Before You Buy Hatching Eggs

Gorgeous chick hatched from Gabbard Farm egg 2008

The first time I incubated chicken eggs and discovered the bounty that is ebay in the hatching eggs area I immediately grabbed up some of everything. The result was that I got mixed breed chickens, some big, some bantams, some ducks, of which none hatched, turkeys, of which none hatched, and a bunch of goose eggs. Not only did I over pay on some of them, but I also had to do what's called a 'staggered hatch.' Not all of the eggs were due at the same time, which meant that I had to continuously monitor and play with humidity-- which is why none of my ducks or turkeys hatched. It's a miracle that I had a perfect hatch from the goose eggs. We ended up with seven goslings and about 19 bantams and larger chicks. Not bad, over all.

A mutt bantam chick from an ebay seller 2008

So, now, I'm much more careful about buying chicken eggs. These are my little pieces of advice.

1) Look at the shipping cost first. $20 of shipping on 6 eggs is too much (unless they are ultra rare must-have chickens)

2) Look at seller feedback-- do the sellers know what their fertility rate is? Do they have positive feedback?

3) If you just want any old chickens, or do you want chickens with specific qualities? In my experience, it's worth it to pay for purebreds for the most part if you care about breed. Mutts can be really interesting, too. And... odd... I remember a certain turken mix I had... it was bald, except for the tips of its wings. Cute in an ugly kind of way.

chicks just hatched 2008

4) Take into account the expenses of hatching-- incubator, water, electricity, eggs-- and take out the fact that about 50% will be roosters and you may have a low hatch rate. Are you comfortable spending that amount if you end up with one chicken? If not, then don't go with that deal.

I like to try to balance my shipping and actual egg expense. I figure right now it's about average to run at $2 an egg counting shipping. That can be pretty expensive! Some sellers will combine shipping, and some will not.

My other piece of advice? Only bid on one batch of eggs at a time so you don't end up spending too much or having to do a staggered hatch like I did my first time!