By Leigh -
It's mid-March, and you know what that means... it's time to hatch eggs!
If, like me, you keep pure breeds and sell their eggs, it is nice to know you have done all you can to insure they arrive to their destination un-cracked and un-scrambled.
Unfortunately we can't control how boxes of eggs are treated by USPS, but there are ways of protecting the eggs from concussion.
I will share a method with you that has worked amazingly well for me so far. Buyers have not reported a single cracked egg (yet) and most of these eggs are able to develop.
So just a rundown of what I covered in the video:
While it may seem that I am more than a little OCD about wrapping my eggs, my birds and my customers are important to me. So far the hatch rates on my shipped eggs have been well worth the effort!
I do hope this can be helpful to those who wish to sell and ship fertile hatching eggs. Good luck and happy hatching!
- Leigh
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It's mid-March, and you know what that means... it's time to hatch eggs!
If, like me, you keep pure breeds and sell their eggs, it is nice to know you have done all you can to insure they arrive to their destination un-cracked and un-scrambled.
I will share a method with you that has worked amazingly well for me so far. Buyers have not reported a single cracked egg (yet) and most of these eggs are able to develop.
So just a rundown of what I covered in the video:
- Wrap egg in a 1/2 sheet of paper towel. Mark end of paper towel to show the fat end (air cell end) of the egg.
- Roll into an 8" x 12" sheet of bubble wrap (bubbles toward the eggs). Cut off one corner of the wrap to show which end is "Up."
- Tape the bubble wrap in the middle and on each end.
- Place the wrapped eggs in a heavy duty plastic bag with the fat/air cell ends toward the zipper.
- Put packing paper in corners and around edges of shipping box.
- Place the bag (air cells/zipper side up) in the middle of the box.
- Finish packing box with plenty of packing paper to keep the bag of eggs from shifting from the middle.
- Tape up box and add shipping information.
While it may seem that I am more than a little OCD about wrapping my eggs, my birds and my customers are important to me. So far the hatch rates on my shipped eggs have been well worth the effort!
I do hope this can be helpful to those who wish to sell and ship fertile hatching eggs. Good luck and happy hatching!
- Leigh
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how about tips for how to handle the eggs from the buyer's end? would appreciate your tips. I have eggs coming in the mail...
ReplyDeleteGreat video Leigh.
ReplyDeleteAs for handling shipped eggs, tips will vary between breeders. But here's what works for me...
I unpack the eggs, putting them into an egg crate and let them sit for an hour or so. Just long enough for them to get to room temperature. Then I set them in the egg racks of the auto-turner, but don't plug it in for three days.
The key here, is that shipping invariably damages the air cells to some degree or another, so sitting upright for a few days seems to help some 'heal' a bit.
At the same time, you can't always know the exact age of the eggs you've recieved. So I incubate them immediately, but don't plug in the turner for a few days.
I've found that even with damaged air cells, once the chick starts forming blood vessels, these seem to help the air cell stabilize as well. So, really, I don't see any benefit of letting them sit on a shelf.
Hope this helps. 8)
Karen - thank you for sharing your great advice on the follow-up steps!
Delete(Folks should know that when I have really important eggs to hatch, they go to Karen since she has much more experience with incubators than I do.) I'm getting better, but I'm really thankful to have someone so knowledgeable in this area to help me out when I need her!
On the other end, once the eggs arrive, I unwrap them, place them in an egg carton and leave the eggs set for 8-12 hours. Longer if the eggs are cold. I check for sweat and any moisture. I than check air cells and set the eggs that are attached in the incubator.(I have an egg turner). I do not turn on my egg turner until end of day one, or the following morning. I check my eggs not in the incubator every few hours and by day two if any are not attached I do place them in. The hatch will be 24 hours apart, but, sometimes that happens anyway. I mark any egg that have not attached, and check those in 24 hours. I only check my eggs at day 10 and day 18 (or first pip). I take them out of the turner after first pip. Raise my humidity and practice closed lid hands off, nose pressed to the windows excitement.
ReplyDeleteVicki(delisha)
Good info!
DeleteWell I just wanted to know how to hatch them not pack them. But great advice I bet it help all those packers and resevers
ReplyDeleteI have never seen such a information that how to pack eggs. Really the video is very nice and informative too.
ReplyDeleteEggs are so fragile that they need proper packaging to secure its safety while in transit. Make sure to place it in a box or storage just enough to hold the eggs together - little to no extra space for little movements.
ReplyDelete