Candling help

I was starting to lock down my incubator for the last of my staggered hatch. All my shipped salmon faverolles eggs do not look as expected. They do have veining and I do see a movement but I've never seen the up/down look of the contents. Does anybody know what this means or if it's normal? Maybe they have not progressed as quickly?

What do you mean by the up down look? Do you mean the air pocket isn't at the big end?

I guess that's the airspace. Usually I'm just accustomed to seeing a dark blob covering most of the egg with just a little bit of light area in the egg. The humidity has been high from other eggs in lock down. Would this affect it?

cedarcovefarm said:

I guess that's the airspace. Usually I'm just accustomed to seeing a dark blob covering most of the egg with just a little bit of light area in the egg. The humidity has been high from other eggs in lock down. Would this affect it?

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I believe what you are refering to is saddle shaped air cells, which is a common problem for shipped eggs. While rates are lower with saddle cells, they do have a chance. Look up saddle cells or saddle shaped air cells.

Probably what Amy said but I’ll ask some silly questions. Were they turned for the first two weeks of incubation? I know they were shipped eggs but were they stored for a while without turning them? Did you incubate them pointy side up or incubate them on their sides without turning them?

I almost never hatch shipped eggs, just my own. The only time I’ve seen anything even close to that was when I put some older eggs in the incubator that had been stored over two weeks without turning since I had extra space in the incubator and wanted to see what would happen. The vast majority didn’t even develop but some had the yolk stuck to the side. None of them hatched but I could see something like that happening if one of the ones stuck to the side did develop.

At this stage, you are in lockdown. What real option do you have but to see if they hatch? I wish you luck. Amy’s pretty good. If she says they have a chance, they probably do, though I’d not expect 100%.

Thanks! I let them sit 24 hours after receiving them. The air cells seemed fine when I initially put them in the incubator. I do see movement so I'm hoping atleast a few might hatch. I put them in cut down egg cartons as most of what I read indicated this might help. It does seem strange that only these shipped eggs are like this. None of my own. Some of these were under a broody but I'm not sure if that would affect it.

cedarcovefarm said:

Thanks! I let them sit 24 hours after receiving them. The air cells seemed fine when I initially put them in the incubator. I do see movement so I'm hoping atleast a few might hatch. I put them in cut down egg cartons as most of what I read indicated this might help. It does seem strange that only these shipped eggs are like this. None of my own. Some of these were under a broody but I'm not sure if that would affect it.

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It's usually specific to shipped eggs because of the damage done during shipping. Are all the shipped ones saddle celled? Like I said, most cases hatch rate w/saddle cells are lower, but there's still a chance for hatchers. Some hatch perfectly fine on their own while others may need assisting because of their position in the egg. (Providing you are a hatcher who assists.)

Yes they were all shipped that had saddles. I just got through with an assisted hatch that was malpositioned. It survived just fine. I said I wouldn't do it again because it was so stressful, but I want faverolles so badly I probably will assist.
Thanks for the advice

cedarcovefarm said:

Yes they were all shipped that had saddles. I just got through with an assisted hatch that was malpositioned. It survived just fine. I said I wouldn't do it again because it was so stressful, but I want faverolles so badly I probably will assist.
Thanks for the advice

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I meant did all the shipped eggs have saddle air cells or were some of the shipped eggs ok?

cedarcovefarm said:

Thanks! I let them sit 24 hours after receiving them. The air cells seemed fine when I initially put them in the incubator. I do see movement so I'm hoping atleast a few might hatch. I put them in cut down egg cartons as most of what I read indicated this might help. It does seem strange that only these shipped eggs are like this. None of my own. Some of these were under a broody but I'm not sure if that would affect it.

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It's actually not strange. It's very common with shipped eggs. What happens is the air cells are loose and then when you start turning them, they are tilting/turning with that motion. Then they firm up around day 12, in any position they can. It's more dramatic now because they air cells are getting bigger as they get closer to hatch. Did you turn them right away on day 1 or did you not turn for the first few days? I would highly suggest tracing the aircell with pencil or a marker. This way you will know if the chick pips into the aircell or not. Which can make a big difference in what happens next. for your eggs!!