Why didn't shipped eggs hatch?

[poltroon]

It feels to me that there are a lot of things that can go wrong with shipped eggs.

- temperature spikes, high and low
- low pressure, if flown
- x-rays
- lots of jostling, from the truck and from being thrown around

If anything happens to damage the air sac, that can have a definite effect on end development.

The adult buckeyes we have were hatched from shipped eggs. We had a very low hatch rate out of that batch - 3/12 - but this year I have chicks from those buckeyes that are strong and bouncy with a 100% hatch rate. In that same incubation batch, I had shipped eggs where all developed significantly but only 6 hatched.

I think with shipped eggs you just have to be planning for a very low rate of success, and be pleasantly surprised if you do better. To dwell on the ones hatched in new places rather than the ones that don't hatch.

Obviously, zero chicks is hugely disappointing.

 

[ChooksChick]

I have to share one other thing I've observed:

I live within an hour of the major central airport that all mail gets distributed through from the center of the country. My shipments go right on the truck from my car and get handled very little prior to placement on a plane if they are going very far from me. Airline cargo planes for mail are pressurized to mimic ground air pressure to prevent damage to shipped items. I have had eggs with a 100% hatch rate that went from Kansas to Alaska. I have observed the best hatch rates when the folks receiving my eggs are also near the airport which receives them.

Coupled with the observation that eggs going short distances and not utilizing any air at all have poorer hatch rates, I would argue that more damage occurs on shorter shipments that have excessive truck travel. I shipped to a BYCer 2 hours from me and she had a terrible hatch rate!! Eggs from the same birds the next day went to NY and had a good rate...there re just sooooo many factors.

 

[fatbassetvineyards]

I make sure my delivery person is taken care of. We have a vineyard and sometimes have heat sensitive items such as yeast delivered. I live little tokens with a note for them to be looking out for a package from"x". At least on the tail end of it, I can make sure it is good.
I am just finishing my first hatch from shipped eggs. It is at 67% on day 21 - three different sets of eggs from across the US. Very good packaging from all of them.

 

[poltroon]

Here is a tidbit to give you a sense of how terrible the vibration can be in a truck:

I used to work in the space program. Any instrument that flies needs to be vibration tested to ensure it won't just fall apart due to the stress and vibration involved in a rocket launch. However, the tests we ran ALSO simulated the truck travel - because, due to the range of frequencies, duration, and amplitude, the truck ride from California to Florida is actually much more damaging.

 

[Arielle]

This was a very informative thread to read and clearly demonstrated why shipping eggs is detrimental to the eggs and why sometimes the hatch rates are not very good. I would like to commend everyone, especially Jim and Titania, for their very civil and honest interest in trying to discover the root cause.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Thank you!

 

[Frosty]

At the end, were these eggs in with others further along and humidity raised for the hatch? You said staggered hatches, so I wanted to ask that.

Now I am curious and nervous because I have an incubator full of shipped eggs!

 

[onthespot]

I've had my share of shipped egg disappointments, but most of my birds have resulted in shipped eggs. Here are some of the varieties I have successfully hatched, or started breeding flocks from shipped eggs.

Sebastopol Geese
Copper Black Marans
Welsummer
English type Orpingtons
Lavender Orpingtons
BLRW
Midget White Turkeys
Mille Fleur Cochins
Mottled Cochins
Silkies, BBS and Buffs
BLRW Bantams
Lavender Ameracuanas
Light and Coronation

Successfully means "hatched enough to move forward with breeding" which means sometimes only one bird. Mille Fleur Cochin, and Sebastopol Goose.

 

[pdsavage]

To me its the price I pay to get shipped eggs.Once the eggs leave the sellers hands (as long as they packed well) they can not be held liable for people who don't care.

No telling how the eggs where treated.Some one could have shaken that box,drop kicked it or any number of things.
I have had some zero hatches,it happens.I except the odds and never blame the seller unless my eggs came all broken due to bad packing. I have seen some bad packing....

 

[blefky]

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