Alaskan. I think you have it more challenging than most. I was just talking with a friend about transportation of eggs. It came up because on my own turkey eggs both last year and this year, I've had 100% develop and hatch. A couple of weeks ago I sold 18 to someone who lives about 5 hours from here. She came to pick them up and drove them home, and reported a few days ago that 11 out of 18 are developing. She was pleased but to me that is a low rate compared with what I am used to. Of course, I know nothing about her incubation techniques, which may be a factor in some of the 7 that did not develop but still…..I know it is not the fertility rate of my eggs since 100% hatch when I either incubate them or put them under my broodies.
The friend to whom I was speaking, talked of driving 3 hours to pick up eggs one time, thinking that would be better than trusting them to the USPS. She had a very low hatch rate on them.
So we got to wondering if ANY transportation - even if they are not boxed and trusted to a shipping company - might affect development. Even when they are not shipped, they are subjected to several hours of jouncing along in a vehicle, and in the new location may be at a different temp/humidity than where they were laid.
All of that is a reflective way of saying that if development rate is affected by being driven 3-5 hours, how much more so would it be affected by being transported from the lower 48 to Alaska - a huge distance to travel as well as a huge climate change.
The best I can say is that if you can get a few to develop and hatch, you have a starter flock so that next year you can incubate your own eggs instead of relying on having them shipped to you.
6 more have internal pips! And the others are still kicking. I would did if all 23 hatched.
Congrats!
