Can anyone tell by looking at my dead chick in it's shell why it may have died at the last minute?

[EmuChemainusBC]

Hi Holliewould,
I feel really bad for you at the moment. I know from experience that when we incubate (rather than an emu dad) we put a lot of extra heart and soul into the process and when it goes awry it's very disappointing.
There is a book however that you can get used on the internet written by a highly regarded emu farmer from Texas. There are two volumes (and I would recommend that you get both) and it is called The Emu Farmer's Handbook by Maria Minnaar (1998). It is the bible of emu husbandry for a lot of people and I know of very experienced emu farmers who refer to it continually. Minnaar will recommend that emus are incubated at a fixed temperature of 97.5 and a varying humidity of 24 - 35 %.
I don't know if you have other eggs hatching, but I do hope that you will not be too discouraged and will try again. I wonder if ES has any more eggs for sale in Virginia? Best Wishes.

 

[ES Emus]

Don't beat yourself up over what you may have done wrong because you probably didn't do anything wrong. The fact is that not every emu chick hatches. The hatching process is very taxing on emu chicks and nature sees that only the strongest of the chicks actually make it out of the egg. We keep our humidity between 30-40% and we have a very high hatch rate, but it is not 100%. Don't give up...

 

[ES Emus]

Hi Holliewould,
....I don't know if you have other eggs hatching, but I do hope that you will not be too discouraged and will try again. I wonder if ES has any more eggs for sale in Virginia? Best Wishes.

Hey EmuChemainusBC!
We have now completed our egg producing season and are completely sold out of eggs and chicks.
ES

 

[holliewould]

Thanks guys. I will be definitely trying again. My incu will be tied up for a while, so I might not be able to get anymore eggs this season. But I wont be giving up on this! Everyone's input and advice has been much appreciated.

 

[briefvisit]

Yes, Holliewould. Remember that Feathers the Emu will be a part of your life for perhaps twenty years. Stay in orbit here; read past threads; try again later.

se

 

[Jchantecler]

I'm sorry for your loss, it's always sad in situations such as these. Some advice I'd give for a future emu hatch would be to not pay as much attention to the percent humidity your thermometer says, rather the weight loss in the egg. As all eggs vary in thickness, size, etc, they will all need slightly different humidities to lose the adequate amount of weight. This is what I do for most eggs I hatch of any species- focus on what the egg is showing, and use thermometers as an additional tool. Sorry for your loss.

 

[birdeo]

Quote:
Just to hopefully help others for the future, ( I did reply to you in a P.M. about this) but what I'm going to say below is all relative and pertains to all eggs during incubation.
Eggs lose weight during incubation...it's a mechanical process .
Due to the porosity/varied quality of egg shells they can lose too much or too little weight , again...it's all relative.
As a rule, more porous egg shells will lose excess weight... smoother eggs will not.

You need to weigh the eggs and keep up with ( monitor carefully ) the weight loss...adjust your humidity to shoot for the idea 15% weight loss, the " entire" time.
I can only assume you did not monitor ( weigh) them on a regular basis and make the necessary adjustments to you humidity.

You said: "~~ I was constantly increasing up to maximum 40% humidity because of the extreme weight loss."

We're you actually KEEPING UP with the weight loss the ENTIRE time and making the necessary adjustments to your humidity to get/keep the weight loss in line for the ideal 15% ?


Per your other questions:

Yes, if an egg loses too much weight ( water) then you have to INCREASE the humidity to slow down the rate of evaporation. ( water weight loss )
IF the egg is not losing enough weight then you have to dry up your incubator to get it too lose more water .

The head should've been in the big end, that's where the air cell is...your chick was malpositioned and that's a tough chick to hatch, no matter what.
The yolk sak was not absorbed and chances are from to too high humidity during incubation .

 

[birdeo]

I'm sorry for your loss, it's always sad in situations such as these. Some advice I'd give for a future emu hatch would be to not pay as much attention to the percent humidity your thermometer says, rather the weight loss in the egg. As all eggs vary in thickness, size, etc, they will all need slightly different humidities to lose the adequate amount of weight. This is what I do for most eggs I hatch of any species- focus on what the egg is showing, and use thermometers as an additional tool. Sorry for your loss.

Excellent advice !!

 

[EmuChemainusBC]

1. Quote:Originally Posted by birdeo Yes, if an egg loses too much weight ( water) then you have to INCREASE the humidity to slow down the rate of evaporation. ( water weight loss )
IF the egg is not losing enough weight then you have to dry up your incubator to get it too lose more water .

2. Quote: Originally Posted by Jchantecler Some advice I'd give for a future emu hatch would be to not pay as much attention to the percent humidity your thermometer says, rather the weight loss in the egg. As all eggs vary in thickness, size, etc, they will all need slightly different humidities to lose the adequate amount of weight.


I'd like to add another strategy into the mix. It is also possible to reduce the weight loss in a specific egg when the others are doing OK. That is to tape off some of the shell to close the pores and therefore reduce the weight loss. I use duck tape and tape a 1/2 inch strip around the equator of the egg. Then monitor to see if it brings the egg into spec or do you need more or less tape. Some people paint the egg.

I hope this discussion will increase your confidence for next time.

 

[holliewould]

You need to weigh the eggs and keep up with ( monitor carefully ) the weight loss...adjust your humidity to shoot for the idea 15% weight loss, the " entire" time.
I can only assume you did not monitor ( weigh) them on a regular basis and make the necessary adjustments to you humidity.

You said: "~~ I was constantly increasing up to maximum 40% humidity because of the extreme weight loss."

We're you actually KEEPING UP with the weight loss the ENTIRE time and making the necessary adjustments to your humidity to get/keep the weight loss in line for the ideal 15% ?

You assume wrong. As I mentioned in this thread, I have the weight loss logged in DAILY. I also mentioned that to you in a PM if you wanted to see my log. The "ENTIRE" time I "KEPT UP" with the egg. I don't know how to express that fact any clearer. Sigh. Anyway, I had the bird autopsied and I had the shell examined. The emu would have never made it out of that shell regardless. Likely too much calcium in the parents diets.