USPS, Shipping eggs & poor results...what's your experience?

[lurky]

you never saw this

 

[trilyn]

Quote:
That's right! I've delivered hatching eggs that were very clearly marked that they were hatching eggs. Because of that they were packed in a plastic USPS mail bucket covered with tape and a big old sign- "hatching eggs-fragile". This was done by USPS employees that knew what was in the box. I am not trying to start a fight here, there are jerks in every line of business. We have our share also, but trust me-there are plenty more that love our jobs and are proud to be a postal employee!

Proudly employed by the USPS and loving it also!!

 

[neferset]

Ah, I haven't really broken a lot of the unhatched eggs. I tend to assume they are fertile, though. Perhaps I'm too trusting? Candling, I tend to not be able to tell the difference between ones that died very very early or were addled and infertile ones.

I tend to think that when they have to travel long distance and it's 90*F outside or higher, the chances of a successful hatch have to be less than if it were a shorter period in that weather. It's less about the distance than it is about the amount of time they spend exposed to certain temperatures.

If they arrive within a day or two, are well packed, and mainly unbroken, they have a better chance, admittedly. We had some unusually hot weather when I had my first eggs shipped this summer though. They took longer shipping and none hatched or even developed, though the eggs were all unbroken on arrival and seemed good to me when I put them in the incubator.

I did break those (always an adventure) and I am reasonably sure they died before they could develop, probably in transit, though I doubt it was due to handling so much as the week it took them to get to me in the heat.

 

[19hhbelgian]

I haven't been having good luck with my hatching eggs, and only 2 batches had broken eggs. The rest of my eggs were very well packaged and handled very well by the PO. The last batch I got were in the plastic USPS box with plastic wrap and packing tape covering it

My mail man ALWAYS puts the eggs on our porch if I'm not home... That's the good thing about living in a farming community - they realize stuff like this needs to be properly handled (at least around here

).

 

[Akane]

In my experience aside from major weather extremes (during which time I do not order eggs) it's entirely the person shipping the eggs. There are so many ways they can do things wrong but if they do it all right then short of the entire box being smashed the eggs will arrive unbroken and the eggs will develop. I don't care what you claim the post office is doing to your eggs. If they are packaged right they will not break unless the box is smashed. It should be very rare that you even get one scrambled but that can happen without the box being damaged even if they are packed well. I wouldn't expect hatch rates much over 50% on average but I also wouldn't expect hatch rates too much under that either. Every bad hatch I've had on shipped eggs can be traced back to a mistake made by the person collecting and packaging them. Every box I've opened and thought maybe that wasn't the best packaging job has resulted in scrambled yolks and poor to zero hatch rate. Every time I thought that egg might not have been the best to include due to small size, odd shape, etc... has not hatched. Every time I candled to find large air sacs and the person admits they collected some of those eggs up to a week ago they have not been able to hatch if they develop at all. Every time I opened a box and went "wow those were in there good" then candled to find small air sacs the air sacs were mostly intact, a fair number have hatched, and I've had up to 100% development including on serama eggs. The person packing the eggs determines your odds of having any luck with shipped eggs.

 

[lotzahenz]

Quote:
I want to agree with this poster. It is very easy to blame it on the post office and often it is NOT the reason for bad eggs. There are more reasons for eggs not developing than you can write in one post. I also agree, it is amazing they get anywhere without breaking. That said, if they are packaged properly, and they are kept from extremes in temps and are shipped fresh and not TOO far, the hatch rates seem good considering what they go thru. If an egg arrives unblemished, with air sac intact, under good incubation methods, they usually hatch fine. Of course, genetics, packaging, etc are another story. It pays to do your research well, and then it is a gamble, so thinkz HenZ

ETA: I agree with the above post, well said.

 

[wuwu77]

Lets get something straight, I am not blaming the USPS. I am, actually, proud of the postal service, it's employees and respect the enormous job they have to do.

It's my conclusion, based on my research, and now pretty conclusive here, these eggs are just too fragile to handle the strains of shipment. I know some eggs do well but most do not. I appreciate the responses. I'll now spend the money on started birds that will eventually produce eggs I can rely on.

BTW, the USPS cannot be beat when it comes to live bird shipments.

Mike