2026 Emu Hatch-Along

[Bertram]

What sound would a healthy developing egg sound like when you tap it?

 

[Slothinc]

What sound would a healthy developing egg sound like when you tap it?

I feel like they make a dull thud sound. If they make a high pitched “tink” sound, then they are not viable. (But not all non viable eggs make that higher sound.)

I had an egg last year that was perfectly normal until one day halfway through incubation when I went to turn, I could tell instantly that it was making a different sound. If you tap it with a butter knife it sounded like I was tapping on a piece of fine china. Weirdest thing. I kept incubating it just in case, but I knew that it was no good!

 

[Slothinc]

The one with issues died today. And it was clear that it would not have survived. Something wasn’t right with it. Saved me from the evil chore of culling! Thank goodness.

The hatch bag sounds like a great idea. With two incubators going, I can at least split the eggs into each one at the bottom. Haven’t had to do it yet.

So far they’re all male! Messing up my ratios here lol 6 chicks so far. Two more hatching Thursday and Friday.

One thing I noticed that maybe someone here can explain. Standard female + Blonde male created a different blonde chick than the other pair. The other pair is White female + Standard male. The chicks from the white female have very pronounced splotches on their backs (all 4 look the same). The standard females blonde chick was more of a silver color and had a much darker back. Unfortunately that’s the one that died. Is it normal for the blondes to vary so much?

That is so interesting! Is this the first time you’ve noticed a difference in color between blonde chicks from different moms? I hope someone here might know more!