Who's gotten high hatch rates on shipped eggs, and...?

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hey!!! That's a deal you can't beat! Yaay Laura!
(in a very small voice... do Buckeyes come in black or blue ...)

Lisa

 

[shelleyd2008]

I'm also in So. Central KY, and it seems that any eggs I've gotten that came from the east (PA, VA, etc.) were messed up pretty badly. No broken eggs, but very little, if any, hatchlings.
That being said, my best hatches on shipped eggs (other than quail) were from Dipsy Doodle Doo (9 of 12 eggs sent--ameraucana LF; I think SC), and sweetshoplady (6 of 6 guineas sent; FL). Most every other batch I've gotten (other than quail eggs) have been lucky to get 1 hatchling.
ETA: I've also gotten american blue goose eggs from vicki 2x2. Both eggs sent made it to hatch day, one of them died after internally pipping. But that's still technically 50%.
ETA again: Vicki is in MI

 

[marytoast]

not me. Eggs from TX, TX and MI

 

[MagsC]

The best hatches of chicken eggs I got were from Minnesota eggs and also eggs that were shipped from west to east(oregon, from French Hen).
My best overall were Indian Runner eggs from New York (Caleb's Acres).

 

[Tailfeathers]

Just a short note from someone who shipped a bunch of Ameraucana hatching eggs this year.

I think if you ask all my customers, they would give you a good report on my eggs shipped to them. I only had a couple that had any cracked eggs and one of them was in NY which I have heard is very hard on packages. He said the box looked like they had played football with it.

That being said, the point I wanted to make was to be careful about looking at solely the "hatch rate". Most of my customers did do better than 50% hatch rate. However, there were a couple that were below 50% - BUT, the "development rate" was around 75%. There were some that developed to the point of pipping but didn't make it out of the shell.

I only mention this because I believe it is misleading to look on at the hatch rate. When I ship eggs, I look at the "development rate". If an egg is developing and doesn't hatch, more than likely the problem is then with incubation. Either heat, humidity, or both. Or it's an act of God. Neither of which likely has anything to do with the packaging, shipping, or such that I can be responsible for as the Seller.

Hope I didn't side-track your thread but I thought that was an important distinction to make.

God Bless,

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
The only problem with that is that there are many reasons that can cause an egg to develop and not hatch. Sure, temp and humidity are big factors, but also the temp and handling during storage have something to do with it. The health of the breeding stock is also a factor.

 

[Tailfeathers]

Good point. Certainly true. I was just trying to point out that one can't look solely at the hatch rate and assume that a lower than 50% hatch rate is the fault of them being shipped.

With regard to the health of the breeding stock, I didn't even consider that because I know what my birds are and how strong my chicks are at hatching. Ironically, I just addressed that in another thread asking why Ameraucanas had such a difficulty hatching.

With regard to the temp and handling during storage, I think that is up to some debate. I currently have some very special Welsummer eggs in transit as I type this. These eggs have already been started. Some propose that eggs that have already begun for a few days - even up to 10 days - are more stable during transit than eggs that have not been.

I have not been able to determine that yet. But I am sure hoping that is the case with these!

God Bless,

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
Hi Laura, Thank you, and you betcha, what a deal!

I have some questions, I'll PM you.

I've wanted Buckeyes for awhile, now. About 3 years. They're magnificent birds. From the pics I've seen, they look as big as Brahmas.

 

[AHappychick]

I have had particularly high rates with SundownWaterfowl (buff silkies) and with Fowlrus (show girls)

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
I'm not assuming any one cause of poor hatches.
Since the hatch rate with my own eggs is very high, and my hatch rate with shipped eggs has been very low, I think that that means either A) The eggs were damaged in shipping, or B) the eggs were duds to begin with, or possibly, in the case of developing, but dying part way through incubation, or even just before or during hatch, it could be C) lethal gene reinforcement causing a high mortality rate, or D) poor health of breeding stock. Or some other factor I haven't thought of.

If a seller has less than 50% hatch rate, on average, unless it's a hard-to-hatch breed, and I realize some are, and another seller of the same breed has 75-99% successful hatch rate, guess who's eggs I'd rather buy?

If I only buy from people with a high hatch rate in the eggs they sell and ship, I think it would improve the odds of getting a good hatch. If I buy from sellers whose eggs often don't hatch, I think that would just continue my throwing away money on eggs to put in my incubator for 3 weeks and then watch them not hatch.

The 3 breeds I'm trying to get shouldn't be all that hard to hatch. They aren't really hard-to-hatch breeds. As far as I know, anyway.