Shipped eggs can be a great experience but in order to be successful at hatching any egg, you have to have some basic knowledge of hatching. First and foremost the species you’re attempting to hatch, then parameters required and of course you need to know your equipment. Now, the exception to this would be the mishandling of shipments but that would be obvious especially if they’re delayed or you had any damage when you receive your package which we will not address much in this post. Our focus is going to be on species, parameters and your equipment. For this particular example, I’m going to use Celadons. Why? Because they are very popular, widely available and are simple to hatch if you know what you’re doing or if you can navigate instructions and use your judgement. They do offer a somewhat of a challenge but nothing to the degree of rocket science. Granted, this is not a cookie cutter explanation for every single person who have had a no-hatch but more so based off of my own experience being in the business as a breeder.

Your Incubation Equipment

This is one of the most important factors when it comes to successfully hatching shipped eggs. You have to have the right equipment and know your equipment like the back of your hand. It should have a thermometer, hygrometer, automatic turner and a place for you to add water without having to open the incubator. Know the kinks that each one has, calibrate it properly and of course, clean it! Ensure that you have a sanitary environment before and after every hatch. Dirty incubators can cause you to experience a no-hatch in addition to exploding eggs or very unhealthy chicks. I have several models of incubators and I know which one I can trust with Any Particular species. it doesn’t matter if I’ve successfully hatched in any of them in the past, I will still test it every Single time before I load eggs. Incubators can (and will) malfunction, reset themselves to factory settings (which may be good or bad), collect bacteria or worse…grow a brain and have a mind of it’s own. It is imperative that you care for your equipment properly not only to maintain the life of the incubator but to ensure you get some great hatching results. Not doing this can lead to a multitude of issues beyond the subject of no-hatches. Although I have not had the pleasure myself, egg explosions can happen which is far worse than a no-hatch. Just imagine having to scrape out the remains of a rotten egg, wipe down wires, fans, etc. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone So keep your investment in good order and this part should be Easy.

Celadons Eggs

So when you think of coturnix, the brown speckled eggs come to mind I’m sure. They are very inexpensive and will hatch in even the most poorest conditions. Very hardy eggs and great for beginners!  They will literally hatch in high humidity, dry as a bone atmosphere, low/high temps and even in dirty incubators. Sounds crazy right? It really isn’t and I’ll explain further. Their shells are pretty thick and can protect the embryo extremely well. There isn’t a specific “shell” gene you are trying to isolate with these. Most who enjoy this particular type of species are motivated by egg size, mature bird weight for meat purposes or feather patterns. As for the Celadon egg, it is much more complex. The blue egg gene has been isolated in the adult bird that lays these beautiful blue eggs. It is know as the recessive CE gene. The difference with this type of egg is that the shell itself is more fragile and thinner than that of the brown speckled egg. Same species but two entirely different types of egg in every way imaginable. You can possibly spot this with the naked eye but you can definitely feel it when you compare both eggs after you completely cracked eggs and remove the yolk and whites. Because Celadon shells are thinner, they are more susceptible to suboptimal incubation parameters such as temperature/humidity fluctuations and/or parameters that involve sustained high/low temperatures and humidity. That being said, although they are the exact same species, their eggs should not be incubated in the same fashion unless they came from your very own flock and suffered no transportation time. when someone tells you to hatch shipped celadons (or any other shipped eggs) the same way you hatch your own brown speckled coturnix, I would highly advise against it because you will be very disappointed. There really isn’t anyone to blame for this mishap because it is out of anyone else’s control. Also, when you make an investment in hatching eggs, I wouldn’t suggest incubating several types of species in the same incubator simultaneously due to Differences in incubation requirements. That is just a disaster waiting to happen.

Ideal Parameters

There are SO MANY ARTICLES OUT THERE! Thankfully, this one pertains more to our celadon eggs so I will skip the fact that you can hatch brown speckled coturnix in your bra without batting an eyelash. With the thousands of eggs that we sold over the years, I can still count my no-hatches on one hand. Most of my breeder friends applaud this accomplishment but I stay humble because anything can happen. I send out A Specific Incubation Guide with every single order and have some that are specifically made for the dry desert climate Since this would require a higher humidity. These are not mandatory Instructions but usually helps most newbies who are new to hatching Shipped eggs and the method we’ve maintained thus far has yielded amazing results across the country. We stuck to what we know works and it has been great. The no-hatches that are unrelated to post office mishaps occur when guides are overlooked. They get tossed in the trash for whatever reason and that’s ok. It’s the individual’s choice as to how they proceed with their eggs. After all, they own them and are free to do with them what they wish. We run into issues when the situation arises where said individual who tossed those instructions have now had a no-hatch. It is posted everywhere on every egg listing I publish that breeders are not responsible for eggs once they are shipped but when they reach the individual’s hands, it is up to them to do what they can to have a great hatch.

I haven’t had many of these issues and the handful of individuals who had issues either reach out in time to correct the issue or hold themselves accountable for their own execution of the batch and would love to try again with help. This is wonderful right? I get to help people bring life into the world in the form of chicks. What sours it for me at times are the rare individuals that have never incubated celadons successfully, don’t share much information about their methods without having their teeth pulled or just flat out blame their results on everyone but their own parameters they decided to use. This is totally out of anyone else’s control. If you are experiencing an incubation issue, have questions, concerns or don’t know what you’re doing, I URGE YOU to reach out to your breeding source!!! DO NOT WAIT!!! Personally, I work with everyone to attempt to get them to a successful hatching. just keep in mind that you are responsible for what you set your incubator at, it’s functionality how you maintain it, how you handled the eggs, letting them sit out in extreme weather, or if you happen to clean them with listerine (WHICH I HIGHLY ADVISED AGAINST!). Unfortunately, know that you can actually sabotage a hatch! Listerine can do more harm than good because it was meant for your mouth and not cleaning an egg. Very High humidity in most geographies will kill celadons in heartbeat and there’s not a thing you can do if the embryo is already diminished because you have hot/cold spots. However, if you monitor the temps, humidity and air sac, you can attempt to intervene early in the process by adjusting your parameters accordingly, allowing the embryo to stay warm, absorb the moisture at a proper level thus allowing the embryo to develop and grow.

I’ve only ever had two instances in the years that I have been breeding celadons where high humidity was used. Both individuals resided in very humid parts of the country and when it comes to hatching eggs, your relative humidity needs to be taken into consideration. The guide was discarded when these individuals received their package so they didn’t have anything in hand to reference. Incubation temperatures seemed ok but that is at face value as no other information was given. when I learned that other species where also incubated at the same time and the humidity was maintained at 50-60% and as high as 65%, I knew instantaneously that the eggs had drowned. What made my heart sink even more is that lockdown humidity was then raised to 90% for lockdown. I didn’t have to wait for an eggtopsy to confirm why the results came to be. when I started, I didn’t have any information from the breeder where i purchased my first clutch. She handed me some eggs, I paid for them and she was never to be heard from again. I like to avoid this when it comes to our shoppers. I feel that if I can at least provided some knowledge I gained in past experiences and long hours of research, it can help others avoid major disappointments, wasted time and investments. I have learned that I cannot help everyone but being kind and at the very least attempting to aid in the matter doesn’t cost anyone anything.

That being said, the ideal parameters for our shipped celadon eggs in forced air incubators are as follows:

Temp - 99.5F | Humidity - 30-40%, no turning until day 3

Pretty typical right? for most of the country, yes. There are my dry climate shoppers who can go up 5% on humidity while the wet climate shoppers should stay on the low end of 30-35% depending on the time of the year. Lots of gray areas in this which is why we send a guide to help clear up some of the confusion a bit. I never say it’s a set of rules but it’s beneficial if it is followed throughly. We’ve had some amazing and consistent results with this method. We still have hatch rates at home ranging from 85-100% and shipped eggs consistently above 50% with the average last year being around 79%. We hatched every week for a very long time but will not be hatching every single week this year. Fertility checks are done weekly and hatchability tests are going to be done every rotation of the incubation time frame which is 16-17 days instead of our usual 5 days. If we had any concern about fertility, we wouldn’t list our eggs for sale.

The End All, Be All…

Let’s face it, hatching can be fun if precautionary measures are taken to ensure a reasonable result. I’ve flushed thousands on shipped hatching eggs and not once was I quick to blame. I took into consideration that doing this is risky but I understood the risk. It’s important that everyone who wants to hatch shipped eggs that it is truly a gamble. no-hatches can happen and 100% of the time if it did, something went wrong during the incubation. Getting a single shipped egg to hatch out of many is considered an accomplishment. Thankfully in the situations I previously mentioned, the people involved were honest with their parameters. Although they failed that one time, it doesn’t mean it will happen every time. It’s a learning experience and so long as you learn from it, the experience will likely affect you positively. When I had my first no-hatch (or really no development), I was devastated more than you could imagine. The eggs were extremely expensive, of a rare species and I was only able to obtain six. However, the breeder and I speculated the culprit being raccoons scaring the birds to the degree that they could’ve stopped breeding a week before my order was shipped. Unfortunately, when the eggs are rare and seasonal, I knew replacements weren’t coming. Although I spent a few hundred dollars, I just took it as a loss because there is no definitive way of telling what the issue was and there were certainly no more eggs. I coughed it up to it being a donation to someone who needed it and moved right along. Admittedly, It did hurt…a lot! look at all risks and understand them before purchasing.

Because of my past experiences, I always make myself available to help with the incubation and hatching process of our shipped eggs as much as I can. I’ve been there before where I wish I had someone knowledgable on the other end that could’ve given me some insight as to what may be happening before it was too late. Everyone may not need my assistance or want it but I choose to offer it every time. I am here to support my shoppers as much as humanly possible. I don’t ever turn anyone away and am still available long after the birds have hatched. I am still in touch with my very first customer who is local. We pitter patter about the birds all of the time and it’s always a pleasure. I find that again, kindness costs nothing!

In closing, I want to say that if you experienced a no-hatch, do not let that deter you from the amazing experience of hatching shipped eggs. Just make the adjustments and repeat when you’re ready. When in doubt, write it all down! It’s been helpful for me so far. Good luck on future hatches and may the odds be ever in your favor!