What a nightmarish end to a fairly good shipping season in 2020. The entire year went pretty well until the holidays approached at the end of 2020. With holiday shipping being so congested, eggs that were shipped were severely delayed. When 2021 started, I was almost cringing but I knew it was time and I was ready for what may come with the luring death of shipped hatching eggs. Look, we all know that shipped eggs are a gamble regardless of USPS’s extended time frame. Considering the delays in shipments, we suggest shipping express and although it may take up to two days, at the very least, it’s guaranteed. I had also lost my confidence when ordering some very expensive eggs myself and decided to utilize express shipping. It did take two days for the shipment to arrive but I was happy to receive them. Thank goodness they were mostly intact! Two eggs suffered cracks to which I attempted to fix. We will see if it has helped any in the coming weeks.

I’ve had the pleasure of having some of my own packages end up in another town an hour away that was “ready for pickup”. Playing devil’s advocate, I’m well aware of the short-staffed situation due to the pandemic BUT I can’t sit here and say that I have not come across disgruntled, rude and unhelpful postal workers. My mail carrier is great! We love him and hope he doesn’t leave our neighborhood but MAN! There are employees at our local post office that have refused to help us in the past, blamed us for their shortcomings and accused USPS as a whole when it came to policies and procedures publicly written on their very own website! I was baffled but the lack of customer service even if Shipping services are exhausted, at the very least, any communication is better than no communication. I would have been extremely upset but would’ve respected the situation more. I’ve had my fair share of receiving goopy shipments with eggs oozing from the box, severely saddled air cells and a crap ton of cracked eggs. Its one of my biggest pet peeves and would hate if anyone who chose our eggs to receive anything of the sort which is why we package the way we do.

Shipping birds will always make me nervous and I’m not certain if that has to do with being a parent or my lack of control over the handling of the birds while in transit. I make it a point to call the buyers ahead of time to ensure they understand that they should be available to pickup in the timeframe agreed upon. Most shipments arrive overnight but shipping to remote locations that such as Alaska or Puerto Rico, it typically takes an extra day. Live birds are shipped between Mondays and Wednesdays to ensure that they get to their destination on time or without any weekend layovers. The birds are packed with food that retains moisture (apples, spinach and millet spray to keep them busy) and usually do ok for up to 48 hours. It is imperative to the birds health and the Buyer’s investment that they make themselves available to pick up babies as soon as they arrive. We always hope that every situation always works out, try to work with everyone to make every effort to ensure safe delivery and managed what is within our control. How we package eggs is also very important as the idea is to prevent damage and maintain viability as much as we can. Our standard is to nestle the eggs in foam which goes into it’s own box made of heavy-duty cardboard, then bubble wrapped and placed into the shipping box with is also layered in more bubble wrap to ensure there is minimal movement of the eggs. There are many things that cannot be prevented such as shipment handling and transit time but if we can help the situation, we will.

None the less, we are at their mercy as there are no other options to ship live birds. Maybe we can get away with using Fedex for eggs but insurance isn’t available, the shipment isn’t guaranteed and prices can get a bit out of control for services rendered. I am mindful that we are limited in agencies that would be willing to ship eggs. I’d like to also note that as consumers, we must also be responsible in making ourselves available to receive the shipments. I’ve written “hold for pickup” on countless shipments to literally have the shipment still travel to the customer’s home. There are some local post offices that are better than others and again, we are unfortunately at their mercy. I have found that it does not matter how many times you ask, request or complain. There isn’t much that could be done or resolutions that could be made that would ultimately satisfy the either side.

This information can be enlightening when you know what you’re dealing with. Even though we have expectations that are not being upheld by USPS, we must know that there are situations beyond which we can control. Unfortunately, at times they are not ideal. As long as we are realistic and understand the “new” shipping procedures, transit times, etc.; we should do what we can to ensure a safe and timely delivery of precious cargo. Here’s to the ambition that USPS will improve in 2021.