Egg Orders default to being "Held at the Post Office" for Pickup.
American Jackraptor Hatching Eggs
The premier option for those focused on biosecurity. Each "dozen" egg order comes with 14 Jackraptor eggs, typically 4 days old or less, individually labeled with the clan pen they were collected from written on the top in pencil. Generally we collect eggs for shipping from Friday through Sunday, inspect, disinfect, package, and then ship Monday, and sometimes Tuesday if we are caught up on chick orders and can spare the eggs from Monday. Every egg is sprayed with hydrogen peroxide, lightly wiped down, and checked carefully for cracks. Then the clean, undamaged eggs are sprayed with the second part of our sanitization process utilizing Tek-Trol Disinfectant Cleaner. This is the same method we treat 100% of our own eggs being incubated and is an extra layer of biosecurity we offer to our customers.
In the pictures you will find an example box packed in the exact same manner your eggs will be shipped in. We utilize a 14 hole egg foam shipper inside of an inner box with extra top buffering to better protect the eggs from above, and from slipping up out of their foam shipper. Beneath the inner box is multiple layers of bubble wrap buffering to protect the eggs from below, and to help distribute the shock of potential drops or bumpy rides during shipping. Around the inner box is bubble wrap at the ends, and air pillows on the sides to help keep the inner box centered, as well as protected should the outer box become pierced. Above the inner box is the final layers of bubble wrap allowing for better shock distribution should another package land on top of the egg box. To round everything out the inner box is wrapped in layered aluminum foil to mitigate some radiation exposure if X-Ray inspection techniques are used. All shipments are by default labeled to be "Held for Pickup" and the customer phone number will go here for notification by the post office once they have arrived. The outside of the box is fully labeled to notify handlers of the contents, with a request for gentle handling and avoiding X-Ray exposure.
If the customer would like the eggs shipped directly to their house instead of being "Held for Pickup" please reach out to us so that the correct notes can be added to your order.
We do not guarantee hatch rates with hatching eggs due to the many variables of shipping and incubation. That said, if you have a problem please reach out to us and we will work with you.
Incubation: For temperature we prefer about 101°f as verified by independent hygrometer. We have been incubating "dry" at ambient humidity until lockdown, for us that is typically about 14% humidity inside of the incubators/incubation building. During lockdown we bump humidity up to approximately 40% to 45%. A humidity of up to 60% during lockdown may improve hatch rates as the egg membranes won't "shrink wrap" the chicks as quickly. For lockdown temperature you can drop the incubation temperature to 99.5°f. We hatch on the dry side as it adds an extra layer of selection to the program, and helps us ensure that it is the strongest and fastest hatching chicks that move forward.
The American Jackraptor is designed as a survival first dual purpose breed. It is our philosophy that a bird that gets eaten by predators isn't useful for meat or for eggs. As part of that we focus a lot on the structure of the birds. We want them fast, athletic, and big. Small predators can often be thwarted through size and tenacity, while bigger ones require a fast bird that can make a run for it or fly up into a tree if they are close enough. As far as meat production goes we see very similar results to heritage breeds such as the Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red when processed in the 16 weeks range. The hens can produce up to 150 eggs a year for first year birds, and we are actively breeding to increase that each season through the selection process. Eggs are currently white to cream, and at maturity they are large, with some hens laying extra large.
