How to Flip an Egg Without Breaking the Yolk

How to Purchase Eggs for Hatching

Incubating eggs is a fun and educational way to learn about the hatching process. But if you don't have chickens or ducks of your own, where can you get fertile eggs? With the popularity of online sales, it's now easier than ever to find hatching eggs.

Local Farmer

Although online sales are popular, one of the best ways to get poultry hatching eggs is to look around for a local farmer. Most farmers are willing to sell excess eggs, or even run a side business of selling fertile eggs in the spring, and your eggs won't be shaken around during the transit process of shipping. Check Craigslist for local advertisements, or put out an ad letting people know that you're looking for hatching eggs. Another plus to getting eggs locally is that you can oftentimes visit the farm and see the stock of hens and roosters responsible for your fertilized poultry eggs.

eBay

eBay has a number of sellers who offer eggs for hatching. This can be a good way to get special breeds of birds for hatching, like peafowl or pheasants. It's important to do your research on the seller before purchasing eggs off eBay. You need to make sure that you're dealing with a reputable seller who takes pride in the eggs they sell. This will ensure that your eggs are packaged well for transit and that the seller offers eggs from a good breed stock. A lack of research can leave you spending a lot of money on hatching eggs that don't hatch, and there's not much recourse for this situation since fertility is never promised.

Online Hatchery

There are numerous online hatcheries whose only jobs are to prepare eggs for shipping. These places are often reputable, but you can usually find reviews from other buyers if you want to research a hatchery first. Hatcheries often have photos of the chicks that will come from the eggs, and their policies may be better than buying from an individual off a site like eBay. One problem with online hatcheries is that they often have a minimum requirement for purchase. So if you only want five chickens and the hatchery requires a minimum order of a dozen or two dozen eggs, then you may end up with more chicks than you can handle or house.

Facebook

Facebook groups are a great place to find hatching eggs for sale. There are plenty of specialty groups focused on a variety of different bird breeds, and many of the members will sell their own eggs or know of a decent place to get hatching eggs. You may even be able to find someone locally on Facebook that has eggs.

Amazon

Amazon isn't just for books anymore. You can find personal sellers on Amazon offering fertile eggs for hatching. Amazon does offer a nice variety of different eggs, including chickens, quail and duck. Sellers on Amazon may have better policies regarding their shipped eggs than those on eBay, so always read reviews and see if the seller offers replacements for any eggs that break during transit.

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