Float Testing, Checking Egg Viability For Late Or Overdue Hatching

[dc3085]

You need to read the last several pages of this thread before you question the results of a float test.

 

[capper2013]

Is this float test real ? Both of my eggs sank to the bottom. Does that mean that they are dead ? It says that they never developed if the eggs sink to the bottom, does this also mean if the eggs sink to the bottom then the embryos could have an early death ? I cracked two of my eggs by mistake and two of them didn't crack, do you think that the other two embryos died but just didn't crack ? I am 15 years old and recently became really interested in chickens and i feel really guilty for cracking them open because I am very sensitive, I am a Roman Catholic Christian so I am thinking about their afterlife, I wasted it and they could be hatching on Friday the 17th (or the next few days after that). The eggs did arrive to our house cold so I am not sure if they were alive to start with. On Friday 24th April I got an egg candler and I think I could see something black inside (day 7) I am not sure if it was moving though. I am just really sad. I just hope that the died in transit to our house rather than me killing them. I got angry with something and I kicked my shoes off accidentally knocking over the incubator cracking two of the eggs.

day 7 is a bit early for anything really, just keep them warm and cosy for now, like advised read what is on here too. now is your time for educating yourself of all other opinions then making an educated assessment based upon all you have read.
I don't think chickens are RCC by choice, don't sweat it; they are not developed enough to sustain life at a week old. if you look at pictures of developing eggs there is nothing recognisable at that stage.
posted eggs are cold, it is once the heat process is applied that the chemical reaction starts.
I hope your shoes are ok and that your last 2 hatch, if not get some more eggs and go again.
I wish you good fortune.

 

[K8Aspen]

So I floated my 4 remaining eggs. Could you please tell me what this means.....

 

[Fat Daddy]

It means there is air in the large end of the egg..... That's it.... If the egg is moving in the water there is a live chick in it.... If it doesn't move you cant say it's dead, because it could just be still.... The second one is a high floater which says there is a larger air cell in that one. In theroy that would mean it's old enough for more of the moisture to have evaporated.... Again, you still don't know if there is a living chick inside..... If it sank to the bottom you could not be sure it was a dead egg... This test really does not tell you a lot if you don't see a egg Bounce'n around...

 

[K8Aspen]

Bummer. So 1 of these 4 I know moved 3 days ago. But I haven't seen it move at all since. The other 3 haven't seen them move at all since lockdown. This is day 22.

What I am worried about is that the other 12 chicks who did hatch fine will break the egg and if it's a bad egg or a dead chick the smell or decay will make the rest of the live chicks ill.

Tomorrow, I can transfer out all the live babies to a brooder, I'm waiting for the last two to finish drying out. Plus they all seem ravenous, they are running around pecking at each other the styrofoam, and these 4 eggs....

 

[Fat Daddy]

The above test is really most useful in telling if eggs are fresh.... A very fresh egg has not developed a large enough air cell to float it. As the egg sits, the larger the air cell gets and higher it floats.... For what it's worth, I have never had a egg go really bad, and not be able easily smell it when you open the bator....Trust your nose here! If you had 12 hatch and 4 duds, you had a very good hatch, Congrats!!!

 

[K8Aspen]

Thank you. Would you open the air cell to see if by chance they were still in there. Alive? These are the 4 biggest eggs we had hatching, not sure if that actually matters or not...

 

[Fat Daddy]

Myself I dont as a rule. If the chick cant even pip, it wont survive. Id call it over, put them in the dumpster and start planning my next great hatch!

 

[capper2013]

Thank you. Would you open the air cell to see if by chance they were still in there. Alive? These are the 4 biggest eggs we had hatching, not sure if that actually matters or not...

FatDaddy is seriously more experienced in this than I am and would listen carefully to any advice he gives regarding raising eggs; and if you are new to egg hatching it will serve you no harm to take a look before throwing them away. I did, and have a lovely fat chicken growing from doing so. if they are not alive you have lost nothing and maybe gained an awful smell you wont forget in a hurry; on the other hand you may have a live chicken that could survive. my survivor came from my first ever batch and I am glad I did open it up.
however my situation was slightly different in that I opened up a complete sinker and had read they are dead. it may well have got out of it's own accord if left alone so it came as a shock to me seeing a living chick. I opened it up for educational purposes in the hope I might learn at what point it had died and if there was anything I needed to learn about my process.
if you don't expect to gain anything other than knowledge then anything else is a bonus. in the long run FD is quite probably right.

 

[Fat Daddy]

if you are new to egg hatching it will serve you no harm to take a look before throwing them away. I did, and have a lovely fat chicken growing from doing so. if they are not alive you have lost nothing and maybe gained an awful smell you wont forget in a hurry; on the other hand you may have a live chicken that could survive. my survivor came from my first ever batch and I am glad I did open it up.
however my situation was slightly different in that I opened up a complete sinker and had read they are dead. it may well have got out of it's own accord if left alone so it came as a shock to me seeing a living chick. I opened it up for educational purposes in the hope I might learn at what point it had died and if there was anything I needed to learn about my process.
if you don't expect to gain anything other than knowledge then anything else is a bonus.

I totally agree. But to be clear, the odds of opening a unpipped egg, and it surviving, are very slim. Your experience almost had to have been timed perfectly. The chick likely already started the pipping process before the egg could sink, or the air cell would have made it float....... The only other explanation I can think of would be the humidity during your incubation was too high and the air cell never had the chance to develop. If this was the case, none of the others should have hatched either.... To explain, the reasoning behind my advise to "toss the eggs". It was geared toward the worst case. A living chick that would need to be ended by someone who's heart may be softer than my own..... Most folks who are new to the hobby, dont think about the very high probability of having to either watch a chick wither and die or end it with their own hand, because they "helped" it hatch..... If it has not been apparent at this point. I feel this "test" was never intended for hatching eggs. It was intended to determine the age of eggs meant for eating. Short of a egg that wiggles, it provides very little useful information for hatching and clearly cant be depended on to indicate a living or dead chick. But it can harm chicks that are struggling anyway.....