help eggs lost in post-- hatchability?

my first batch of hatching eggs should have arrived yesturday (tuesday) they are still not here, how long before they become unviable, assuming they even arrive? i checked with seller and they were posted 1st class on monday. also would i still need to rest them for the full 24hrs after arrival.

they should be ok up to 10 days after being laid, after that they can still hatch but viability drops substatially. I tend to rest mine at room temp for about 8-12 hours without problems.

thankyou i feel a bit re-assured now, fingers crossed they get here by then. i have been pacing looking out at any van etc that passes.lol

Hi ,You should always buy from someone who posts 1st class recorded at least, Better still NEXT DAY SPECIAL DELIVERY.

yeah next day special delivery is 4.75...well worth it i wont buy off anyone you wont offer that service, most will do it if you ask..its gntee 24hrs...

Personally, I find the recorded post a bit of a pain as I have to hang around all day waiting for it. Sods law, you go out for 15 mins and you've missed the postman. I prefer it if the post man just leaves it on my porch unless it's really valuable.

well looks like i will need to ask for recorded next time but their feedbacks looked very good for postage times etc. didn't think i might end up being let down by royal mail me and 4 kids have been in and door watching for 2 days. worried about our future little arrivals.
having my 5 kids was less stressful than having eggs to worry about lol guess i'll be a complete nightmare to live with around hatching time. maybe i should have just bought adults but i thought the experience would be good for us all to see the process from start to finish.

THEY HAVE ARRIVED thanks so much for being there for my panic,

Good luck with the hatch

Good luck. Have you candled any yet? I'm trying to make a box candler at the moment.

not candled yet, the've been in the incubator for 3 days. i dont have a proper candler but as a few are white eggs will try a strong torch on them in a few days.
i am wishing that i had bought an automatic icubator as i am finding this more stressful than fun at the moment, just thinking if it goes wrong its my fault.
my kids are very young and keep asking 'are they hatched yet' lol that just adds to the pressure, don't think i would ever be forgiven if nothing comes of this batch.
the '9months' seems a long time but these last few days have seemed like a lifetime.

I hope you'll get something.

It'll be even better for the kids if you do hatch something as they will be able to see it grow up. You could candle one yourself and if its fertile show the kids and explain how long it takes.

I worked at a farm last year and the owner showed me the different stages. There are some REALLY good pictures of all the embryonic stages on the internet! I thought it was interesting anyway

this was the idea, to show the kids life from start to finish and enjoy home grown fresh eggs etc. i have shown them the stages on the internet, and videos of hatching eggs etc i have got them ticking off the days on the calender but they get their inpatience from me lol. so worried i will let them down i am turning 8,3 and 10. the temp is varying from 101f to 99f this is my first time so fingers crossed

I explained to my little brother that some eggs didn't hatch because there was no baby inside and only some of them had babies.

haven't got a proper candler but i will try with a bright torch soon, maybe only work with the white eggs rather than the brown and blotchy though, but i found this to help me. thought i'd share
http://www.pekinbantams.com/candle_eggs.asp


8 of my eggs are white, 3 of them have definately got the spider web veins woohoo, 1 is too thick to see through. not sure about others possibly clear but i will leave all in incase i am wrong. my other eggs are too dark and mottled for my torch. but soo exciting to find 3 definatley on the right tracks.

is it normal for eggs to go bad in the incubator, i have just thrown out 4 stinky mingers with regret to my nose i opened one and the contents were black, is it something i am doing wrong or is it just one of those things. will this affect the other eggs?

sounds like you've gotten a rotten bunch of eggs.

I've had that twice now (once with quails eggs and once with duck eggs, both from eBay). It smells everytime you go anywhere near the incubator. I could even smell it comming into the house. Worst is they can sometimes leak and explode.

I would check a random sample of your eggs and if they are rotten, just ditch the whole lot and clean out the incubator.

Oh and complain to the seller about it!

not making a good suragate hen am i, lol
think the next eggs i get i will source from someone on here.
i am reluctant to throw all out as 3 of the white eggs are fertile but would the stinkers have damaged them in some way they didn't explode?
i have to hand turn so i will lift sniff and turn each one now to make sure there are no more stinkers hiding.

Hi,

If I was you, I would candle the eggs, if there is life in them keep them and throw all the rest of them away.

I've also bought a batch of rotten eggs on ebay before, I complained and even suggested this person clean his birds out once in a while, as the eggs were getting buried in the substraight only coming up when the birds dustbathe.This is a common problem with deep litter birds.

Derek.

I did exactly what you did initially, I was loathed to throw them all (it was a large batch) so I tried to sniff out the rotten ones. My incy got more and more smelly by the day and I kept finding more of them leaking puss from the eggs.

I'm afraid, I'm useless at candleing Coturnix eggs so I just dumped the lot out.

It's also possible that they overheated while in the post, they were delayed a few days. My local post office has got radiators everywhere, and some of the guys wear shorts even in the middle of winter.

yeah i expect you right, i have been worrying about the delay. it just would have been nice nice though to have success on batch one before the kids go back to school in case they wanted to stay up and watch hatching.
i will just have to wait to see if anything goes right, and if not start again when my auto inc. comes.

i can give you 12 jap eggs if you like from my avairy quail. you live near me so no postage.

bex i may well get in touch at some time, thankyou I am in 3x so nice and close.
anyway
1 of my eggs has a tiny hole and 1 has a v shaped crack, so so soooo excited looks like things are getting under way.
after all the little problems these eggs have gone through and all the stresses they have given me looks like at least some success is on the way.

Yey, at last. im so pleased. let us no what happens.