The Great Egg Shipping Experiment!

[ozexpat]

My guess is when the bin of boxes was dumped on the sorting belt, a fifty pound box landed on it

 

[Pozees]

That's what I figure too, Oz. I will have to go check my records, there is another person in NC who has sent me eggs twice, they arrived in 2 days both times and in pristine condition, so it must have something to do with which sort station they go through, I think.

 

[hildar]

@Wisher1000 we've got chicks!!!!!!

Did you incubate the eggs lying down or standing up??? I am trying to figure out which way is best. I was told to set them in the bottom half of egg cartons so they would be upright on all shipped eggs, so am trying that with 90% of them this year. Lets hope it works better, last year with shipped eggs that I got I only had 2 in every 12 hatch and with the last order none hatched in 48.

 

[MeanV2]

That's what I figure too, Oz. I will have to go check my records, there is another person in NC who has sent me eggs twice, they arrived in 2 days both times and in pristine condition, so it must have something to do with which sort station they go through, I think.

I am sure it might have to do with what other boxes happened to be shipped alongside a box of eggs Just another variable that is impossible to predict. All we can do is pack to the best of our knowledge and hope for the best. There are times when a terrible packed box is going to arrive virtually unscathed, and others will get crunched even with one of the best packing methods available.

Bottom line if USPS is willing to handle & deliver our eggs (even if they required Express Mail) they should be willing to Handle them with Care, and Handle them by Hand!

Dan

 

[jsdeslidingh]

Did you incubate the eggs lying down or standing up??? I am trying to figure out which way is best. I was told to set them in the bottom half of egg cartons so they would be upright on all shipped eggs, so am trying that with 90% of them this year. Lets hope it works better, last year with shipped eggs that I got I only had 2 in every 12 hatch and with the last order none hatched in 48.

Egg carton...it's in the left corner if the pic....this little feller was wiggling and hopping and drug his shell and all out of the carton.
@Wisher1000so far one BCM (with fuzzy cheeks(hands clapping)) and two EE eggs have hatched and 5-7 BCM eggs are about to zip.

 

[Wisher1000]

That puffy cheeked chick from the BCM egg will be an F1 Olive Egger. Do they have feathers on their legs? Most of the OEs that I have hatched did.

Congrats! How many made it?

 

[ozexpat]

Thought I would share some really disheartening pictures of shipped eggs I received 6 days after they were shipped to me from North Carolina. 8 of 14 eggs survived, 2 might not have detached air cells, I set them in a non-turning incubator for 2 days and moved them to the Sportsman tonight. I will be very surprised if anything develops.










I asked the shipper to file a claim. Hopefully she will be refunded for shipping and value of eggs and be able to send more. She offered to do it at her own expense and I declined, I don't want it to come out of her pocket.

I have toyed with the idea of having 1/4" plywood inserts taped together with duct tape and put in the sides of the box.

It would give it protection from all sides and would help prevent crush injuries.

 

[Wisher1000]

I have given that some thought, too, Oz. I have also tried to figure out a way to support the middle of the box. I have noticed that even when the corners are not dented or crushed, there are still sometimes cracked eggs in the center that I think happen when something depresses the top of the box enough to transfer the downward pressure to the eggs inside (without damaging the outside of the box.)

I have thought of using the large, industrial cans that beans or pudding comes in. I have packed bubble wrapped eggs inside soup cans between the outer and inner boxes and they arrived safely but added a considerable amount of size and weight to the package. Another thought was to use heavy duty cardboard tubes, like carpet is rolled on, cut to the height of the box, either in the middle or spaced out inside the box.

As long as we are brainstorming, I have tried to come up with a box that is shaped in a way that not only helps keep the eggs oriented with the fat end up, but that would make it hard to stack on the bottom of the pile in the trucks. Maybe a pyramid with the top cut off or a half moon shape? I don't know, just thinking.........

 

[misbhaven]

if those shock stickers weren"t so pricey (like the one ones myth buster I would be tempted to get some..they have some for smaller packages then the PO couldn"t deny rough handiling...they say the package has to be dropped to set them off.

 

[ladycat]

You guys have the wheels turning in my head. So far I've rejected every idea I've thought of.