Having spent many hundreds of dollars the previous 2 years buying fertile hatching eggs(and many came off E-Bay) I'm paying more attention to the sellers descriptions this year,since I'm not in the egg buying market,And what I read from this really has me scratching my head as to why some of these sellers even bother shipping eggs,,,it would be so much easier for the buyer to just send them the money,and forget about recieving any eggs because the eggs are already so old,,hatching any would be a MIRACLE,,to say the least.
One example is one seller now says they have collected the eggs on Saturday and Sunday,,the auction is for 3 eggs,,yet the auction doesn't end until Friday,,,meaning the eggs are already 6 days old before they get shipped,,add 3 days shipping time,and some of those eggs will be 9 days old before they reach the buyers home.Why do people collect the eggs,then have the auction??? And make it a 5 or 7 day auction at that?? Hatchability rates on peacock eggs over 7 days old drops down to 30%,and that's not adding shipping and handling abuses.
I've seen several 2 egg auctions where the seller has 1 hen both eggs are coming from.The auction starts on a Sunday and ends the following Sunday,,,when both eggs could have been laid and collected by Tuesday of that week,,yet they hold on to them for another 5 days before the auction ends,,,Why???
I'm currently working with a BYC'er here on shipping them some OpalB/S eggs,,and my criteria to help them get a better than average hatch rate is 1) We ship the eggs no later than on a Wednesday in case it does take 3 days for them to go 300 miles by USPS,so their not sitting over the weekend,adding more days,,and 2) I'm gathering eggs daily and coordinating their freshness and shipping time so they will arrive before they are 7 days old.3) I've put eggs from all the hens in that breeding pen into the incubator to know all hens are laying fertile eggs,and not taking it for granted because 1 egg started to develope,the other hens eggs are fertile as well.
I realize some sellers may only have a few birds so getting enough eggs collected in 1-2 days may not be possible,,and in my opinion from buying in the past,,bidding on a 2 egg auction is a waste of money unless the seller lives 30 miles away and you can pick the eggs up yourself.The shipping cost alone is often the value of one egg. Yet we all know the saying "If it fits,it ships" up to 70 lbs for a low flat rate,,and the largest box ships for just over $15.
If your only source for getting Peafowl into your flock is thru buying eggs,investigate the seller,,do your own "Due Dilligence",,don't buy eggs from California if you live in New York,,ask the seller how many hens they have in the pen your eggs are coming from,,don't buy eggs in the middle of the summer when it's 95 degrees everywhere in the USA,,and if they cannot provide you with any detailed notes regarding eggs collected daily and eggs hatched,,,can I sell you some ocean front property in Illinois??
One example is one seller now says they have collected the eggs on Saturday and Sunday,,the auction is for 3 eggs,,yet the auction doesn't end until Friday,,,meaning the eggs are already 6 days old before they get shipped,,add 3 days shipping time,and some of those eggs will be 9 days old before they reach the buyers home.Why do people collect the eggs,then have the auction??? And make it a 5 or 7 day auction at that?? Hatchability rates on peacock eggs over 7 days old drops down to 30%,and that's not adding shipping and handling abuses.
I've seen several 2 egg auctions where the seller has 1 hen both eggs are coming from.The auction starts on a Sunday and ends the following Sunday,,,when both eggs could have been laid and collected by Tuesday of that week,,yet they hold on to them for another 5 days before the auction ends,,,Why???
I'm currently working with a BYC'er here on shipping them some OpalB/S eggs,,and my criteria to help them get a better than average hatch rate is 1) We ship the eggs no later than on a Wednesday in case it does take 3 days for them to go 300 miles by USPS,so their not sitting over the weekend,adding more days,,and 2) I'm gathering eggs daily and coordinating their freshness and shipping time so they will arrive before they are 7 days old.3) I've put eggs from all the hens in that breeding pen into the incubator to know all hens are laying fertile eggs,and not taking it for granted because 1 egg started to develope,the other hens eggs are fertile as well.
I realize some sellers may only have a few birds so getting enough eggs collected in 1-2 days may not be possible,,and in my opinion from buying in the past,,bidding on a 2 egg auction is a waste of money unless the seller lives 30 miles away and you can pick the eggs up yourself.The shipping cost alone is often the value of one egg. Yet we all know the saying "If it fits,it ships" up to 70 lbs for a low flat rate,,and the largest box ships for just over $15.
If your only source for getting Peafowl into your flock is thru buying eggs,investigate the seller,,do your own "Due Dilligence",,don't buy eggs from California if you live in New York,,ask the seller how many hens they have in the pen your eggs are coming from,,don't buy eggs in the middle of the summer when it's 95 degrees everywhere in the USA,,and if they cannot provide you with any detailed notes regarding eggs collected daily and eggs hatched,,,can I sell you some ocean front property in Illinois??
