To Bubble wrap Or not to Bubble wrap?

[RubberChickenLubber]

I just thought about something. People are saying that wrapping in newspaper allows the egg to "breath" and plastic wrap doesn't. Have you wrapped your head in layers of newspaper? You will smoother that way too. So why is newspaper any different? It's all gonna have the same effect as far as breathability (is that a real word?..lol) goes.

 

[BeccaOH]

I believe in the bubble wrap.

I got eggs from DipsyDoodle that were individually bubble wrapped, and then the clutch of wrapped eggs were encased in bubble wrap and set in the middle of a box cushioned with newspaper. 11 out of 15 eggs hatched healthy babies.

 

[pamperedpoultry]

I'd say truth be known, bubble wrap, newspaper are the same, I dont think It depends on what they are wrapped in but the fertility, age, distance traveled and the handling of the PO that determines your hatch rates. Before I ever bought eggs I read on ebay listings people telling you why not to wrap in bubble wrap and people saying thats the only way. I was so freaked out about buying eggs I never did, Then i joined BYC and did a swap, i thought whatever the eggs are wrapped in when I recieve them is how I'll send them back out. They all came wrapped and sealed tight in bubble wrap, out of 8 eggs 2 candled clear and the other 6 hatched. This was my first shipped egg hatching experience I was impressed. However I've gotten many batches of eggs since then wrapped many different ways the hatch rate varies.

 

[racuda]

Quote:
I have never heard that expression before. Did you make it up? Is it supposed to be an insult?

 

[alpinefarm]

My feeling is that, as long as the eggs are "secure" and not jostling too much, they will be fine.

What I focus on in my shipments is how to do it in as environmentally friendly way I can. So, I begin by wrapping each egg in a paper napkin or small section of paper towel and I tuck each of them into an egg carton.

I send my eggs priority mail with the USPS, and I use their Flat Rate box (12"x12" by about 5" deep). Into the box goes the carton of eggs with whatever recycled packing materials I have on hand. I save stuff like peanuts and bubble wrap that I've had come to me in shipments and I also get some locally thru freecycle.com. But I also use crumpled up newspaper a lot, just depends on what I have. If I'm using bubble wrap, I use a width the size of the egg carton, wrap it around the carton to cushion it directly, then place it in the box and pack stuff around it to hold it in place. This way, the ends of the carton are left open to "breathe"...

The outside of the box gets marked up like a beacon, with FRAGILE/Hatching Eggs written all over it.

Some of the eggs I've received that were wrapped individually wrapped in bubble wrap arrived broken, so I figure you can't always count on that to stabilize them. I also find it very tedious to wrap them up that way, but that's just me.

I've had good success...haven't had a broken egg yet...knock on wood!

 

[Randy]

I don't care for the bubble wrap. I've recieved plenty of broken eggs wrapped in bubble wrap.

Also from my experiances there are a couple of other things I've decided I don't like. Flat rate boxes being one. Maybe it just coincidence but it seems like I've had more breakage and poor hatch rates from flat rates. My theory is that there is not enough room for packing because the boxes are somewhat thin. This has been on larger eggs. Maybe they work okay for bantan eggs.

The next is extra eggs. Yea that's right. It would be okay if the shipper used a big enough box to fit in the extras but when they cram too many in there and half of them end up getting broke because of egg to egg contact with only a coulpe of thin layers of bubble in between them, I'd rather not have the extras.


Come to think of it maybe that's one of the reasons I don't like bubble. Some of the shippers don't use enough of it. They read how wonderful it is and think a single layer of the small size is all they need.

 

[alpinefarm]

Quote:
I do use Flat Rates for bantam eggs (in cartons) but have never had a problem with feeling like they are too small/cramped.

Another good idea, given on a chat list recently where this same discussion was held, is to "double box"--put the entire, well-packed box down into another larger one, with packing materials to stabilize the two.

 

[silkieluver_07]

I have just started shipping eggs, and I roll each egg in a piece of bubblewrap and tape it. I roll the same egg in another piece of bubblewrap so the whole egg is covered. I put crumbled up newspaper or magazine sheets for stability around the eggs. Monarc23 (Niki) recieved them shipped this way and so far all are developing!

I sent out eggs today to doodledoo (Stephanie) using the same method except that I used magazines that had been cut up with a paper shredder.

 

[dancingbear]

Many, many people are having successfully hatched eggs that were shipped in bubble wrap. Obviously it doesn't suffocate the eggs. If it did, how did all these eggs hatch?

The only successful hatch I've had with shipped eggs, they were heavily wrapped in bubble wrap.

However you wrap the eggs, if they have room to be jostled at all, (not just "too much", any movement is "too much") they may break, or have severe air cell damage. They need to be immobile. The padded materials need to be good at absorbing shock. There will be impact shock applied to those packages, so eggs must be packed well enoughto protect them from that. This gives the best chance of arriving intact, with good air cells. A unbroken egg with a broken air cell has a slim chance of hatching. An unbroken egg that's scrambled inside, has no chance of hatching.

As for flat rate boxes, they're not deep enough to protect the eggs well enough IMO, and the postage for regular priority boxes was actually cheaper than flat rate, when I shipped eggs recently. Except once, when I shipped enough eggs that they weighed enough that flat rate would have been cheaper. But with that many eggs, flat rate would have been packed way too full. So far all my eggs arrived at their destination, intact.

 

[alpinefarm]

Quote:
You can turn the box inside out and add "Priority Mail" stickers.