The Postal Service

[YardBird192]

I know this is probably a crazy question, but have any of you ever ordered eggs from a farm in the state that you live thinking that it would be less travel time and less handling...therefore you would expect a higher hatch rate? This is the case with me, but the wonderful USPS decided to send my eggs to Tampa Florida instead of South Georgia where I live. So, the eggs went from Atlanta to Tampa and then back to Macon and now they are supposedly heading to me. Poor eggs!

 

[Bluedragonfly]

I just ordered eggs from a local breeder and she is shipping them to me. While that extra travel time is unfortunate a lot of people seem to order eggs from across the country or even from another country and they have successful hatches. If I were you I would just candle the eggs when they arrive and make sure you have air sacks intact.

 

[Veer67]

Yes, eggs that travel less will have a higher hatch rate. Mostly because they have less exposure to extreme temperatures and rough handling (resulting in detached air sacs). I've heard of plenty of people with good hatches even from egg that were shipped almost all the way across the US! It was mostly because of the seller who packaged and wrapped her eggs very carefully.

 

[YardBird192]

I am not worried about the seller or their wrapping. I imagine they did a great job based on what others have said on Backyard Chickens.
I am only worried about the distance the eggs did not have to travel. The reason I ordered within my state was because I just ordered some hatching eggs from Meyer's Hatchery in Ohio. Those eggs would have had a 50% hatch rate but one late chick did not make it. 40% is what I ended up with on those assorted hatching eggs. They were our first attempt at hatching anything. I was just trying to improve my hatching percentage by buying "local", but the GREAT USPS messed that up royally. I guess I will be lucky to get a 50% rate this time.