The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: YorkshireSmallholder on June 12, 2009, 01:29:48 pm
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Hi all,
has anyone tried it, that is buying fertilised eggs mailorder and putting them under a broody hen? One of our hens has become broody & i'm thinking of giving it a go. Any tips or things to look out for. She's been sat on now for 3-4 days so do i just rest the eggs for 24hours then put them under her?
Thanks
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lots of folk here have tried Ebay eggs with mixed success. I bought bantams (12), my pal tried to hatch them in her incubator - 2 hatched, one died within 24 hours. Maybe they are x-rayed in the post?
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I got mine from ebay........their ebay name is 'skippybutler'.
I went to the farm to pick mine up as they are not far from me. We'll see on 25th June how many hatch out.
According to their feedback they have good results.
Very friendly, helpful people and their chickens looked amazing. Saw a couple of lots of chicks that had recently hatched and a broody on her eggs, so good results there.
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I got mine today from kirsten on the marketplace forum. Very good service
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i have stopped buying posted eggs as poor results or non... i always put in my search DISTANCE WITHIN 20 MILES there is a box to do this you choose the distance then go and pick them up, no postage charge, i did this recently and instead of the 6 advertised i got 18 and had 16 fertile
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i got my best results from ebay the last hatching 75% live 80% odd fertile. the one before out of ebay and local sourced eggs i had less than a 10% hatch rate. but even if you only get a couple of chicks from a rare breed hatch it is cost effective. the eggs came from wiltshire so 500-600 miles. the special delivery option seems to help as well.
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I had 3 broody pekin bantams and bought 2 lots of fertile pekin eggs from ebay (from different sellers) I had mixed results
1st lot 4 out of 6 hatched
2nd lot 2 out of 6 hatched (think the ebayer was Egg Man Ellis) -
Have to say that both were very well packaged.
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Best result I've had is 6/10. Others have been rubbish.
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maybe we should have a record kept to show which postage system and breed etc has the best result.
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you can always try the local freecycle group but it does depend on the moderators though
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i have stopped buying posted eggs as poor results or non..
Me too!
I supose if you want to take the risk then give it a go? Any hatching from posted eggs is suposedly a good result? :-\
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Thanks for the replies - I bought some Light Sussex eggs from ebay & will let you know how I get on - I now have 2 broody Buff Orpingtons sharing the same nesting box - funny how they seem to have their favourite box.
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I've just bought 6 Scots Dumpys and 6 Marsh Daisys from Ebay to incubate. Fingers crossed for a good hatch rate!
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hiya thats the breed i want but scot dumpys didn't see them on ebay. My be i cought smuggle them in my house and pretend to look after someone incubater for about a month and a bit lol
Linz
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I'm about to hatch some quails from e-bay with an order in for some runner ducks to follow on
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when my khaki cambells finish moulting and start laying again i will send 6 eggs for free to anyone in uk with an incubator who wants them!
just as an experiment!
is anyone up for it??
gem x
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I have emailed you!
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I have had 18 out of 24 quails hatch so far with a few more hours to go till I take the rest of the eggs out and sterilise for the next batch. I did notice that 1 box of runner duck eggs was a bit battered and was in transit over the weekend the other arrived next day and the box was as clean as a whistle no edges broken so I will mark the two batches differently and see which does best
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I have both sent out and received eggs by post - the ones that I sent out, according to those who received them, did as well as could be expected for eggs that had been through the system at Royal Mail - sadly it doesn't matter how well you pack them, or how big the word "Fragile" is on the packaging, I am fairly convinced that they do get thrown around a bit! Of those that I have purchased via mail order, I have candled them on receipt, and discovered that only 50% or so were even fertile!! I now have found a reasonably local chap who does mail order, but as I can drive there myself, I do so, and collect the eggs. Last year, I had about 85% hatch rate from this supplier, and this year, I will have to wait and see - they are due in just under two weeks!!
If anyone is interested, said supplier is found at www.pippineggs.co.uk. Hope this helps.
Sorry - don't know how to do the link thing!!!!!(YET)
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I have had mixed results from my ebay purchases, last RIR hatch, 10 out of 12, lovely healthy chicks, last week had a good result with Aylesbury ducks and buff orpingtons, but also have had some rubbish hatches, think it depends on how the postie treats them!! I often bid low, so that it makes it not such a hit when they fail! All mine are put in an incubator, rather than under a broody. Good luck with the hatch, if you manage to get some.
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I got mine from ebay........their ebay name is 'skippybutler'.
I went to the farm to pick mine up as they are not far from me. We'll see on 25th June how many hatch out.
According to their feedback they have good results.
Very friendly, helpful people and their chickens looked amazing. Saw a couple of lots of chicks that had recently hatched and a broody on her eggs, so good results there.
Update on my eggs.......6 out of 7 hatched yesterday, one unfortunately died and one egg not hatched (yet). So I'm very pleased.
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I bought Jersey Giant egg's from Ebay, from 3 different sources. The first 2 batches of 6 eggs produced 3 eggs each with the 3rd producing none. This was my 1st time trying to hatch eggs never mind buying from Ebay so I am pretty sure the last batch was my fault. I am still over the moon about having the chicks who are now growing well and look lovely.
I will definitely try posted eggs again - next ones will be French Wheaton Marans.
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I have had loads of people purchase for broody hens, via ebay or privately, they have all had really good success. Thanks Sheila for the recommendation, you will have to let me know how you got on with the eggs :)
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We've had 2 sets of 6 Indian runner duck eggs from Ebay, and fertility was high, but one of the sets we only got one hatched out from. Their eggshells seemed to be extra tough for some weird reason. Of the 12, 5 hatched successfully and all ducklings are doing well. Just under 50% hatch rate, and for the distance they have come, and the fact that the majority are coloured, I am pleased we did it.
Beth
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My ebay eggs are due to hatch on Tuesday - I ordered 3 Cream Legbars and 3 Copper Blue Marans and have also put 3 of our own eggs under her too.
If we never find any blood spots in our eggs does that mean Gordon is firing blanks?
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no. it means the hen bled a little in forming the egg. to see if he is shooting blanks crack open an egg and see if you can see the germ cell.
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Is that the thick white string you sometimes get?
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We've tried it with duck eggs under a broody hen, with good results but I used ebay's "local" search and picked the eggs up myself. It was great, because I also picked up lots of tips and had an interesting hour or so looking round the hens and pigs. I'm not sure how it would work with them going through the post. Lots of people say it does work. Is it worth checking the feedback that each seller gets?
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Is that the thick white string you sometimes get?
no look at the yolk you should see a very little circle/dot on the surface thats the germ cell. the stringy bits are jusy there to hold the yolk in place.
if you check a number over a few weeks and they are all clear then mr chicken is probably shooting blanks. how many hens to chucks are they. we have four running with 70+ and they wear themselves out.
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Ah yes I know what you mean. Gordon is with 36 hens, but I think he lucks out with the new ones and sticks with his reliable harem! In fact the new hens are getting a little too freerange and don't stay in the field where there supposed to be!
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then maybe get anothe cock to look after the other girls. thou the girls don't seem to care what the boys say.
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Mmm that sounds like the human species!!!! ;D
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Just a quick update - a complete failure unfortunately. I bought 6 light sussex eggs from ebay. 3 hens decided they wanted to sit in the same box resulting in a broken egg early on & i suspect this contaminated the others. I left it as long as I could wait but after checking the eggs over the weekend - nothing. Never mind - hopefully normal service will be resumed shortly & we won't be fighting over the 1 egg a day we're currently getting.
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Mine were due to hatch yesterday - 6 ebay eggs and 3 home eggs. So far we have 4 live chicks and 1 dead chick - got squashed I think!
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I had 6 live ducklings from 14 eggs 3 from each batch so the extra battered box didn't seem to be affected any more than the 2nd batch. All were fertile but only 7 developed fully, 1 died before it cracked the egg. so I'll put that down as a success as I was working on 50% hatch anyway.
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thats very impressive all being fertile.
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3 times I have bought duck eggs off e bay and twice I have had 100% successful hatching from 12 eggs and one other time 1 wasn't fertile from 6 and another 2 didn't develop out of 12.
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lots of folk here have tried Ebay eggs with mixed success. I bought bantams (12), my pal tried to hatch them in her incubator - 2 hatched, one died within 24 hours. Maybe they are x-rayed in the post?
They are definately not X rayed in inland post. Their are umpteen other factors that can affect hatchability though.