Shipped Eggs, Detached Air Cell Incubation

[chickfused]

Countdown: T-16

Unfortunately, this incubation just got a lot more complicated, and I wanted to change the posting title for future readers to learn from whatever heartache I am about to experience.

Hatch-a-long (hopefully) will continue here. Swedish Flower and Cream Legbar. The legbars appear to be in better shape than the flowers (someone said in comments somewhere that smaller eggs fare shipping better, based on this initial experience, I believe it.)

I've put the ones with semi normal looking air sacs (by which I do not mean normal, for certain), into a standard egg turning environment. The really obviously detached ones, have gone into a vertical hatch sitch, where I will move them manually 3-5 times per day in an egg carton like the one in the front.

Nearly all of these eggs have developing embryos, and I will remove any obvious non starters on day 7. At which point, I may have some openings in the vertical hatch box and might move some from the turner environment depending on how things look.

Initial thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/crested-cream-legbar-and-swedish-flower-hen-eggs.1515080/

 

[chickfused]

I'm following these instructions.

 

[casportpony]

Good luck with you hatch.

 

[sdm111]

I wouldn't put much faith in those becoming chicks

 

[chickfused]

I wouldn't put much faith in those becoming chicks

Did you not read the part about "whatever heartbreak is to be mine"?

Gentleman who espouses this method enjoys 65% success. I'll take 15% and count it acceptable.

 

[casportpony]

I set some shipped call duck eggs a couple of weeks ago, so this interests me.

 

[chickfused]

I'm so skeered. But I'm not giving up!!!

 

[chickfused]

Welp, did the first discard candle. Of the 9 eggs I marked for discard, 4 had reabsorbed embryos (meaning I had clearly seen babies, but when I opened them, there was just runny yolk, thin albumin, and no baby), 4 were infertile and one had a very clear blood ring and sloshy insides with a moving blood ring. And when I opened it up, baby. It could be that I caught the blood ring right after it passed, but I still saw viable veins. :\ Really upset about that one, but this is only the 2nd time I've ever hatched, first time with shipped eggs, and I improved on my candling skills quite a lot.

The other news is that the vertical hatching method from that video for several days has reattached every single air cell on the remaining viable eggs! I've got a couple that are saddled and wonky, but absolutely everything is stable now. So they are back to normal incubating with the turner.

Nothing smelled, and lots of babies were clearly moving about. These eggs are both light shelled eggs and they are very hard to see through!

I will check again on day 14.

 

[chickfused]

I checked again after putting them back in the auto turner. These eggs are SO hard to see into with the 360's candler. Pitch black room and I still can't tell if there are healthy babies in there. Honestly, some look like they are about day 12, which worries me. They shouldn't look like that on day 8. Just big dark blobs that keep growing, and don't stink, but...I can't see air cells that match that growth at all.

 

[chickfused]

In other news, it appears I may have an unexpected broody out in the coop... I'll let her have a try I guess if she's serious, it's a first time mom sitch.