Suggestions for Management of Damaged and Mal-positioned Egg Air Cells

[pete55]

Hi

Its the R-Com Pro 20 with PC software. The computer software is ok but not for me. For others its a good method of refining egg management techniques and may be of use. However for ease of use, flexibility, turning options and temperature and humidity control its SUPERB. I highly recommend it and Im very impressed. Im going to phase out my Brinseas and replace with R-Com units.

Pete

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
Rats -- I bought the Brinsea last year, and this year wanted another. I was debating between the R-com and another Brinsea, and went with the Brinsea because I thought, hey, if something goes bad on one, I have interchangeable spare parts or emergency parts.

Kind of disliking a couple of things about the Brinsea, though -- the stupid tubing from the water tank always tangles and gets caught in things, the little rigid plastic straw becomes kind of soft and hard to work with as it creases and kinks. Finally, NOT a big fan of their stupid metal rails and foam inserts -- they take up too much room and are a pain. I just quit using them, stuff inert material like aluminum foil around the dead space, works fine.

 

[ki4got]

thanks for pointing me to this post Pete. and even tho this is in the goose forum, hope nobody minds me asking a chicken question?

whoever mentioned size of the egg as part of the liability in shipping may have something there. I received 21 dorking eggs and 15 EE eggs yesterday, the dorking eggs being on the smaller end of the scale than the EE's, and the EE eggs were way more damaged than the dorkings, tho packaging was nearly the same on both.

of the 15 EE eggs, 1 ruptured internally and started leaking badly (tossed ASAP for the smell alone!) another showed signs of hairline cracks, the rest have what I'd call 'loose' air cells. on the Dorking eggs, only 5 or 6 had loose cells, the rest fairly normal except 1 where the air cell was just teeny bubbles floating around... I'm going to set these this evening, I let them sit overnight.

one question though... I see where you let the eggs set vertical (without turning?) for 21 days, but chicken eggs hatch in that time, where geese go longer... I'm wondering how long I should let them sit without turning... (using a hovabator auto turner) and would it hurt to treat the normal eggs the same?

 

[pete55]

Hi Karen

Just incubate vertically with no turning for 48 hours then just turn them by tilting. As you can see the goose eggs where incubated vertically with tilted turning right up to internal pipping then I laid them on their sides for hatching.

In your case you can stop turning and lay them on their sides around day 18-19. The principles of incubation remain the same

Pete

 

[Valentinesdayid]

Chicken Baq Baq and I don't Care, Chicken Baq Baq and I don't Care,Chicken Baq Baq and I don't Care
Chicken Pot Pie in my underwear!

 

[BeckyJaneDesigns]

Pete,
Wow! I wish I went looking for this thread a few weeks ago! I am incubating my first set of ducklings in a hovabator. This is the first time I have ever incubated anything, so when i got them shipped to me, I did not know what to look for, or that the air cell could even be an issue. I do not have a turner, so they have been laying horizontally the entire time, getting turned by hand 180 degrees. We are on day 19. I have 12 eggs. (I was shipped 20, but 8 were leaking all over the box when I got them). Most of the air cells have some degree of movement. Some are very minor, but there are at least two with quite extreme movement, where the air cell is at the blunt end, and then wraps around to the side. I can send a pic of the outline if that would help. All of the embryos are active.

So, now that I have realized that we have a problem, and begun to research, I am worried! What do I do to help them have the highest chance of hatching successfully? Again, I am a brand-new beginner, so I might need a bit more detail!

Thank you so much for your help!!
Becky

 

[pete55]

Hi

At the moment try to position the eggs with the blunt end tilted upwards and please do post pictures if you have any. The following link to an incubation article may help you further;

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=491013


Pete

 

[BeckyJaneDesigns]

Wow! THat article is awesome! I am half-way through and will finish reading today. As far as positioning them blunt-end up, what is the best way to do that? I have no racks or anything. Would an egg-carton work? Although, they wouldn't be tilted much, it would be more like straight up and down. When you have them blunt-up tilted up, how do you turn them? Just rocking them back and forth? I really wish that I did my research ahead of time and started them off in the right position! I will get some pics today to show the worst ones. Thank you for your help!

 

[BeckyJaneDesigns]

Ok, so I found something to keep them in to get them at a better angle, blunt end tipped up about 30 degrees or so. Had to keep an eye on the temperature because the eggs are sitting higher in the incubator now. Keep having to reduce the temp because it gets over 100 at the top of the eggs.
I candled them tonight so that I could make a good outline of the air cell. All 12 eggs have some amount of displacement to one degree or another. These are some of the worst ones. Forgive the picture quality! There are 2 pics of each egg. All of the babies are active.
First one (two conjoined, one on the end, one along a side):

Second one (wrap-around):

Third one (very large air cell):

 

[BeckyJaneDesigns]

Today was day 20.