A while back Elizabeth from Messy Organic Mum had asked me about sending her some fertile eggs because she wanted to add some Dominiques to her flock. Finding quality Dominique stock can require a bit of searching and therefore we as breeders who hope to preserve the breed standard welcome those wanting to get in to raising the American Dominique. I was happy to help!
But I had never shipped eggs before. Thankfully, Elizabeth gave me some tips on how best to ship eggs from her experience. So here’s what I did:
I wrapped each egg individually in a little piece of a paper towel and then placed it small side down in the egg carton.
After placing all the eggs in the cartons, I covered them with more paper towels and then taped the egg carton together.
I put the egg cartons in a small box with packing peanuts or some sort of other soft filling so that they won’t slide or bounce around. I taped up the box nice and tight.
After addressing the box, I wrote “EGGS” and “FRAGILE” all over the box so that the carrier would know to use caution when handling them.
I shipped the eggs Priority Mail with a note to the carrier that these were fragile, fertile eggs that were being delivered. The first time I shipped them, Elizabeth said that all the eggs arrived intact! However, the hatching rate wasn’t great so this time around I am hoping for a better fertility/hatching rate.
We just had a broody hatch out a couple of chicks so I can’t wait to share some pictures with you. They are as cute as they can be!!
Can you share any advice on shipping fertile eggs? What are the best tips for good hatching rates in your experience?
