Incubating advise?

Ok I am at a loss here. I just finished hatching, well mostly not hatching, 6 dozen eggs...I set 4 dozen that were shipped from one person in Ontario, then 2 dozen from another seperate person from Ontario, and 2 dozen of my own. I was down to about 6 dozen in the end with infertiles (Which I was refunded for), but Friday was hatch day, I got 20 of 24 of my chicks to hatch, 2 of 9 of the one Ontario persons to hatch (2 more pipped but never made it out), and NOTHING from the second Ontario persons eggs.
Now these eggs were marked with dates, so they were not old, the oldest was maybe 17 days old at setting. The air cells were stable, and humidity ranged from 23%-40% during incubaton.

So why did I have such bad luck on these shipped eggs? Any ideas? I havent cracked any open yet, will do that tomorrow, but I am just frustrated as to why this would happen?

That is just the breaks with shipped egg, I believe anyways. So many things out of your control. I think 2 out of 9 is ok. I also think some breeds are more shipping sensitive than others.

I think 17 days is too old. I don't like anything older than 10 days for hatching. I know others will disagree with me, but that is what I do. That is another thing that is out of your control with shipped eggs.

One breed I got shipped took me 2 dozen to get 2 chicks. The first dozen I got none and the second dozen, 2. Some people with some breeds get great results and some people with other breeds get bad results. Just the way it goes.

This year with my egg exchange, 2 breeds gave me nothing and the other were all fertile and got 6 out of 8. All in the same shipment and same hatch.

Not a very good answer I know. I am not a fan of shipped eggs because of this.

Someone else here was complaining about the hatch ability of some eggs she got from a breeder on Ontario. Could it have been the same breeder? Or perhaps it is something about Ontario!

I think a lot of it has to do with how they are handled. For whatever reason eggs I ship TO ontario don't seem to do very well (of any breed). I don't know what to tell you It's super frustrating. I bought some eggs last year that I had 0 hatch out of 18 eggs (and was not compensated for with a refund or replacement eggs), but I've had 12 out of 18 shipped marans eggs hatch.

There are many things that can go wrong as others have mentioned. I have a couple of points I would make.
1. 17 day old eggs are to old. They will start but will not finish.
2. When you received the eggs by shipment did you leave them sit for at least a day before setting. Eggs that are transported must sit a day or day before setting.
3. Your humidity is way to low for you area. You need to run between 50 and 55%.
4. Is your thermometer accurate. 1/2 a degree low will delay hatch 1 day.

Thanks for the points Rico.
I too thought 17 days was too old, but it took 4 day to get here so they shipped them when the oldest was 12/13 days old, I guess they thought they would be ok. AND the ones that didnt hatch at all the majority were under 10 days old when set.
The eggs yes I sat them in my incubation trays at room temperature for 24 hours, set them on a Friday night received them in the Mail Thursday afternoon.

Humidity I was concerned about but I was having terrible hatches last year and found out it was because my humidity is too high. I always kept the tray full (with the auto humidity bucket) and sat around 45%. When I would crack eggs open they were slimy inside with fully developed, often piped into air cell chicks, so was told they were drowning, so that is why I have dropped my humidity and this year have been having wonderful hatches.

One thing I did notice though in the shipped eggs is the air cells were larger than my own at 18 days when putting them in the hatcher, so maybe part of my issue is my eggs (Being fresher) didnt loose as much moisture as the older shipped eggs?

I guess the incubator specialist, Clayton, could answer a few of the questions. Incubating see funny. What works for one person may not work for another person. I know that I increased my humidity this year and have had better success. I run mine at 50% all the time and I never turn off my turner, even when they start to hatch. I candle my eggs every week just so I can keep an eye on the air sack. A large air sack would suggest to me the eggs are dry. My water tray has water in it all the time. The small pump cannot keep up so I just add water.

Yeah that was me grumpy about my eggs from ontario. 13 of 30 made it to lock down and 3 hatched. Not a single response or even a condolence. I paid $150 for these eggs with shipping and 3 whole chicks.....no refund for clears nothing.

So far I have not had the best luck with shipped eggs. No matter where they come from or how they are packaged. I find it fustrating as people seem to have great luck with my shipped eggs.

I talked to the one fellow I got the 2 dozen from and he is reshipping me some eggs. He said that he has shipped 3 shipments, and everyone saying the same thing. But a 4th shipment went by plane as carry on with a fellow and he had an excellent hatch. So I am wondering what Canada post is doing to them as they make their way to people?

When you ask what went wrong with a hatch it's like asking why your magic trick where you saw the lady in half with a chainsaw went so wrong? The potential for disaster is HIGH! ANd sadly, almost all of it is unknown.

Was it the shipping?
Was it the age of the eggs?
Is it the genetics of the parent stock?
Temps too high?
Temps too low?
Humidity, too much, not enough?
Did you turn too often or not enough?
Did you let the eggs grow accustom to their surroundings for a day or did you jam them right in the bator?
Was there a temp spike?
A temp dip?
A virus?
Was there an astral alignment indicating poor hatchability in the Western hemisphere?

There is NO WAY TO KNOW THIS STUFF! So, one must proceed as one wishes knowing that no matter what you do, something is likely to go wrong, it is beyond your control and you won't even know what it is!

I got home with my eggs from Jonny Anvil, wiped them with a wet cloth, then without so much as a by your leave, plopped them in the bator with not one drop of humidity in sight. It would be easy to say that ALL those things will contribute to a poor hatch. BUt it's just as honest to say that none of those things might cause a poor hatch and something else altogether might be to blame but...we'll never know. The point is moot.

This is like rolling dice. Fertile eggs - hen + shipping + rough handling + hot blowing air = high risk amusement.

HIdden, like everyone else I wish I had an answer for you but I think as long as people use incubators to hatch shipped eggs, these same questions will come up and I hope maybe one day, we'll get it figured out. Sorry for your bad hatches, I know the disappointment, I have had it often too.

I have had no luck with Canada Post in our area. I had eggs shipped from someone who ships very well packaged eggs and she's had nothing but excellent hatches from eggs shipped much farther than me. Both sets of eggs I got were in rough shape so I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get some to hatch but it'll take extra care and I hope they're not too scrambled to go the whole way. I'm not a fan of shipping eggs but I really wanted these ones so I hope I get something to hatch. I think the worst thing about shipping is being shook up and scrambled and who knows how cold/hot they get along the way. I think I'd be upset about eggs that were older than 10days when they arrived though especially when you need to let them settle for a day before incubating.

Yes mine were scrambled by canada post but greyhound has been just as questionable but better.

The best hatch I have sent this year was to pops coops in saskatoon. I ended up sending them overnight purolator
They got "grounded" in calgary and ended up sitting the weekend some where. Well he had a 100% hatch from them. I have not even had 100% hatch from my own eggs!

Its all a gamble but I agree with uno. Too many factors, $$ and time make for a large disapointment. I have one little incubation book that has a statment about just moving your incubator 10 feet across a room could make or break a hatch....its all a total crap shoot!

It is a very worrisome thing to send eggs out to someone else for hatching. What if things go wrong? Like what has happened to so many people, there are bad feelings, on both sides and this is just not a good thing. Sometimes hatches are good, sometimes hatches are bad, for surely, who can ever know. It is very expensive to ship eggs from one side of the continent to the other or even partways. I think eggs shipped by air have things go wrong, very wrong, and I think it has to do with the altitude, do things that are shipped by air ex-rayed? Does anyone know anything about that? Maybe that is what happens. Anyways, this is sad, and I feel sorry for those with those high expectations that don't come to pass. I have 27 eggs shipped from Ontario to here last June, 10 of those eggs went on to hatch, I was pretty pleased. But boy, what an expensive thing that was, sigh...but at least I got something. I did not fault the breeder by no means. It was the airplane I was sure of that. Good luck with further hatching and hope that all goes well in the future times. Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

Hey Hidden. Why not have them shipped by instead of Canada Post?

Both breeders have offered to reship some eggs, but I feel until I figure out what went wrong it is not the best idea. Anyway I get them shipped will have to get them by air from Ontario, bus would take too long I think? Might have to look into that option and try again.

I know my friend had actually put 2 eggs in the refrigerator..yah..and then didnt have enough to fill an order for chicks..so she put them into her incubator ( a nice big fancy brinsea) and they hatched!! I also know that when you ship from cold areas like Ontario it can affect the eggs. Sorry to hear about it - have had great success and not so good - 2 out of 18 expensive eggs hatch...ah thats life eh?

I had someone who really wanted to try out their in incubator. They took two dozen of our mixed breed fertilized eating eggs that had been in the fridge or quite some time. Seventeen hatched and now I'm thinking maybe I should store mine in the fridge- no turning several times per day and no worrying about hot weather.

Little story... kinda in the other direction. I had some eggs shipped to me not too long ago. Got them nicely settled in the incubator, and four days later my sister fell very ill and I had to go see her in Lethbridge(I am 2 hrs north of Grande Prarie). My husband works away from home and we haven't really met anyone here yet. I have no egg turner and have to watch my temps pretty closely. Feeling like they didn't have at chance home alone I put them in a cardboard box with a heating pad and took them with me(for four days). When I got home I debated even putting them back in the incubator. Well I am glad I did! Of the eleven that were fertile five hatched and only a day late I thought for sure they were doomed. Now I ponder the exact opposite... why DID they hatch??(LOL) For most of the incubation I was feeling the end result would be disapointing, and it's awful. Sorry things didn't go well

I have heard that depending on the flight, the eggs can be damaged because of the air pressure..not sure if it's true or not