Buff dewlap Toulouse Wrong end pips and saddled air cells

[Berd Man]

I am currently in lockdown on a dozen Buff Dewlap Tolouse hatching eggs I ordered this spring. There were issues from the start… the post office took 6 days to get our “2 day shipping” order of hatching eggs to us. I let the eggs settle for 24 hours and then incubated the same as any of my other goose eggs. I candled about ten days later and of all 12 eggs only one had a normal air cell, the rest were saddled and all sorts of weird shapes. This was when i knew it wouldn’t be a normal hatch with shipped eggs.

Yesterday when I should have been observing pipping it was oddly silent. Eggs were wobbling and I assumed they were just slower than I expected and I left them alone. Later in the evening I noticed that there was yellow fluid leakage from one of the eggs and I had to crack the incubator to see what was going on and it was a wrong end pipper. It was alive but since it pipped at the wrong end I guess the fluid and stuff in there with him leaked out. I moistend him up with a hot rag and then put it back in incubator. It’s still alive but there’s not any other activity in the incubator. I see now why hatching shipped eggs is such a gamble. I’m feeling pretty bad for them. This is going to be rough

Anyone have any good suggestions or do I just let it be and wait?

 

[Iain Utah]

Dewlaps are especially hard to hatch. If aircells were detached and not propped up during incubation, then the goslings often cannot turn into proper hatching position at the end. It is so very hard to assist hatching them if they cannot break shell, like the one that pipped on the small end. If it were me, I'd let it be until day 30 and focus on helping the one that has the best chance of survival out, if needed.

 

[Berd Man]

Okay, yea it’s day 29. I do have some embden eggs in there and none of them externally pipped yet. This one could just be earlier. I checked on him last night but the membrane had some blood vessels and stuff still on there so I didn’t want to extricate him prematurely. I increased humidity and hopefully I can report some good news in a day or so.

 

[Berd Man]

Just thought I would post a follow up! We finished up with the Buff Dewlap Tolouse hatch and we have six new healthy goslings! It was my lowest hatch rate to date at 50%, but shipped eggs are a gamble. In the future if I do this again, I would try letting them settle in an egg carton for 24 hours and see if that corrected the air cell problems.

 

[mcdze]

imo 50% is a win .. even if everything is perfect, of course i like to see better, but ive learned if i for sure want x amount of chicks incubate double ..