A Helpful Guide to Caring for Your Shipped Eggs

By choosing our eggs, you’re now part of the Texas ranch experience—and we’re excited to support you on your hatching journey!

Step 1: Receiving & Inspecting Your Eggs

When your Ayam Cemani hatching eggs arrive, follow these important steps:

Unpack Carefully – Remove all eggs from their packaging and inspect them for any cracks or damage.
Proper Placement – Set them in an egg carton or tray pointy end down to allow the air sacs to stabilize.
Resting Period – Let the eggs sit for at least 24 hours before incubating to help any detached air sacs reattach.

Why Resting Is Crucial?

Shipping can be rough on eggs—packages are often tossed, jostled, or dropped during transit. Allowing the eggs to “rest” helps settle any air bubbles and improves the chances of successful incubation.

Step 2: Preparing Your Incubator

Before placing your eggs inside, it’s crucial to ensure that your incubator is properly set up.
Test, Test, Test!

Never rely solely on your incubator’s built-in sensors. Always check:

Temperature – Verify with a secondary thermometer.
Humidity – Use a calibrated hygrometer to ensure accuracy.
Consistency – Small fluctuations in temperature or humidity can drastically impact hatch rates.

Once the eggs have rested and your incubator is stable, place your eggs: Pointy end down if using an incubator with trays. On their sides if using a rolling incubator.
Handling Detached Air Sacs

If your eggs arrived with detached air sacs, delay turning for 48–72 hours to allow them to reattach. If your incubator does not have an automatic turner, avoid manually turning them for the first 2–3 days.

Step 3: Managing Shipping Damage

While we take every precaution to package eggs securely, once they leave our farm, their handling is out of our control. Unfortunately, rough treatment during transit can completely scramble some eggs inside.

If Your Box Arrives Severely Damaged:

Take Photos Immediately – Document the damage, including the packaging and any broken eggs.

Contact Us for Claim Assistance – While we cannot file claims on your behalf, we will assist you in the process.

This situation is rare, but we’re here to help if it happens!

You can find our shipping policies linked in the references section at the end of this guide.

Step 4: Understanding Hatch Rates

Shipped eggs are always a gamble, and various factors can influence your success rate.

Average Hatch Rate for Shipped Eggs: 40–50%
Variables That Affect Hatch Rates:

Shipping conditions
Hen’s diet and health
Climate and humidity levels
Handling during transit
Proper incubator calibration

While there are no guarantees, purchasing shipped eggs allows you access to specific genetics, rare breeds, and unique colors you wouldn’t otherwise have.

Step 5: Should You Wash Your Eggs?

No! We highly recommend handling eggs as little as possible and avoiding unnecessary washing.

Why?
Eggs are naturally coated with a protective layer called the “bloom”, which shields against bacteria. Washing removes this barrier, making the egg vulnerable to contamination.

If your eggs have minor dirt or debris, gently wipe them with a dry cloth—never use water!

Step 6: The Hatching Timeline

Hatching Ayam Cemani eggs takes an average of 21 days.
Key Stages & Best Practices:

Day 1 – Candle eggs before incubation to check for damage.
Days 1–17 – Maintain 99.5°F and 35–42% humidity.
Day 17: Lockdown Begins – Stop turning eggs, increase humidity to 50–58%.
Days 18–21 – Chicks begin hatching.
Do Not Open the Incubator!

Resist the urge to assist hatching chicks! Opening the incubator can cause a sudden drop in humidity, leading to shrink wrapping—a fatal condition where the membrane dries out and traps the chick inside.

Step 7: Development & Common Misconceptions

One of the biggest myths in hatching is:

“I cracked my eggs after incubation and saw no development—so they must not have been fertilized.”

Not True!
Once incubation begins, the sperm and bull’s-eye marking inside the egg break down as development starts. After just a few days, it becomes impossible to tell if an egg was fertilized.

For quality assurance, we routinely test fertility rates in our breeding flock.

Step 8: Our Recommended Incubation Settings

These are the settings that have worked best for us, but results may vary depending on your climate, altitude, and specific incubator model.

Incubation Phase (Days 1–17):

Temperature: 99.5°F
Humidity: 35–42%

Lockdown Phase (Day 17–Hatch):

Temperature: 99.5°F
Humidity: Increase to 50–58%
Chicks Hatching: Humidity may naturally rise to 58–62%.

Warning: If humidity rises above 68–70%, chicks risk drowning inside their shells.
Step 9: Hatch Day – What to Expect

It’s Hatching Time!
Not all chicks will hatch at the same time. Some may emerge early, others late, and some will be right on schedule.
Key Tips:

Be patient—hatching can take up to 48 hours from the first pip.

Do NOT help chicks hatch unless absolutely necessary.
Newly hatched chicks do not need food or water for up to 72 hours—they are still absorbing their yolk!

Only intervene if a chick has made no progress for 12–18 hours, as this usually indicates a physical issue.
Final Thoughts & Encouragement

There you have it! A complete guide to hatching shipped eggs. We hope you find this information helpful as you embark on your hatching journey.

Remember:

Every hatch is a learning experience.
Hatch rates will improve as you gain more experience.
Don’t be discouraged by occasional low success rates—hatching eggs is both an art and a science!

If you have any additional questions, feel free to reach out—we’re always happy to help!

Happy Hatching & Best of Luck!