Hatching Eggs: Ebay Risks

Dead Egg

So here are the eggs that I got as a replacement or substitution for the quail eggs I really didn't want. 16 eggs arrived with one badly broken (in half) and one with a black air sack and it rattled when I gently shook it. My guess, from the weight, is that it had a dead chick in it.

You can see that they're a whole different quality form the last ones

The surviving eggs.

The eggs were all covered in feces.

This is the risk that you take when buying on ebay.

Unwrapping eggs

I will definitely be being from the seller of the first group again-- it was a wonderful transaction. This one, I will not, obviously.

NoWay being very careful

"I'm Helping!" Says Cheeks.

 The boys did enjoy unwrapping them and are excited about this "Early Christmas Present!"

Incubator: Anticipation

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my incubator. Of course, if I end up with not eggs to put in it, I'll have to wait even longer. I may even have to beg some off of my young friend who raises chickens and generously offered to give us two of his-- which, of course, we couldn't take advantage of! Too sweet, really.

I don't want to reinvent the wheel, so I decided I want to share a idiot proof incubating site that already has all the how-tos, so I didn't have to make it myself:
http://www.howtoincubate.com/

There's another one that I knew of a few years ago, I'll post it when I find it again. It was pretty neat, with lots of candling pictures.

(Candling is when you shine a light through an egg to see the shadow of the embryo through the shell... pretty tough in darker eggs, as you can imagine! It's a blast to do with the kids, because they just giggle like crazy to see the chicks move around and chick and jump. I've had a fun time telling my boys about when I had them in my tummy and they would do the same things. It would be so cool if we could just shine a light through to see the baby move in people, wouldn't it?)

I'm trying to decide where I want to put the incubator. It's tough, because, with the three boys, we get a lot of traffic. The laundry room seems like a good place for it, but it doesn't hold a steady temperature overnight, and that's no good. There's the kitchen, but, well.... chickens smell. I have a sensitive nose, too. Blech! There's the boy's playroom, which may be the best bet as long as I can put it someplace out of casual reach... AND where the cats won't be overly curious. I have this horrible vision in my head of a cat sleeping on the nice warm incubator and frying my eggs by lying on the thermostat.

I suppose they could always go in my room. Hmmm. Did I mention that, to me, incubators with eggs SMELL?

I kid you not, I can smell a dirty diaper across the house. I'm crazy that way... well, a lot of ways, but in this way in particular.

I canNOT wait for my incubator to arrive!

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!