Air sac on wrong end?

[tracymbuck]

Day 9 of incubation. Down to just 5 eggs from 16 shipped bantam cochin eggs.

Removed 6 yolkers that never developed.

Removed 4 with displaced air cells that didn't develop at all - but that was in my 'last minute purchase' incubator and temperature and humidity both are suspect.

4 of the remaining 5 are going strong, and you can see active movement.

However - it appears as if the air cell is HUGE for day 9 and it is on the narrow end of the egg. This is true of all 5. I have had these upright since starting them to stabilize any loose air sacs from the shipping. 99.5, 40-45% humidity.

I have not turned them over to candle as I didn't want to disturb the air sac; the pics are narrow end down. Tomorrow is day 12, so I could try turning one over then.

At day 14 I planned to lay them on their sides and lock down at day 16 since they are bantams.

Any other ideas?

 

[JaeG]

The air cells look to have settled at the narrow end, and there's nothing you can do that will change that. Shipped eggs are a pain - I know this too.

Have you tried using the flashlight on your cellphone or a small torch to shine a light in at the fat end? There may be some air cell there, but there may not be as well. Would just be interesting to see.

I would lie them down from this point on because there's no benefit to keeping them upright. The chicks may pip straight out because of where the air cells are, skipping the internally pipped stage, so be prepared that they may take longer to start to unzip - up to 48 hours from when they pip. Most chicks are able to make it out just fine pipping at the narrow end, but just keep an eye on them (I know you will anyway - it's torture waiting to see those babies). I had one recently hatch at the narrow end and she just needed a bit of help right at the end. She unzipped just fine then couldn't quite push out by herself.

The air cells may look huge because the membrane has detached from the shell more than it should due to being bumped around during shipping.

 

[tracymbuck]

The air cells look to have settled at the narrow end, and there's nothing you can do that will change that. Shipped eggs are a pain - I know this too.

Have you tried using the flashlight on your cellphone or a small torch to shine a light in at the fat end? There may be some air cell there, but there may not be as well. Would just be interesting to see.

I would lie them down from this point on because there's no benefit to keeping them upright. The chicks may pip straight out because of where the air cells are, skipping the internally pipped stage, so be prepared that they may take longer to start to unzip - up to 48 hours from when they pip. Most chicks are able to make it out just fine pipping at the narrow end, but just keep an eye on them (I know you will anyway - it's torture waiting to see those babies). I had one recently hatch at the narrow end and she just needed a bit of help right at the end. She unzipped just fine then couldn't quite push out by herself.

The air cells may look huge because the membrane has detached from the shell more than it should due to being bumped around during shipping.

Thanks for the suggestion.