Air bubble in developing egg?

[LikeTurkeys]

Great video!
Probably was there before...will be curious to see how it develops.
Chicken egg.....or turkey?

Thank you It is a chicken egg. I know my username can be confusing sometimes -- I joined because of a sick turkey hen but I don't own turkeys anymore. I will update as it grows.

Do more candling videos as it progresses to see if the bubble stays there!! I love learning about candling oddities.

Sure

 

[LikeTurkeys]

The egg has died . Here is a video from day 11 when it was still alive.

Candling on day 12 revealed no movement and degrading veins, so I am assuming that this is when it died. I left it in the incubator till today (day 14). Here is a video showing candling and breaking out (if you are easily grossed out, you may only want to watch the first part).

Interestingly, I could not see an air cell at this point while I could still see one (or what appeared to be one) on day 11. When I examined the shell and the contents of the egg, I could not find the air cell there either. In fact, it almost appeared as though this egg was missing its internal membrane entirely (though the chick still had its amniotic sac). The egg was very easily cracked and the contents immediately spilled out (normally I have some difficulty in getting through the membrane). Perhaps this was the issue? If so, it is an interesting development error I have never encountered before. It had no odor, so I am not suspecting infection.

 

[MGG]

The egg has died . Here is a video from day 11 when it was still alive.

Candling on day 12 revealed no movement and degrading veins, so I am assuming that this is when it died. I left it in the incubator till today (day 14). Here is a video showing candling and breaking out (if you are easily grossed out, you may only want to watch the first part).

Interestingly, I could not see an air cell at this point while I could still see one (or what appeared to be one) on day 11. When I examined the shell and the contents of the egg, I could not find the air cell there either. In fact, it almost appeared as though this egg was missing its internal membrane entirely (though the chick still had its amniotic sac). The egg was very easily cracked and the contents immediately spilled out (normally I have some difficulty in getting through the membrane). Perhaps this was the issue? If so, it is an interesting development error I have never encountered before. It had no odor, so I am not suspecting infection.

Aw. That's sad. So weird. In the first video I was a bit alarmed at this point :

I thought they were blood streaks or something on the inside of the shell for a second
It's eggtopsy looked ok, nothing that stood out as abnormal. It could have possibly been a rare abnormality like you said where it was missing that internal membrane near the air cell, and possibly the bubble was the cell. Or it could have just been really porous and thin and leaked in extra air? I'm not sure. Definitely a really cool experience though. You documented it well.
Sorry you lost the chick, though.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Well, the same hen laid another egg with an air bubble inside of it a couple of days ago. This time, the bubble looks like a bunch of small bubbles coming together. Cracking it open revealed bubbles in the white.

I attempted researching it (rather extensively actually), and the general consensus is that bubbles in the white is due to a ruptured air cell. What's interesting is that this egg, like the previous one, also appeared to be missing its internal membrane. Since the hen who is responsible for this egg had an infection (not sure where exactly, potentially of the oviduct - antibiotics cleared it up), I suspected damage to the isthmus causing the membrane of the egg not to be applied. However, since the isthmus and the shell gland are so close together, and the egg did appear to have an external membrane, this hypothesis is unlikely since the egg probably would have had more acute shell problems (shell-less, or partially shelled) as well.

The egg did have a rough shell. So I guess it is possible that there was some damage to her oviduct and that overall the membranes and shell were weaker/thinner. However, that still does not explain the apparent absence of the internal membrane. If it were present and ruptured, I think I would have seen that.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any sources covering 'missing internal membranes' or even missing membranes in general but still shelled eggs. Most articles/scientific papers attribute it to rough handling, causing a rupture in the air cell. Clearly however, this is not the case as this was a fresh egg collected several hours after lay.

A rather interesting problem I think.

 

[MGG]

Well, the same hen laid another egg with an air bubble inside of it a couple of days ago. This time, the bubble looks like a bunch of small bubbles coming together. Cracking it open revealed bubbles in the white.
View attachment 2489349
View attachment 2489356
I attempted researching it (rather extensively actually), and the general consensus is that bubbles in the white is due to a ruptured air cell. What's interesting is that this egg, like the previous one, also appeared to be missing its internal membrane. Since the hen who is responsible for this egg had an infection (not sure where exactly, potentially of the oviduct - antibiotics cleared it up), I suspected damage to the isthmus causing the membrane of the egg not to be applied. However, since the isthmus and the shell gland are so close together, and the egg did appear to have an external membrane, this hypothesis is unlikely since the egg probably would have had more acute shell problems (shell-less, or partially shelled) as well.

The egg did have a rough shell. So I guess it is possible that there was some damage to her oviduct and that overall the membranes and shell were weaker/thinner. However, that still does not explain the apparent absence of the internal membrane. If it were present and ruptured, I think I would have seen that.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any sources covering 'missing internal membranes' or even missing membranes in general but still shelled eggs. Most articles/scientific papers attribute it to rough handling, causing a rupture in the air cell. Clearly however, this is not the case as this was a fresh egg collected several hours after lay.

A rather interesting problem I think.

Wow!!! SO weird! Do you have a pic of the inside of the shell?

 

[aart]

Had/have a hen that lays detached air cells and/or tiny bubbles like those shown.
Have no idea why, just a lemon.<shrugs>

 

[Mvan42]

Interesting....

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Sorry for the delayed response.

Wow!!! SO weird! Do you have a pic of the inside of the shell?

I do actually. There is no air cell, but you can see a membrane (I speculated just the external one, but could be wrong).

Here is the half where the air cell should have been (the fat end of the egg).

I carefully pulled back a piece of shell so that you could clearly see the/a membrane.

Clearly, there is something there. However, because the internal and external membranes are usually so firmly together, it is extremely hard to tell if the internal membrane is actually present. I can only speculate based on the fact that there is no air cell.

Had/have a hen that lays detached air cells and/or tiny bubbles like those shown.
Have no idea why, just a lemon.<shrugs>

Did this hen ever suffer an infection, or was she like that since she started laying? If it was the latter, I would suspect genetic reasons. My EE however used to lay normal eggs up until slightly before Christmas (which is when I observed her feeling sick). I can't help but thinking that has something to do with it.

In fact, here is another one of her eggs, laid today.

A video to show how the bubbles are freely moving (no audio). You can see that it has what could be a potential crack, but I've had cracked eggs before and even then have not observed this problem, so I don't think that has anything to do with it.

I haven't opened this egg yet but can update again when I do. It's probably going to look the same as the previous one -- air bubbles in the white.

 

[aart]

id this hen ever suffer an infection, or was she like that since she started laying? If it was the latter, I would suspect genetic reasons.

Not really sure if that was an issue from the start.
No illness to my knowledge.
I had 4 of that breed bird so not really sure who the culprit was.
I figured genetics.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Good news! She laid eggs today and yesterday that both had normal air cells (no bubbles). It's amazing that she is laying at all considering that she began a molt shortly after her illness (early January, she's still in the process of losing feathers).