Broody died on night of day 16... emergency incubating

[BatChickCrazy]

Candle the last egg before you put it in water, please. I don't advise the water test, but if you want to do it, be sure to look for movement, not just floating or sinking.

I chickened out on the water test. Tapped on the shell and didn't hear anything but put a wet sponge in the incubator and put the egg back in and will wait it out a few more days. Thanks for the input on the water test! Any other suggestions while we wait?

 

[BatChickCrazy]

Even though we miss our Princess Moo shoo... we are loving on these babies! <3 I sure hope the 3rd egg makes it, but I'm thankful there are at least 2 so they can keep each other company. I can't believe how tiny they are! Our other chicks were not this small.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

I'm really happy that two have hatched!!! That's a very cute chick!

I agree with VWduckchick on candling to see if the last egg is alive or not. I have never done the testing in water idea. Usually you'll be able to tell if the chick has pipped internally through the membrane or not. You can see movement within the air sac.

Below is a duck that's internally pipped to give you an idea of what it looks like. That's it's bill. I took this two nights ago. I have no experience with ducks...I may candle tonight just to see what's going on. Ducks take a very long time to hatch I've been told...so I'm trying to be patient...lol.

Sometimes you can tell if an egg has died or not as well if the egg has drawn down...or by the edge where it started to look bad.

 

[BatChickCrazy]

Oh wow! That was helpful! Thank you for sharing! Ok... I'll candle tonight when it's dark. I haven't seen or heard any Pipping so I'm assuming it's safe and won't hurt it if it IS still alive. I'm kind of scared of seeing it not alive.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

If the chick before pipping, you'll just see the air sac above and dark below that. After pipping, you might see a slight dark bump, but nothing graphic.

I do have some pics of candled eggs that show what embryos that have quit, look like. I also have eggs I could take candling pics tonight once it's dark of embryos that have quit if you have doubts on what yours looks like. Sometimes it's hard to know.

 

[BatChickCrazy]

If the chick before pipping, you'll just see the air sac above and dark below that. After pipping, you might see a slight dark bump, but nothing graphic.

I do have some pics of candled eggs that show what embryos that have quit, look like. I also have eggs I could take candling pics tonight once it's dark of embryos that have quit if you have doubts on what yours looks like. Sometimes it's hard to know.

I would greatly appreciate seeing those.. I want to know what to look for so I don't keep second guessing and keep the 'bater running for no reason. Plus I'm worried it will blow up ... and it's sitting in my office. Don't want a stink bomb in here. HA

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Unless the egg is smelling or oozing...I don't think you have to worry. When in doubt I always keep mine in...and I haven't had one blow up yet. Here are eggs that clearly show the egg has died.

#1 shows a smaller air cell. The yellow area between the air sac and the darkness shows a band of atrophy where there's nothing to show the baby would be alive. The edges along the dark area appear undefined. You can't see it but this egg has swishability in the yellow area, but the dark area is solid and non swishable. You can tell it looks dead.

#2 is the back of the previous egg. You can see a dark bump which is likely the chick.

#3 Shows a larger air cell but less embryo. You'd definitely tell this one was dead in comparison to eggs that continued to fill with embryo. You're egg is past this stage.
The area along the dark section is very undefined and floaty looking.

#4 This egg has a huge air cell, more than it should have. That instantly tells me the chick is dead and if I were to open it...the chick would be shrink wrapped. The yellow area has pull back (it's what I call it...lol) It's when the chick has died and the membrane looks pulled away or dried out. The dark area looks floaty and you can tell the embryo died.

#5 is great for showing the atrophy of the blood vessels. The orangy/red areas within the yellow strip is pooling blood from the blood vessel atrophy. This egg has not been dead as long as the eggs above. The embryo is freshly deceased and is still breaking down. You can see the rough outline of the chick is still visible, and a bit floaty looking with the blood from the vessels...but still more defined. Technically the air cell is the correct size for hatching...but the embryo doesn't fill the area below. I'd say the chick was loosing ground and dying for a few days while the rest continued growing to fill the shell. It should have been hatching. Instead it slowly gave out and died. It didn't get to full term size.

 

[BatChickCrazy]

Unless the egg is smelling or oozing...I don't think you have to worry. When in doubt I always keep mine in...and I haven't had one blow up yet. Here are eggs that clearly show the egg has died.

#1 shows a smaller air cell. The yellow area between the air sac and the darkness shows a band of atrophy where there's nothing to show the baby would be alive. The edges along the dark area appear undefined. You can't see it but this egg has swishability in the yellow area, but the dark area is solid and non swishable. You can tell it looks dead.
View attachment 1072093

#2 is the back of the previous egg. You can see a dark bump which is likely the chick.
View attachment 1072095

#3 Shows a larger air cell but less embryo. You'd definitely tell this one was dead in comparison to eggs that continued to fill with embryo. You're egg is past this stage.
The area along the dark section is very undefined and floaty looking.
View attachment 1072096

#4 This egg has a huge air cell, more than it should have. That instantly tells me the chick is dead and if I were to open it...the chick would be shrink wrapped. The yellow area has pull back (it's what I call it...lol) It's when the chick has died and the membrane looks pulled away or dried out. The dark area looks floaty and you can tell the embryo died.
View attachment 1072097
#5 is great for showing the atrophy of the blood vessels. The orangy/red areas within the yellow strip is pooling blood from the blood vessel atrophy. This egg has not been dead as long as the eggs above. The embryo is freshly deceased and is still breaking down. You can see the rough outline of the chick is still visible, and a bit floaty looking with the blood from the vessels...but still more defined. Technically the air cell is the correct size for hatching...but the embryo doesn't fill the area below. I'd say the chick was loosing ground and dying for a few days while the rest continued growing to fill the shell. It should have been hatching. Instead it slowly gave out and died. It didn't get to full term size.
View attachment 1072098

This was so helpful to see! Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and wisdom to those of us who are still trying to figure all of this stuff out!

I did candle last night and the last egg did not make it. I suspected so as I haven't heard any chirping or seen any moving from it. But I was hopeful. This was the egg that was most active whenever I candled.. and even after the 12+ hours without mama hen.

Here are the pics...

 

[Wickedchicken6]

This was so helpful to see! Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and wisdom to those of us who are still trying to figure all of this stuff out!

I did candle last night and the last egg did not make it. I suspected so as I haven't heard any chirping or seen any moving from it. But I was hopeful. This was the egg that was most active whenever I candled.. and even after the 12+ hours without mama hen.

Here are the pics...

Yes, I'm afraid you're right. It looks like your embryo has died. I'm sorry I was so late with the pics! We had a storm roll in and it changed my evening around. Those are very nice candling pics!

As far as knowing things...I am still very much learning myself. I learn something new everyday on here...lol. I hatch old eggs so I do get to see a larger than normal percentage of embryos die off. Until I had seen my first few egg deaths, I questioned everything. I'm hatching ducklings right now...not a planned situation so its a learning curve for me.

You did an excellent job; you lost a hen unfortunately, but managed a great save in hatching some lovely chicks. You also called the last egg accurately.
Fantastic job!

 

[BatChickCrazy]

OMG girl... no worries on the delay of the pictures. I never expect anyone to treat this board like a job and have to get back to me immediately! Any and all advice and support is really so much appreciated.

Thank you so much!! Good luck on your duck hatching process... I can't wait to hear updates!!

As I'm typing... I'm watching the babies go to town on the water nipple. I just taught them how to use it like 15 minutes ago so I'm a beaming proud mama right now!