Bacterial contamination? **Graphic embryo pics**

[Gypsy07]

I've just had a poor hatch. Only two chicks, from nine eggs at lockdown.

I broke this non-hatcher open, and I'd like opinions...

Look inside the shell in the second pic. See that green stuff at the back of the shell? When I candled the egg before breaking it open, this stuff showed up really clearly on the inside of the shell. I've never seen anything like that in previous hatches. Is it some sort of bacterial contamination? Has anyone seen anything like this inside a shell that a healthy chick has hatched out of?

 

[lockedhearts]

Looks like the chick quit a few days early, everything else looks normal.

 

[Mahonri]

Could be, but with all of the red blood in there, I'd say it need a couple of more days???

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
So that green goo is normal in a healthy hatch then? I've never noticed it in a shell before...

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
There were a lot of blood vessels on the membrane round the chick, but absolutely no bleeding at all. The chick was definitely dead before I opened the shell. As you can see in the pic, the yolk wasn't absorbed so I reckon the chick must have quit a few days before it should have been ready to hatch, which left all the blood vessels intact around it.

To clarify the circumstances, I had nine eggs in the bator, one pipped on day 22 and hatched on day 23, another pipped and hatched on day 23. The other seven eggs did absolutely nothing for another two days but I left the chicks and eggs in the bator as long as I could anyway. I was taking lockdown very seriously with this hatch. I took the two chicks out today (48 hrs after the first one hatched) to transfer them to the brooder, and that's when I lifted out the other eggs for a look...