Dry egg membranes?

Cluck Wild Farm

Chirping
6 Years
Apr 24, 2013
106
22
91
Southern Illinois
Okay so I'm a total newbie to this hatching thing. In fact, I'm in the progress of my first hatch. Two babies totally hatched out of seven and four eggs have pips! I have three eggs of my Olive Egger Nutmeg, three eggs of my Olive Egger Esme, and one egg of my EE Hazel in the incubator for a total of seven eggs. I've had to help two of Nutmegs eggs out of the egg membrane because they were darn near tough as leather. Hazel and Esme's eggs seem to be right on track and decent with the moisture level of the exposed membranes. Am I crazy or can certain chickens just have drier, tougher membranes or does it have to do with the age of the egg? Nutmegs eggs were a few days older than Esme's when they were put in the incubator. Thanks!
 
Okay so I'm a total newbie to this hatching thing. In fact, I'm in the progress of my first hatch. Two babies totally hatched out of seven and four eggs have pips! I have three eggs of my Olive Egger Nutmeg, three eggs of my Olive Egger Esme, and one egg of my EE Hazel in the incubator for a total of seven eggs. I've had to help two of Nutmegs eggs out of the egg membrane because they were darn near tough as leather. Hazel and Esme's eggs seem to be right on track and decent with the moisture level of the exposed membranes. Am I crazy or can certain chickens just have drier, tougher membranes or does it have to do with the age of the egg? Nutmegs eggs were a few days older than Esme's when they were put in the incubator. Thanks!
There can be a lot of factors to what make the egg quality the way it is. The parent stock, the diet, the age of the layer, the age of the egg itself. I would think that the pourousness of the egg would contribute to the membrane strength, but I don't know that for sure.
Did you candle your eggs and mark the air cells and if so, how did the air cells of Nutmeg's eggs compare to the other's? Just playing with a theory in my head. Wondering if her shell quality is more pourous or thinner shelled allowing for more moisture to escape her eggs which in turn may make her membranes more dry and possibly tougher. I could be wayyyyyyy off.....lol Just thinking here.
 
From personal observation, I think that whether or not the egg was chilled between time of lay and time of set, how fast it chilled, and whether the egg was washed before setting, also contribute to membrane toughness. This is based on turkey eggs, which always have somewhat tough membranes which can become absolutely rubbery under bad conditions. I have found that humidity during incubation is not the only major contributing factor as tough membranes can be found even when the humidity level is maintained to ensure proper air sac development.

My early season eggs, which cooled significantly in the coop before setting, and those that were refrigerated both with and without encapsulating in a ziplock bag, had serious issues with hatching. Later season eggs, collected warm and slowly cooled to room temperature and kept in a ziplock bag in the wine cellar before setting, did not have the same issue.
 

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