~*Third Annual Cinco de Mayo Turkey Hatch-Athon*~ all poultry welcome!

[GerbilsOnToast]

Got an order of guinea eggs today. They weren't supposed to get here until tomorrow, but i'm glad they had one less day 'in the system'. Two broken, a third of them upside down. a third on their side... rolling air cells, yep, I got 'em.

I think Arielle spoiled me on expectations for packaging. Hope I can get at least 1/6 of them to hatch - that's what I have orders for and I'm not confident I'll be able to fill them!

 

[Manningjw]

Got an order of guinea eggs today. They weren't supposed to get here until tomorrow, but i'm glad they had one less day 'in the system'. Two broken, a third of them upside down. a third on their side... rolling air cells, yep, I got 'em.

I think Arielle spoiled me on expectations for packaging. Hope I can get at least 1/6 of them to hatch - that's what I have orders for and I'm not confident I'll be able to fill them!

I had 0/12 shipped eggs hatch that I put in the bator - most had detached air cells. A couple had cracks prior to shipping. Was hoping for at least one to breed but oh well! Hopefully I will have better luck next time.

 

[Math]

how do you get your humity that high? i have ancona duck egg's due for lockdown on june the 3rd and i'm having a hard time just keeping the humdity at 50%

I mist the walls with water. And I have two sponges in containers with water.

 

[Math]

are they Rollins or mallards

These are Rouen hen and Mallard drake cross. The Rouen drake was not aggressive enough to keep the Mallard drakes away from the Rouen hens that were laying. So, the Mallard drakes did about all the business and they have sired these ducklings.

 

[chicken pickin]

Got an order of guinea eggs today. They weren't supposed to get here until tomorrow, but i'm glad they had one less day 'in the system'. Two broken, a third of them upside down. a third on their side... rolling air cells, yep, I got 'em.

I think Arielle spoiled me on expectations for packaging. Hope I can get at least 1/6 of them to hatch - that's what I have orders for and I'm not confident I'll be able to fill them!

Arielle didn't spoil you on her good packing, what she likely did was pack correctly

you should feel "spoiled" every time you receive eggs. Some people think its easy to pack eggs up and ship them out but it takes time and people need to do some homework to learn to do it properly. All eggs should come packed well standing upright and without a single egg broken.

Did you contact the seller of the eggs to let them know how you received the eggs? Most times they will replace the eggs. I always take pics as I open up every box of eggs. For 1 to document some of the great packaging I have received to share later with others and 2 just incase packing and shipping didn't go well I can show the seller how the eggs faired.

 

[chicken pickin]

Right now I am incubating the eggs I received from the photo bomb contest, Thanks again uphilljill.

Her packing was great and all the eggs made it safely. I received Midget White turkey eggs, Pearl Guinea eggs, Heritage Barred Rock eggs and Barred Rock X BLRW eggs. I let the eggs settle for 48 hours and then set them on 5/17. I got anxious and candled on day 3 and all the chicken eggs are developing and aircells look great. The turkey eggs I saw a few with veining but I candled so early so I couldn't tell in all of them. I will candle again in about 2 days. The guinea eggs a few of the aircell look odd and I didn't notice veining yet but again day 3 for candling is very early. I have a very good feeling about all these eggs.

Thanks again uphilljill. Ill keep you all posted.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Packing well takes a lot of time and effort and honestly it can still all be for naught in the hands of the USPS. SHipped eggs are a risk. --many factors affect the eggs bebore they even arrive at the incubator.

One of my best hatches was from a friend who did pack the eggs on their sides -- no other way to fit in so many eggs, lol , and I had a fabulous hatch rate. On the other hand , I received 2 VERY well packed shpments. Upright and bouble bubbled. In 2nd box, AIr cells grreat on all but one, but no development. Both are a bust.: 3/18 hatched ( 1 died) and 1 dev /12 eggs. ANd these were expensive eggs. Hmmmmm . .. maybe I should give the eggs to a broody next ime . . . . .
My point is that getting eggs to the buyers in good shap ( not cracked, or broken) is a real challenge-- and even the best packing doen't hold up to the abuse some USPS employees dish out.

On another note-- I have a broody turkey hen sitting on eggs-- and I realized I never marked the eggs and the 2 other hens are likely contributing to the pile-- time to go mark them.

Oh an a 4th muscovy has gone broody. With eggs.

 

[chicken pickin]

Packing well takes a lot of time and effort and honestly it can still all be for naught in the hands of the USPS. SHipped eggs are a risk. --many factors affect the eggs bebore they even arrive at the incubator.

One of my best hatches was from a friend who did pack the eggs on their sides -- no other way to fit in so many eggs, lol , and I had a fabulous hatch rate. On the other hand , I received 2 VERY well packed shpments. Upright and bouble bubbled. In 2nd box, AIr cells grreat on all but one, but no development. Both are a bust.: 3/18 hatched ( 1 died) and 1 dev /12 eggs. ANd these were expensive eggs. Hmmmmm . .. maybe I should give the eggs to a broody next ime . . . . .
My point is that getting eggs to the buyers in good shap ( not cracked, or broken) is a real challenge-- and even the best packing doen't hold up to the abuse some USPS employees dish out.

On another note-- I have a broody turkey hen sitting on eggs-- and I realized I never marked the eggs and the 2 other hens are likely contributing to the pile-- time to go mark them.

Oh an a 4th muscovy has gone broody. With eggs.

You are probably right about it not fully mattering if the eggs are upright or on their sides. I have received them both ways also but never documented if one way seemed to do better then the other. I do feel like upright would keep the aircell positioned where it is supposed to be though.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Oh . . I do agree with you, as I pack all my eggs air cell end up, and it also means I cannot fit as many eggs in the carton. Many view this as "not getting any extras" and can't see the value of helping the air cells. But I will continue to pack this way. My point was that many factors go into the success, the packing is just one step. I have noticed some people can hatch anything and others like me have variable results. ( Last year was a good year, this year is terrible even with my own eggs. Some of my sshipped to customers have hatched better than my set.)

 

[SilkieSensation]

Right now I am incubating the eggs I received from the photo bomb contest, Thanks again uphilljill.

Her packing was great and all the eggs made it safely. I received Midget White turkey eggs, Pearl Guinea eggs, Heritage Barred Rock eggs and Barred Rock X BLRW eggs. I let the eggs settle for 48 hours and then set them on 5/17. I got anxious and candled on day 3 and all the chicken eggs are developing and aircells look great. The turkey eggs I saw a few with veining but I candled so early so I couldn't tell in all of them. I will candle again in about 2 days. The guinea eggs a few of the aircell look odd and I didn't notice veining yet but again day 3 for candling is very early. I have a very good feeling about all these eggs.

Thanks again uphilljill. Ill keep you all posted.

I got midget whites & guineas from Jill as well, but I think USPS played soccer with my box.

She packed very well but I still had a ton of bad air cells. Only 1 out of 13 even started on the midgets & it was a very early quitter (around day 3). Several guineas tried to start, but a lot didn't. Tons of blood rings there. I only have 2 out of 15 left in the bator. I know it isn't the bator, because I set 11 of my own turkey eggs with them at the same time & only pulled 1 blood ring. I also set 34 anconas at the same time, but they were split between 2 bators. Some were in with Jill's & some in another bator. I pulled a couple stinkers (cracks I hadn't seen when I set them) & some cloudy clears (JJ washed some of my duck eggs!!!) that were headed toward being stinkers. Other than 1 or 2 blood rings, all of the unwashed anconas are developing nicely from both bators. It really is all in how eggs are handled during shipping.

As for which end of the egg is up when packed, think about this: How often is your box on it's side, upside down or even sitting on a slant during shipping? I have had mail carriers sit boxes on my porch all different directions when they are clearly labeled which end is up & that they are fragile or live embryos or hatching eggs. I even watched a carrier drop 1 of my boxes on it's side on the street from about 3 feet up because he didn't want to bother to bend over to sit it down properly. I have watched carriers sort packages when they return from collecting them. I watvhed several boxes (1 very clearly marked FRAGILE in big red letters that I could see from about 30 feet away) get flung about 15 feet in the air from the ground beside the trucks up onto the loading docks & then drop back down 6 feet into the loading bins. I walked inside & gave the postmaster hell about what I had just seen & was informed that they had no other way to get the packages onto the dock without walking them all clear around to the ramp. UMMMM...walk your lazy A S S around to the ramp!!!!

Therefore, knowing what I do about how my packages are treated, I concentrate more on making sure they are sufficiently cushioned & packed tightly enough that they can not move inside the box to bang together. I have much better success shipping this way than worrying about which end stays up & leaving gaps for the eggs to move because they didn't fit tightly enough into the box or allow enough room for padding around them because I turned them a specific direction & it left gaps or put the ends too close to the top & bottom of the box. My advice: worry more about sufficient padding & tight packing than which way the air cell is popinted & your eggs will travel much better. Mine do.