Why I will probably not buy shipped eggs anymore

[bustermommy]

I read an opinion that bubble wrap stopped the egg from breathing. Was the bubble wrap in the more successful hatch? OP, any of this apply?

 

[lincolnsilkies]

Yes the bubble wrap was with the good hatch!!

 

[Time-Out]

My shipped egg developping rates have been: 2/6, 2/6, 2/6, 2/8, 2/6, 3/6, 4/6.
I'm only showing those that develop, because those weren't shaken around too much.

I also once drove 7 hours to a famr to pick some eggs up. 5 out of 12 developped. Talk about disappointed. I think it's cheaper for me to buy eggs on ebay than to go fetch them myself. BUT it makes me really appreciate the 4 out of 6 that are in the bator right now... except I hadn't planned on that many

Still... it won't stop me buying hatching eggs, because, as LincolnSilkies said, it's like Christmas!

 

[Melissa Rose]

Hi

I've been trying to establish a new flock with hatching eggs and it is going really slow! I can say with a 100% certainty that the eggs I purchase off of the Back Yard Chicken Auction are having a higher hatch rate than any I have purchased from Ebay! The one purchase that did do good from Ebay it turned out that the seller is a member here and sells at the auction as well! I think that when I get even 1 or 2 birds they will be of a higher quality than anything I can purchase from a hatchery and if I'm patient and plod along I'll eventually have a nice flock

. Plus it is fun to hatch the eggs and have the cute little fuzzies thinking I'm Mom

 

[bobbieschicks]

Quote:
I've purchased 4 sets of shipped eggs.

Set 1 - bubble wrapped each individual egg, 13 arrived undamaged - 6 hatched, 1 died on day 3 = 5 White Leghorns
Set 2 - eggs were wrapped in papertowel like substance and placed in cartons and the cartons were bubble wrapped, 14 eggs arrived, 1 hatched= 1 Ancona
Set 3 - shredded substance between eggs in cartons with bubble wrapping around cartons - 30 arrived, 3 were broken, 27 eggs in bator - at lockdown we were down to 10 eggs, so far 1 has hatched.
Set 4 - shredded substance wrapping eggs in carton with bubble wrap on cartons - 10 arrived, no broken, 8 went to lockdown - one has hatched so far.

I'll let you know how the last two sets end up as I'm still hatching that clutch of Silkies and Orpingtons.

I know it's a gamble to get eggs from eBay or BYCers but it's still a risk I'm willing to take for the breeds I want to get. I just don't go overboard spending on the eggs as I expect to only get a few chicks out of a dozen or more.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
what kind of hatches are you getting from local eggs? edit: ignore that i missed it the first time i read thro...

this is my first time with shipped eggs, in fact the first time hatching ANYTHING in over 15 years... i received 21 silver grey dorking, 15 EE & 7 Marans. 1 EE and 2 Marans were smashed in shipping. we're on day 13 now, with 17 dorking, 10 EE an 1 marans (which i don't think is developing). as a "control group" i also put in 11 of my own mutt bantam eggs. 8 are growing.

so pretty much I think other than the marans being scrambled, i'm pretty much on track. (with hovabator 1602 w/ fan & turner)

also, coming from a friend who works for USPS, express shipping, in the largest box reasonable. smaller boxes tend to get bounced around more than larger ones. this was also apparent, as all the eggs were packaged nearly identically, the only thing different was the size of the box.

so maybe if you are incubating only 7 eggs (or less) you might consider larger quantities and split them with someone else local with a 'bator... (more eggs = larger box) or ask the seller to use a bigger box and pack the eggs in a smaller box, inside the big box...