USPS did not call for eggs. 92 degrees outside too hot??

[izziebean]

Hi! I received my eggs yesterday but USPS didn't call me to come pick them up. Instead they were on the small truck all day (until after four p.m.). I talked to the mail lady and she said the temps were over 100 in the truck. The eggs arrived in good shape (i.e. not broken) I just don't know if they started to develop while on the truck. They have now been settling in cartons in the basement. Is this a lost cause or is there a way to tell if they started development? I can candle.. but I don't know what I'm looking for.

thanks!
melinda

 

[CrazyChickens09]

Only thing you can do at this point is to put them in your incubator and wait three or four days and then candle them to check for development.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Only thing you can do at this point is to put them in your incubator and wait three or four days and then candle them to check for development.

xs 2

Candling won't tell you over a days worth of incubation. If they all develop good I'd start keeping an eye on them by day 17 for air cell draw down/internal pips, because they could be "early" due to pre-incubation.

 

[izziebean]

Thanks to both of you!! I've been trying to see what I should be looking for when I candle them, but I can't find anything about that for day one. I'm going to tylan dip them in the morning and start them up. First time with incubator so I'm very nervous!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thanks to both of you!! I've been trying to see what I should be looking for when I candle them, but I can't find anything about that for day one. I'm going to tylan dip them in the morning and start them up. First time with incubator so I'm very nervous!

Have you seen the candling thread on here?

 

[izziebean]

No. EEK! I haven't read the candling one. Would that show if they started the process and then quit? I'm actually scared to touch the eggs because I wanted them to settle a bit before I set them in the incubator in the morning. I was told by friends to wait 36 hours before starting it. Is that right? I would love to know if they are viable. It does look like one might have that blood ring, but it's not really 'red' so I'm... uhh.. clueless!

thanks!
m

 

[trailrider330]

In my opinion, this is one of the best hatching threads on BYC:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...n-chat-meet-new-friends-w-host-sally-sunshine

You will find a ton of great links/articles dealing with hatching eggs, candling, etc. on the first page. There is even a great section on what to do with shipped eggs.

Typically, I let my shipped eggs settle for 12-36 hours depending on how good the air sacs look.

You might try posting your questions on the thread above as there are many helpful and very knowledgeable people on the thread.

Good luck!

 

[ChickenJesus]

For what it's worth, there has been a couple occasions where I've taken eggs out of the fridge that have been in there for over a week just to fill the last half dozen or so spots in my incubator and they hatch just like the eggs I stored in the basement. More applicable to your question, when I first started hatching eggs I had an inexpensive and unreliable incubator that would spike to 103 degrees randomly during incubation and the hatch rate would decrease by about 10% compared to holding steady at 99.5 degrees. My guess is that your hatch rate will be lower but not catastrophicly. If I were in your shoes, I would notify whomever you purchased the eggs from now so that in a week when you candle and nothing is developing you can get a refund. If the eggs are no good now, you have nothing to lose by trying and checking in a week.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

No. EEK! I haven't read the candling one. Would that show if they started the process and then quit? I'm actually scared to touch the eggs because I wanted them to settle a bit before I set them in the incubator in the morning. I was told by friends to wait 36 hours before starting it. Is that right? I would love to know if they are viable. It does look like one might have that blood ring, but it's not really 'red' so I'm... uhh.. clueless!

thanks!
m

Well, you won't really see much the first couple days. I usually see development about 3 days in. (You don't count the day you set as day 1.) But there's a great candling thread here on BYC I use. Of course, if you have darker eggs it's not as easy to see as early as light eggs. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation