ONE egg out of 24 to go to lockdown and hatch... he is out of the Redding area... in northern California. I received Cochin eggs from Otis, OR... two are viable so far. I received Blue Orps from Washington state... none made it. So, long story short, I will shy away from west coast suppliers. I also received a dozen Lavender Orps from FL and have three that have developed. I know that the time of year has something to do with it, but my FBCMs (both shipments) were shipped out in the middle of a heat wave there, and they are the best ones for hatch rates (both from the same breeder in TX), with 7 out of 12 that went into lockdown, 6 that hatched, and 11 out of 14 getting ready to go into lockdown tomorrow night.

My own flock (comprised of RIR, Black Australorps, White Jersey Giants, Dark Cornish) started to lay last week (the RIR & Black Australorps are the ones laying right now, with the White Jersey Giants I'm expecting in the next couple of weeks, the Dark Cornish pullets are destined for freezer camp tomorrow because I am not happy with them at all... personal opinion of the breed). So, I have my own eggs to see if I can improve my hatch rates. I have two eggs in there now, both separate RIR pullets with a RIR cockerel covering them, just to test fertility, and one of them is showing veining after five days already... encouraging news. I also have Buff Orps and GLWs that will be six weeks old on Monday, my Ameraucana chicks that are now two weeks old, and my six FBCMs that are 5 days old now. I also have two Lemon Barred Cuckoo Orps, one of which is two weeks old, and one that hatched this morning (out of two eggs that went into lockdown... second one died yesterday
hit.gif
and was also a Lemon Barred Cuckoo Orp). I'm not giving up easily... I just know that getting eggs from the west coast breeders just doesn't work for me because of the issues with getting them here safely. I have found some Partridge Penedesenca eggs out of Pennsylvania that I'm trying to get, and will see, if I succeed in getting them, if that is another state that I can consider a viable state to get eggs from. As you say, experimentation!

BTW, there was only one shipment of eggs that I was unhappy with the way they were packed and had more damage to the eggs themselves... all the rest were done correctly, double-boxed, bubble-wrapped, etc. In fact, the Lavender Orps from FL were packed so well that the box arrived crushed and damaged, but the eggs were in pristine condition, good attached air cells, intact yolks, etc. Just that out of 12 eggs, only three developed... all but one of them were clears at 10 days (the one was an early quitter).
 
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kodster said:
Oz, I agree... I had to get the bator under control first, which I seem to have done successfully, thanks to ronott1's advice. And unfortunately, there is not much of a selection, if any, available of local eggs here in North Dakota, where I live. So, my choice is to buy from anywhere, and I have discovered that eggs purchased from the west coast to be shipped to North Dakota has the worst chance of hatchability for me... that includes Washington state, Oregon, AND California (northern California, to be specific), because of the hub shipping system. I used to live in Louisville, KY, which is UPS' hub, so I know all about how the shipping system works. I also used to drive as an over-the-road trucker, and have traveled everywhere except South Carolina as a truck driver (for some reason, never had to even pass through the state). What I have found is that I have successfully hatched from South Dakota (which I would consider "regional") and Texas. I received eggs from PapaBrooder and was only able to get ONE egg out of 24 to go to lockdown and hatch... he is out of the Redding area... in northern California. I received Cochin eggs from Otis, OR... two are viable so far. I received Blue Orps from Washington state... none made it. So, long story short, I will shy away from west coast suppliers. I also received a dozen Lavender Orps from FL and have three that have developed. I know that the time of year has something to do with it, but my FBCMs (both shipments) were shipped out in the middle of a heat wave there, and they are the best ones for hatch rates (both from the same breeder in TX), with 7 out of 12 that went into lockdown, 6 that hatched, and 11 out of 14 getting ready to go into lockdown tomorrow night.

My own flock (comprised of RIR, Black Australorps, White Jersey Giants, Dark Cornish) started to lay last week (the RIR & Black Australorps are the ones laying right now, with the White Jersey Giants I'm expecting in the next couple of weeks, the Dark Cornish pullets are destined for freezer camp tomorrow because I am not happy with them at all... personal opinion of the breed). So, I have my own eggs to see if I can improve my hatch rates. I have two eggs in there now, both separate RIR pullets with a RIR cockerel covering them, just to test fertility, and one of them is showing veining after five days already... encouraging news. I also have Buff Orps and GLWs that will be six weeks old on Monday, my Ameraucana chicks that are now two weeks old, and my six FBCMs that are 5 days old now. I also have two Lemon Barred Cuckoo Orps, one of which is two weeks old, and one that hatched this morning (out of two eggs that went into lockdown... second one died yesterday
hit.gif
and was also a Lemon Barred Cuckoo Orp). I'm not giving up easily... I just know that getting eggs from the west coast breeders just doesn't work for me because of the issues with getting them here safely. I have found some Partridge Penedesenca eggs out of Pennsylvania that I'm trying to get, and will see, if I succeed in getting them, if that is another state that I can consider a viable state to get eggs from. As you say, experimentation!

BTW, there was only one shipment of eggs that I was unhappy with the way they were packed and had more damage to the eggs themselvees... all the rest were done correctly, double-boxed, bubble-wrapped, etc. In fact, the Lavender Orps from FL were packed so well that the box arrived crushed and damaged, but the eggs were in pristine condition, good attached air cells, intact yolks, etc. Just that out of 12 eggs, only three developed... all but one of them were clears at 10 days (the one was an early quitter).
Click to expand...
I probably got my Lav Orps from the same supplier. I got 5 out of 12 and I was ecstatic. I am not trying to sell the west coast to you (mind you it is Gods country LOL). Do whatever works. I have 72 eggs coming from Papa B this Wednesday.

When you have your Jersey Giants and Australorps up and running, let me know - I will buy from you.

When I get clears or crappy shipping I always tell the seller. I expect a refund if they are crappily shipped and normally get replacements if they are clears. Most sellers want you to succeed and will meet you half way atleast.
 

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