Quote: I have only received one or two shipments in foam inserts and used them to send send out a shipment once, I think. The eggs did well, but I think they were all double boxed. The reason I always double box is for shock absorbtion. The eggs need to be tightly packed so they don't move against each other and crack, but then they get the full force of every bump that box takes along the way. With the double boxing, the packing between the inside box and outside box can absorb some of the shock if done properly. I used loosely crumbled paper. I like the heavy paper like my feed bags that I cut apart for this purpose. The crumbled paper has some give to it, so the inner box can move gently inside when dropped or bumped to lessen the force felt by the eggs. But the inner box, if well packed, keeps the eggs from moving against each other and breaking. It is important not to use too big of an inner box. I don't like to go more than 4x4 eggs per layer, and no more than three layers because the weight of the eggs themselves can cause the weakest eggs to crack if the box is mishandled. Once one breaks, there is extra space available for the eggs to move, more eggs will break and you usually end up with a sloppy mess. I really prefer no more than 3x3 on each layer and no more than 2 layers. This allows me to use a small box inside which leaves more room for padding between the 2 boxes. The more space for padding, the better the shock absorbtion works. My preferred combination is a 7x7x6 inner box and a 12x12x8 outer box.
DMRippy has great eggs! Adhering the wrapped eggs to each other serves the same purpose as the inner box - keeping the eggs from moving against each other and breaking. And the padding around those then absorbs any shock.
So, to answer your question - Yes, I would always pay extra for double boxing. I truly believe it will pay for itself with a much better hatch rate.
