Blue Jersey Giant Hatching Eggs
How does that "work", anyway?
Eggs are gathered a minimum of twice
per day. As eggs are gathered into disinfected egg baskets, we have learned how
to properly wash hatching eggs just like zoos do and eggs are washed
and our results have been tested for over a year; this INCREASES the
hatchability. Then they are transfered
into disinfected egg incubating trays for holding and re-inspected and
any eggs that do not meet our high standards are destroyed. These eggs
are held in our hatching egg cooler at a safe temperature which is cool
enough to suspend the embryos from continued growth but not cold enough
to kill them.
Before the eggs are shipped, they are slowly brought back to room
temperature, inspected again for cracks or other imperfections. I
package my eggs very
carefully and each egg is wrapped in a
secure pocket of two layers of bubble wrap, and placed carefully in a
mailer with extra bubble wrap to cushion all sides of the container.
Eggs go in rows and each row is padded from one another so
that eggs do not have the opportunity to bump into one another or free
float inside the package. I have had wonderful success in shipping in
this method.
The outside of each package is clearly labeled Fragile, Handle
with Care, Hatching Eggs, etc. I email or call egg buyers after I ship
so that you know when to expect eggs. My husband and I also provide
"tech support" to all of our egg buyers for incubation, raising birds,
etc. and encourage continued communication. We love to hear about hatch
rates and how our babies are doing!
I cannot guarantee hatch rates on shipped eggs. At home we get a great
hatch rate. Due to circumstances I cannot control, such as bumps or
unseen damage during shipping or incubation issues that I have no
control over, your individual hatch rate may vary. If there should be a problem with shipping, please take
pictures of the problem and notify me immediately and we will make
reasonable compensation for your loss. Again, we DO offer "tech
support" for incubators and incubation - my hubby is an electronics nut
and is very good with manufactured incubators as well as building his
own.
A personal note about my pricing - I am NOT a hatchery, I am a breeder
and fancier of Jersey Giant Chickens and I sell hatching eggs, chicks
and older live birds to help compensate my feed costs of maintaining my
own flock. As I feel my birds are of very high quality, I keep high
standards of quality in my boxes (I buy my own, no reusing boxes or
using cheap quality Priority Mail "freebie" boxes), my packaging system
is unique, works extremely well, and is somewhat pricey. But in all
honesty, it makes no sense to me to skimp on packaging and have my eggs
delivered as omelets. Another note about hatcheries and Jersey Giants,
what most hatcheries claim are Jersey Giants aren't. I'm not sure what
they are, but they aren't Jersey Giants. I have had customers contact
me who claim to have bought "Jersey Giant" chicks from a hatchery or
feed store that grew up to be 7 or 8 lbs. Hmmmm..... Speaking of
feed stores, please realize that as feed prices rise (and they have,
over 200% in the last year for me) it makes it more and more difficult
to maintain our breeding flocks. The continued higher gas/diesel
pricing has made any commodity that I have shipped to me more
expensive, as well as the postage I have to pay to ship to my customers.