[Hensington]

You will always get 50% cockerels on average. Posting eggs does not effect this ratio.

There is good and bad on eBay, recently seen someone sell some chocolate orp eggs showing pictures of someone elses birds. When challenged they changed the picture to a picture of some chicks...which were buff sussex and NOT choc orps.
If you say what Banty's you are after perhaps one of the forum members can help you out?
I keep Serama, Pekins, Wyandottes, Ancona, Orpington, Rhode Island Red, Plymouth Barred Rock and Australorp. All bantams.

[too many girls]

wouldn't it be nice if we had blue eggs for boys and pink eggs for girls, think of all the bother it would save..................

[too many girls]

i only wanted Welsummers to keep William happy, he's got no girls of his own, i also wanted Danver d'abuccles (spelling) for Anri Paul as he's a bachelor as well but i couldn't find any.

[lucylou]

TMG that sounds like a good price for the legbar and rir eggs! - good luck with them!

[darcyhen]

hello, i've just done the whole ebay egg thing with good results.
My hen went broody and someone told me about getting eggs from ebay. so i did that - though it was late at night and i got too many by accident|!!
I paid a lot for some lavender araunya(sorry sp). £18. of the 6 2 were not fertile. the other four are the most adorable chicks and look really healthy.
the other six were speckled sussex(cheap or cheep! £1.20) - they were all fertile but after one week at candling we decided two looked iffy. they are adorable golden brown chicks.
i also ordered another six they arrived too late to go under bird anyway. ordered incubator which was even later so cancelled. opened eggs and made a meringue!!!
Feedback on ebay is usually about delivery but i left mine until after i had candled them so i could at least comment on fertility.
If you have a broody i think it's great - with an incubator i think it's much more difficult.
good luck it's been such fun.

[joyfull]

oh I agree so much easier with a good broody, with incubators you get to see whats happening and I think with that I would panic too much, when to turn if not automatic, humidity, do not open or touch after so many days, power cut failures, then you have to use a heat lamp etc. Enough to turn you to drink (thats if you need an excuse  )

[darcyhen]

oh I agree so much easier with a good broody, with incubators you get to see whats happening

Yes, i could hear the chicks but didn't know if they had hatched. we spent all thurs and friday checking and trying to count how many!

[joyfull]

it is difficult isn't it as they all seem to mingle into one ball of fluff under mum  ,
took me a couple of days to be sure with my second lot as they were all the same colour.

[janeheritage]

I wish ours had hatched. Our day olds were lovely but I'd like to have had the whole experience!

Will try again next year as I think she is a great mum and deserves babies...

[joyfull]

jusy got to hope that she goes broody then 

[too many girls]

i'm not going to buy any more eggs from e-bay, when i bought Pippa's polands i was unaware that diseases and things can manifest themselves in the chick through the egg, made me wonder about the polands and the cocci and the mycoplasma, they were the only ones to be affected, Pumpkins been to the vet more than all the others put together.

[Fifitrix]

Hi Lucielou, I had a 4 out of 6 hatch rate from the eggs I bought from Ebay but 2 of them were boys and one got eaten  so I've ended up with just 1 chicken.  When I was looking for some eggs recently I googled and there was a place near you in Lymington that sold hatching eggs.  Might be worth checking up on that.  I could try and find where I got their names from for you.

Regarding advice on hatching and making incubators etc.  I have an excellent book by Katie Thear (I think that's her name) and it covers all of that.

[lucylou]

hi fifitrix, yes i would be interested in the place at lymington you mentioned - im  not ready to give the hatching a go yet, but i am trying to get prepared in advance! many thanks, lou