Shipped Egg HELP

I read somewhere that you could incubate eggs in a 1/4 of an egg carton. Well that didn't work for me the first time I tried it. So I used nipple rings of baby bottles. My eggs are 14 days into development and when I candled the air cells are now attached and stable. Mind you using these nipple rings didn't allow for a whole lot of turning, but I could lean them a little. However I am now wondering should I leave them point down until they hatch or can I lay them down on their side now? I am worried it would cause them to bleed since I don't know exactly what is going on inside the egg other than I can see feet kicking ect. Would it kill them if i placed them on their side? Also the humidity in my incubator rises about 40% it seems as tho the eggs start to get water inside of them. I don't want them to drown. Any advice on this as well would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read and trying to help me on my issues.

jandsferguson said:

I read somewhere that you could incubate eggs in a 1/4 of an egg carton. Well that didn't work for me the first time I tried it. So I used nipple rings of baby bottles. My eggs are 14 days into development and when I candled the air cells are now attached and stable. Mind you using these nipple rings didn't allow for a whole lot of turning, but I could lean them a little. However I am now wondering should I leave them point down until they hatch or can I lay them down on their side now? I am worried it would cause them to bleed since I don't know exactly what is going on inside the egg other than I can see feet kicking ect. Would it kill them if i placed them on their side? Also the humidity in my incubator rises about 40% it seems as tho the eggs start to get water inside of them. I don't want them to drown. Any advice on this as well would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read and trying to help me on my issues.

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If your air cells are stable then yes, by all means lay them on the side if that's what you are more comfortable with. This is after all their natural position. By day 14 the chicks are developed and there is no need to turn them after day 14. I actually stop turning my eggs now at the end of day 13. I'm not sure what you mean by the eggs start to get water inside. You don't need to raise the humidity (unless your air cells are growing too fast/too big) until day 18-lockdown anyway. So, if your air cells are alright, don't worry about increasing humidity, unless your fear is the humidity is going up naturally w/o the addition of water. Then as long as it's not shooting up to the 50's I wouldn't worry. Unless your air cells are too small.

I have never seen the eggs get swishy. Like when you have water in a cup when you walk. I have hatched other eggs and never seen this. I try to keep it (humidity) around 30% so when it went up in the 40's it looked as tho they had swishy water in them. I guess I saw where someone said that they can drown so I freak out. I am going to lay them on their side now but it is also weird to me that I can't see the chick inside except for the shadow movement of them moving is that because I have hatched them straight up with only being able to lean then very little? I just don't want to loose these little guys. I lost 2 dozen to the mail. Not one even began to develop. So is it ok to hatch them straight up? I am so worried that my leaning wasn't enough. I am just a nervous wreck this time around. Thank you for your response. I appreciate you taking the time to help me.

jandsferguson said:

I have never seen the eggs get swishy. Like when you have water in a cup when you walk. I have hatched other eggs and never seen this. I try to keep it (humidity) around 30% so when it went up in the 40's it looked as tho they had swishy water in them. I guess I saw where someone said that they can drown so I freak out. I am going to lay them on their side now but it is also weird to me that I can't see the chick inside except for the shadow movement of them moving is that because I have hatched them straight up with only being able to lean then very little? I just don't want to loose these little guys. I lost 2 dozen to the mail. Not one even began to develop. So is it ok to hatch them straight up? I am so worried that my leaning wasn't enough. I am just a nervous wreck this time around. Thank you for your response. I appreciate you taking the time to help me.

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If you feel better hatching upright, you can. If you have been running at 30% and your air cells have grown adequetly, you definitely shouldn't have problems with drowning. Drowning happens when the humdity has been too high over the average of the incubation and has kept the egg from loosing enough moisture which keeps the air cells from growing. Humidity doesn't add moisture to the egg, it keeps the moisture in the egg from escaping. Shipping sucks. It's such a game of Russion Roulette when you do shipping.

I have to totally agree and you would think where here in Kentucky we would have chickens running the streets lol but I can't find a silkie breeder or any breeders really. So do you know what I would be seeing that makes the egg look like it has water swishing in it? Or do you have any thoughts on that? I wish I could show you what I mean. It is so weird. And I would feel so much more comfortable laying them on their side but can they get stuck to the egg if the leaning I did wasn't enough? Could they tear a blood vessel? I am so sorry I ask so many questions and I thank you for answering them.

jandsferguson said:

I have to totally agree and you would think where here in Kentucky we would have chickens running the streets lol but I can't find a silkie breeder or any breeders really. So do you know what I would be seeing that makes the egg look like it has water swishing in it? Or do you have any thoughts on that? I wish I could show you what I mean. It is so weird. And I would feel so much more comfortable laying them on their side but can they get stuck to the egg if the leaning I did wasn't enough? Could they tear a blood vessel? I am so sorry I ask so many questions and I thank you for answering them.

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Once they are developed into a chick they won't get stuck. That's why technically you don't have to turn after the 2 week mark. If they weren't turned enough during the first 2 weeks then damage would already be done. I've never heard of a chick "tearing a blood vessel". At times when they pip, usually malepostioned, they can pip through a blood vessel.
I'm not sure what you are seeing as far as "liquid" swishing around. Is it above or below the air cell? The egg itself at this point is still going to have some fluid in it, under the air cell-around the chick.

I've read recommendations to hatch shipped eggs upright to help prevent drowning from any extra fluid that gets trapped above the membrane. It made sense to me, so that's what I do.

I just use cut-down egg cartons with the egg tilted so the "draw down" side is up, giving the chick the best chance possible to pip into a dry air cell. Although often those with extra liquid above the membrane don't make it, no matter what you do.

There is so much potential for damage during shipping, and much of it does not become evident until the chick dies during lock-down due to damage in formation of the membrane that provides oxygenation. Basically, the membrane does not form correctly and the chick outgrows their oxygen supply right when they need it the most.

All we can do is maximize the chances for a successful hatch of those eggs with the least damage.

Good luck to you and your hatch!

Eggs are incubated in a vertical position because that attitude is the easiest to maintain. Regardless of what happens don't give up because hatching shipped eggs is the hardest of the hard tasks. Summer or fall eggs are even harder, so even if you may have a disappointing hatch learn from it.

I would love for you to show me how you cut down your egg cartons. I have tried and had no luck with it. All my eggs did early deaths. Although these too were shipped eggs. I used baby bottle nipple rings which didn't allow for much tilting but I didn't have any air issues which is what I am assuming happened to the last bunch of eggs I tried to incubate. But it is all so hard. My first hatch ever went AWESOME (and they were shipped eggs and even the eggs I had to hatch when the company I work for removed a nest and it had eggs in it). However I guess I have read and mixed and matched too many ideas. I need to go back to basics again I guess. However I don't remember exactly what I did. I also had to move my bator because the room it use to be in getts too hot during the summer. I am just too worried about everything I guess.

jandsferguson said:

I have to totally agree and you would think where here in Kentucky we would have chickens running the streets lol but I can't find a silkie breeder or any breeders really. So do you know what I would be seeing that makes the egg look like it has water swishing in it? Or do you have any thoughts on that? I wish I could show you what I mean. It is so weird. And I would feel so much more comfortable laying them on their side but can they get stuck to the egg if the leaning I did wasn't enough? Could they tear a blood vessel? I am so sorry I ask so many questions and I thank you for answering them.

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I have been hatching shipped silkie eggs all year! So I know exactly how you feel. I've had Some really good hatches and some were a total bust!! I'm incubating shipped silkie eggs right now!! I am always questioning the issue of turning/tilting!! I like your idea of bottle rings and I'm going to try that just to see how far of a tilt that you can get. It should be at least 45 degree angle and then tilted 3-5 times a day. I do not like incubating vertical but I do it. I've tried laying eggs down after a week or two of incubating vertical and sometimes it has caused the chick to die. Other times it has not. Maybe those eggs were about to quit anyway and it was just a coincidence, I don't know. But in some cases, I think it might stress the weak embryo too much. (I don't know if there has been any studies on this, it's just my guess). Laying them flat is best, in ideal situations. It exercises the embryo and promotes proper vein formation all through the egg. But with loose air cells, it's better to incubate vertical. When you say that you are seeing sloshing around in the egg, you mean in the air cell, right?? I think you may still have super loose air cells or fluid above the air cell. Either way I would continue to keep them vertical in your situation. I will snap a pic of the way I cut down the carton and post it here. I trim the sides really low, so I get a pretty dramatic tilt. Can you get a pic of your air cells or a quick video of the fluid moving?