Breaking & stealing

How to crack eggs fast and get the animal home before the guard catches you.

Basics

Before you enter a zone, check your Speed against its gate: Desert 1K, Snowy 50K, Candy 750K and so on. If you only just make it, train a bit more first.
When
Every time a new zone opens up for you, and whenever you keep losing animals on the way back.
Why it works
Carrying an animal slows you down, and a big egg slows you even more. The Speed that got you in may not get you out ahead of the guard.

When your pickaxe breaks eggs quickly, crack every egg in the zone first. Then pick up only the most valuable animal and take it home.
When
Once you can break eggs in that zone in just a few swings.
Why it works
One safe delivery of a valuable animal is worth more than several risky trips with cheap ones.

Buying a trail and not equipping it
Open the Trail menu and equip it every time you buy one.
Entering a zone you barely have the Speed for
Keep a buffer above the gate. Carrying an animal slows you down.
Buying pickaxe Power before Speed
If you can't reach the next zone or keep getting caught, buy a trail and train first.
Taking risky trips for several animals
Make one safe delivery at a time and bank it.
Thinking breaking the egg is enough
Nothing counts until the animal is in your Pen: no Cash, no Index.
Waiting for the Index to pay out
Open the Index and claim each milestone yourself.
Using Steal an Egg codes, mutation lists or guides
That's a different game. Its codes, mutations and events don't apply here.
Spending all your Cash at once
Keep some Cash in reserve instead of emptying it on every shop visit.