Successful hatch! Shipped eggs, detached/dislodged air cells

[77horses]

I wanted to make this post for those dealing with shipped hatching eggs, especially with the issue of dislodged or detached air cells. Mostly to share what I did which (evidently) worked, with hopes that it helps anyone who’s in the same situation as I was.
At the beginning of June, I ordered some Silkie hatching eggs online for the first time. I have three Cochin/mix hens who’ve been broody for several weeks, but no rooster, so I decided to give them some eggs to hatch (and because I’ve always wanted Silkies in the flock).
I’ve never ordered hatching eggs online before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect for hatching rates. When the half dozen eggs arrived, I wasn’t expecting anything to happen because they all had dislodged or detached air cells. As suggested by the wise chicken community here, I put the wide end up/skinny end down in an egg carton, placed it in a somewhat cool place (in the basement) and let them sit for a few days without rotating. I was aiming for a specific hatch date (as I was going to be out of town for a week and didn’t want them to hatch while I was away) so delaying putting them under my broody hens was necessary anyways, I just didn’t rotate them at all during this time to allow the air cells to settle and, hopefully, reattach. When it was finally time to put them under, the air cells definitely looked better when I candled them. Not perfect, but better. But I wasn’t expecting much to happen...I was hoping for just one to make it, if that. Still, I put them under my 3 broody girls and crossed my fingers.
Out of the 6, 3 eggs started developing. Nothing happened to the other 3; whether it be due to being infertile or related to the detached air cells is unclear. The 3 eggs that did start developing were doing great, growing as normal...but I worried there would be issues with hatching if the air cells were messed up.
As it turns out, they hatched just fine without any help on day 21. 3 healthy Silkie chicks and 3 proud mamas!

If anyone recently got shipped eggs and the air cells don’t look so good, there’s still hope. Before incubating, put them in an egg carton (with wide end up) in a cool, dry place like a basement (NOT THE REFRIGERATOR) and don’t rotate them for a few days. I can’t speak for the actual incubation process (for humidity and temp) because my broody girls did all the work there. But I think not rotating them prior to incubation made a huge difference. Hope this helps!
*If anyone is looking to buy Silkie hatching eggs, I definitely recommend @Squishychicken ! Quick shipping, eggs were well-packaged (no broken eggs despite rough handling by postal workers), very responsive through messages, and beautiful, healthy chicks!

 

[Toledano Farm]

Ive gotten explicit instructions from one breeder to put in egg carton and hold 24 hours then keep in egg cargo and big turn thorough hatch. SAme Breeder said to NEVER put shipped eggs under a hen. You beat the odds !!

 

[AquaDuck]

Thanks for posting your experience! Both you and your girls did a great job!

 

[FowlWitch]

I've been able to hatch eggs from eBay - some shipments had more success than others. I found that not turning the eggs for the first few days in the incubator did not reduce the saddle shape of the air cell (it may have helped the air cell reattach, though).*

One thing that can help with the saddle air cells when using an automatic turner is to rotate the eggs within the turner. Draw your Xs and Os like you're hand turning, and once a day rotate the egg 90 degrees (this is hard to describe). The saddling was still present, but by making sure my eggs weren't rocking on only 2 sides in the turner helped the edges be a little more even.

I hope this is helpful!

*Note: I did not have issues with embryos sticking to the sides by not turning in the incubator for the first 5 days. As soon as I saw the "spider", I immediately placed the eggs into an automatic turner.