A Beginners First Experience with Shipped Eggs (Picture Heavy!)

[venymae]

After a disappointing hatch where 100% of the only local eggs available turned up clear, a wonderful person offered to ship me eggs in exchange for good record keeping on a custom mix they were trying to develop and reimbursiment of the postage. And with that, I started my first foray into shipped eggs!
(This will be my third incubation attempt, though the second one really didn't count!)


November 6th a package of 10 Serama, 10 Blue Egger Mixes, and 5 Crested Cream Legbars arrived at the post office for me to pick up. Making sure your eggs are packed well is very important, and I was lucky enough to get someone who knew her stuff when it came to packing eggs!

The eggs were individually wrapped in bubble wrap, to protect them and also to prevent excess moisture loss. Many shippers make the mistake of packing eggs in newspaper, which though cushioning can draw out too much moisture from the eggs.





They were then wrapped in a plastic bag and placed inside a small cardboard box. The small box was then placed catty-corner into a larger box and surrounded by styrofoam egg cartons for extra protection.
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The outside of the box was marked FRAGILE: SYRUP IN GLASS - NO XRAY!
Because really, what postal worker wants syrup in their car?!? None!

Out of 25 eggs, not a single one was broken - even as they traveled half way across the United States.


Yeah, Eggs!

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Tip: Don't be afraid to request this type of packing from your seller. You are the customer!

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[venymae]

The Hardest Part...​

(DAY 23)​

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Today was day 23. No more pips had come. My already hatched chicks were fluffy and running around in the brooder. Candling the eggs did not reveal any internal pips. Tapping the eggs while pressing them against my ear, did not bring forth any peeps. Floating them in a glass of warm water did not reveal any movement. Today I made the decision to explore the eggs and see if any were still alive. I followed the directions on the assisted hatching guide. Gently opening the eggs and revealing their contents.
...
...
Even though I expected the results, there is always that part of me that holds on to that last sliver of hope. That tiny voice that says,
"but maybe they're still alive".
The part of me that cries at the sight of a little chick, perfect, pretty, and still.
...
...
The remaining chicks were all deceased. Four had passed in the last days before hatching, one has passed a bit earlier.
I think they were not positioned correctly, but I'm not 100% sure.
Eggtopsies are messy. If you are not trying to potentially save a "might still be alive" chick, I suggest you do them inside a zip lock baggie. I was looking for survivors, so my kitchen towels took one for the team.
Click here if you would like to see the results of my Eggtopsy, but remember it's graphic.
During the exploration I was very calm, it was interesting to see the way they were packaged inside the egg, the veins on the inner membrane, the unabsorbed yolks. It wasn't until everything was over, after I had posted my pictures, wrapped up the little bodies, and cleaned off the counter, that the little sliver of hope inside me burst.
So I cried.
I was bummed, those little Serama broke my heart, and so I got it all out.
Grief is best dealt with completly and thoroughly so you can move on! Life has taught me this.
...
...
And then, I was done!
I am so thoroughly thrilled with my seven wonderful fuzz butts!!! In every hatch you probably will lose chicks. With shipped eggs you WILL lose chicks. That's just the nature of the beast!

But, you also GET chicks! WOOT!!!

I can't wait to see them grow up and collect their gorgeous blue eggs!
My experience hatching shipped eggs was AWESOME! I learned a lot and had lots of fun doing it. I am very thankful to @Sally Sunshine for shipping me my eggs, all the way from Pennsylvania! And also for giving me lots of advice as we went along.

And of course, I'm sterilizing my incubators in anticipation for "next time"!

THE END!
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[venymae]

By Day 7 you should be seeing life in your eggs. Here are examples of some of the things I noted about my eggs.​

Life = Veins and possibly a visible Embryo

(photo by @RavynFallen )


Death can also be pretty obvious.

A Blood Ring (was fertile but died very early on)






A 'Clear' (egg was never fertilized or never started to grow)

Because I am a total chicken (haha) I am going to wait at least until day 10 or 14 before throwing out any of my eggs, just in case!​

 

[nab58]

OH no! I hope your eggs survived the power outage. When are you due to candle again?

 

[ctc084]

You could also get one of those uninterruptable power supplies for computers, they're a might expensive for a incubator but they might do the trick. Kinda like a battery pack that could keep it 'batoring longer.

 

[kyzerc]

the gennis1588 hovator I want is 12 volt with a 110 adapter.They sell a power cord to hook it up to a battery if needed.T xxhey have a old model and a new model,the new model ,the temp is pre set at 99.8

 

[Bridebeliever]

So this is because shipping is just so hard on eggs? I would love to see you continue this post with eggs that haven't been shipped! I really want to incubate but I'm nervous to go there...especially if the eggs I get are expensive.

 

[Bridebeliever]

Thanks Sally! Yes, I should spend some time there! I know where to find it.

 

[venymae]

While letting the eggs warm up to room temperature (it's fall right now and they were cool) I started heating up the incubators. The 10 Serama would be going into our new Brinsea Mini ,which can hold up to 12 small eggs, at 100°F. The 10 Mix and 6 Legbar, at 100.5°F, would be going into Uglybator. Our homemade coolerbator.
Who is totally awesome, btw.


Uglybator during our first hatch, which was very successful
(he's had a wire upgrade since then!)



Sally (the shipper) recommended those temperatures. She also had marked the air cells before shipping them to me and told me upon arrival I was to check the air cells and note which ones were having problems.
Because of the rough shipping conditions eggs go through their air cells can sometimes be damaged.
Common problems include:

Saddle Cells - the air cell saddles the top of the egg in a kidney bean shape



Detached Cells - the air cell moves through the eggs when tilted, much like the bubble on a level, and do not stay at one end



Wobbly Cells - not quite detached, these cells look normal but are loose and a little more fragile




Depending on what kind of cells you have you might have to treat your eggs with extra caution, because I had flashlight difficulties I did not candle my eggs upon arrival. I will have to wait until day 7, and treat them all as if they have damaged cells to be on the safe side until then.

To do this I put them into the incubators in egg cartons, air cell up. I did not turn them for 2 days to help the air cells "heal". After that I did gentle turning where I simply tilted the egg in the carton from one side in the morning, and the other side in the evening.

Turning damaged air cell Shipped Eggs, just lean to opposite side.
Notice the​

carton bottom is cut out for ventilation.​

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[venymae]

Ok, I confess I couldn't wait any longer!!! I candled my eggs. Day 6.5

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Here are the results!

Serama:
1.Good Air Cell - Clear
2.Good Air Cell - Clear
3.Wonky Saddle Cell - LIFE!
4. Slight Saddle Cell - Blood ring
5. Good Air Cell - Clear
6. Good Air Cell - Veins!
7. Rolling Air Cell - Clear
8. Rolling Air Cell - Clear
9. Rolling Air Cell - Clear
10. Weird Air Cell - Cloudy Clear

Total Serama Viable (Day Six) = 2/10





Crested Cream Legbar:
1. Good Air Cell - LIFE!
2. Good Air Cell - LIFE!
3. Good Air Cell - Veins
4. Slightly Wobbly Air Cell - LIFE!
5. Good Air Cell - Partial Blood Ring?

Total Legbar Viable (Day 6) = 4/5



Mixed Large Blue:
1. Good Air Cell - LIFE!
2. Good Air Cell - Blood Ring
3. Saddle Air Cell - Veins?
4. Saddle Air Cell - Veins!
5. Wobbly Air Cell - Blood Ring/Cloudy
6. Deep Saddle Air Cell - Veins
7. Slight Saddle Air Cell - LIFE!
8. Slight Saddle Air Cell - Veins!
9. Wobbly Air Cell - Blood Ring
10. Saddle Air Cell - Veins!

Total Mixed Viable (Day 6) = 7/10



TOTAL VIABLE EGGS ALL (Day 6) = 13/25 or 52%



By the Way LIFE! = Veins AND Eyes