Hatching Tips for Shipped Eggs

We get asked ALL the time how we hatch shipped eggs successfully — so here are a few tried & true tips that have worked best for us! 

Ideally, you want your incubator up and running for 24/48 hours before you receive your eggs. This will help to ensure that there are no issues and the temperature and humidity are stable before you set your eggs in the incubator.

I always recommend an upright incubator for hatching shipped eggs. There’s something about the eggs standing straight up, like they are in shipping, that helps the air settle & those little embryos have a better chance at developing standing straight up. My 2 favorite upright incubators are Maticoop 20 or 30 egg & Brinsea 28 or 56 Ex.

When your eggs arrive: Let them rest! And you can let them rest IN the incubator. No need to let them rest outside of the incubator.

Go ahead & pop them straight in the incubator. Shipped eggs go through a lot during transit (bumps, temp changes, etc). Let them rest in the incubator, pointy side down. This is especially important if the eggs took a little more time in transit. Leave the turner off for the first 5 days.

Stable incubator temps are everything!
Set your incubator to 99.5°F - 100.5°F and make sure it’s running steadily before loading your eggs. Humidity around 35–50% until lockdown works best for shipped eggs.

I dry hatch EVERYTHING (this means not adding water at any point in the incubation or hatching process). However, I live in a naturally humid climate, so it works in my area. I always suggest to people to get the incubator up and running before receiving eggs, so you can check your humidity. Make sure the vent holes are closed and it is out of the way of air flow from any AC vents.

To check if dry hatching may be right for you, You can Google your location to ask about the humidity in your area. Typically, if you have a naturally higher humidity in your area, (50% and up) dry hatching should work for you. Again, when in doubt, ask. Message me on the Farm page for the quickest response.

Handle with care when turning
If air cells are detached (super common with shipped eggs), try not to turn for the first 5 days, then gently begin turning or use an auto turner once they stabilize. Patience pays off! 

I leave the eggs resting & don’t candle until day 10. This gives the eggs the best chance of developing. Also, my tips for candling really dark eggs are to candle in a pitch black room. If they glow, there’s no growth, and if they’re dark, that usually means they’re developing. 

Lockdown tips!
At day 18, you’ll want to put the eggs in lockdown, where you stop the turner & prepare for hatching. If the incubator has a slick bottom, you can line the bottom using gripped shelf liner (this helps the chicks from developing splay leg) and offers a slip free bottom to the incubator.

This year, I ordered quite a few shipped eggs & started a new method for lockdown, which worked really well. Rather than laying the eggs down for lockdown, I removed the turning trays & set the eggs in empty egg cartons and left the eggs sitting upright. This seems to work best for hatching shipped eggs, especially when working with wonky air cells. This isn't always necessary, it will depend on the air cells you're working with.

Avoid opening the incubator once they start pipping — they need that humidity boost to hatch strong!  Once the first egg pips, it will naturally raise the humidity, so there’s usually no need to add water.

Chicks that have hatched are good to rest in the incubator for up to 72 hours after hatching. They absorbed the yolk from the egg when they hatched, and that’s all the nutrients they need until they dry off and get fluffed up.

I know it’s tempting to take those cute little fluffy chicks out of the incubator, but by doing that, you risk possibly shrink wrapping the eggs that haven’t hatched yet. So, please try to leave all the chicks in the incubator until they’ve all hatched. Sometimes, there are delays in hatching shipped eggs, some can take a little longer than others. I’ve had shipped eggs hatch as late as day 27 and as early as day 18. 

If you do need to remove any, try to make sure you make a quick and easy swoop to get the chicks out and close the incubator promptly. There should be no need to intervene.. but again, when in doubt, ask.  I’m here to help with any tips & support if you need it.

Remember — every hatch is different!
Even with perfect care, shipped eggs can be unpredictable due to handling. Celebrate every baby that makes it out — they’re little miracles!