I have paid a good bit for hatching eggs to get a breed or variety I could get no other way. I have several birds on the place now that when you look at the price I paid for the eggs and divide it by the amount of chicks that hatched... Well, let's just say some of those day old chicks cost me $50.00 or more each.
I've had hatch rates on shipped eggs from zero up to about 60%. It depends on so many things, mainly in my opinion, the way they are packed and the way they are treated by the post office.
Would I do it again? Yes. I intend to when I can afford it. I'm not into fads, but some of the heritage breeds I love and want are only availible in great quality from select breeders and to get the stock I want I'll have to pay the price they want.
The way I look at it is this. Even if I wind up with a 100 bucks in a pair of birds I love and am happy with, I'm ok with that. Because I'll be hatching and raising from these birds for the rest of my life.
Everyone is different though. I think 99% off the high selling eggs are going to people who think they are going to raise some and get in on the fad, sell eggs for a ton of money and get rich. You can make a small fortune on hatching eggs. All it takes is a lot of work, luck, and a large fortune to get started.
jmho
Given my unlucky experience with shipped eggs, I have to ask those who paid a lot of money for eggs: did you get a good hatch rate and were you happy with the results? Did you feel this was money well spent?
