Air cells on the side of eggs and a possible ruptured air cell

machinfarm

Chirping
Apr 27, 2015
137
41
78
Weatherford, TX
Ok, so I'll start this question with a quite unbelievable story, but my actual question is the last paragraph so skip to that if you aren't interested in reading my chatterings: I had a hen sitting on a clutch of seven eggs, but I left her in the favorite nest box, shame on me. Other girls were getting on on top of her and laying and so about three days in, most of the eggs got broken. I went to go feed everyone and a hen, NOT my broody, came flying out of that nest box so fast that three of the eggs went tumbling after, the farthest going the full 8 foot length of the coop and landing five or so feet into the run, and the other two on the coop floor. Only one was not cracked BUT inside the box were only two eggs, and a crushed up shell. I thought the shell must be from two eggs since there were seven and only five eggs now, and that we had an egg eater on our hands. So I made a new nest for mama in a dog crate within the coop and gave her five fresh eggs. Then I went to place her in the new nest and realized she was all crusty feeling, the eggs had not been eaten but rather crushed and the contents were all over her tummy and leg feathers. So I took her in to give her a bath and, what to my wondering eyes should appear but an EGG stuck to her chest via dried yolk goo. (Did I mention she's an Orpington, so through all those fluffy feathers I didn't notice an egg was actually stuck to her chest!) And it was still whole! So I put both eggs that survived the ordeal in the incubator.

Now with all of that said, I lost track of which egg was the egg that was drop kicked across the coop and which was the egg that was jostled around stuck to broody mama but one of them appears to have what I guess is a ruptured air cell? There are veins and even a visible moving embryo (seven days along now) but the air cell that looks huge and I can see liquid sort of slosh into it as I manipulate the egg. It doesn't go in completely, its more as though the air cell isn't attached all the way at the bottom and the liquid is going behind it, does that make sense? It is stuck to the top of the egg and does not move of I turn it upside down, but I can't trace the edge of the air cell with a pencil because it changes as I shift the egg.

My other thing is I have these two crazy eggs with air cells smack dab on the side. Not tilted slightly or a little more to the side than the top, but right on the sides. How should I incubate them? I have them upright in a turner but I'm afraid of what may happen when they try to pip/zip. Both have veins and viable embryos but the embryos are right in the fat end where the air cell should be when I candle them.
These eggs are from my own flock and we've hatched more than 100 Chicks with a 89% average hatch rate, never seen anything like this. These are the first eggs I collected following the withdrawal period after Wazine, and I suspect that may have something to do with it. Heres a picture of the traced air cells.
700

Should I keep them upright or lay them down?
 
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Ok I candled again tonight and the air cells are growing upward, so it looks like keeping them upright was the right idea. I had set 24 eggs plus the broodys two poor tossed about eggs, had one early quitter and 25 active little embryos! Add this to the ten turkey eggs that are all moving and grooving as well and the 24 new eggs I just set yesterday, and I am in hatching heaven!
 

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