What are the advantages of purchasing fertile eggs?

I live in an area that has a limited number of poultry breeders with quality animals.  Fertile eggs are a less expensive way to acquire stock.  I figure that even if I get one animal worth keeping for show or breeding, the rest of the hatch can be sold to cover the cost of the eggs. 

I lucked out this year, and got a couple of show quality calls from eggs that I purchased.  The majority of my Butterscotch Calls came from fertile eggs purchased from well-known breeders.  I sold the pet quality animals that hatched locally with out a problem.

I have also bought eggs “just for fun” to allow my kids to have a different breed to show or for pets.   There are a lot of duck breeds that you can’t open a newspaper and purchase.

What are the disadvantages of fertile eggs?

Shipped fertile eggs can be a gamble.  No one knows what’s inside the egg.  Shipping procedures can and do take their toll.  

Why do I sell fertile eggs?

I have spent the past 2+ years building my flock.  I’m not able to hatch every fertile egg my birds produce.  And I’m not set up yet to handle a large amount of ducklings.

I have a small incubator.   I also use 6 Muscovy hens as broodies.  Once these are full, I will have extra eggs available for sale.

What can I guarantee about my fertile eggs?

I will do a fertility check in my incubator prior to shipping, and the eggs will be 90% or above in fertility.  Most of my eggs (except for my white calls) were 95-100% fertile last year.

The eggs I sell come from the same storage cartons that I pull my eggs from.  They are handled the same.  And you stand just as good of chance as I do of getting a pet, breeder, or show quality animal.

My breeders are young, healthy, and fed a nutritional diet.

Nests are clean and dry.  I bed with shavings and do not feed or water in my pens.

I collect eggs every morning.  All eggs are labeled in pencil.  Eggs found outside later in the day are discarded if it is hot and/or they are dirty.

If eggs are lightly soiled they are washed with warm water.  All eggs are sprayed with Oxine for sanitation purposes.

Eggs are stored in a cool basement.

I ship eggs on Mon, Tues, or Wed. to ensure they are not held somewhere over the weekend.  They are shipped Priority Mail.

I pack my boxes tightly so the eggs cannot move around.  I have very few breakages.

I am almost always able to send extras.  If I have them I send them.  If I don’t have extras in the specific breed requested, I’ll send another breed and at least 2 eggs of that breed.  (I had a breeder send me a lone egg of a rare color of call last year.  My first thought was if this hatches, a mate is going to cost me big bucks.  It didn’t hatch.)

What am I unable to guarantee?

Fertile eggs come with no hatching guarantee.  I have no control over what happens to them after I drop them off at the post office.  If they don’t candle with a live duckling in 7-10 days this doesn’t mean the egg wasn’t fertile.

I do not know the buyers incubation experience and/or conditions.     I had someone purchase dark shelled eggs from me last year that candled them at day 3 (instead of day 7-10) and saw nothing.  She discarded them.  Oops.   See my incubation tips.

How should shipped eggs be handled on arrival?

Eggs should be picked up at the post office if possible.  Please include your phone # with your order. This will keep the eggs from riding around in the postal vehicle all day.   It will also ensure that the box is not left in the sun when delivered.

Unpack the box carefully.  Candle all eggs.  Any egg that has a free moving air bubble (the bubble will follow all the way around the egg as you turn it) will need to be discarded.   The air cell in this egg has ruptured, and it will not hatch.  These eggs can explode if placed in the incubator.   I’ve cracked these eggs open and the inside is scrambled.

If the air cell moves some (even halfway around the egg) it is hatchable.  Save these and candle carefully at 7-10 days.

Allow the rest of the eggs to sit at room temperature for 6 hours and place in the incubator.

Follow the directions provided by the incubator manufacturer.  I also have incubation tips.