Cause of gel/liquid in egg?

[Bnemeth]

In the last few of my hatching attempts some of the eggs have a gel fluid under the membrane (looks like they shrink wrapped?). Any idea on the cause of this and how to prevent it?

 

[duckyfromoz]

Sounds kind of odd what you are describing..so a few questions to try and work this out might help give some pointers. I say this because if there is fluid under the membrane- they shouldnt be shrink wrapped.

OK... So I am assuming you have opened the eggs after you have realised that the duckling wouldnt hatch.. - and found the membrane looking very white ??

The fluid- is there lots of it?? Or just a think smear? It is normal for there to be a small amount of mucus looking material in the egg after hatching- but if there is too much of the white left the duckling can drown when it first starts to breath.

What size were the air cells in the egg at the time they went into lockdown? If the air pocket is not very big- it is a sign that not enough moisture has been lost from the egg during incubation.


The other thing I can think of- if you havent actually opened up the egg- is if you move it0 the duckling can move- making it look like there is fluid in the egg.

 

[Bnemeth]

2 of the eggs had a smaller amount of fluid and the membrane was tighter around the duck. The third did not have tight membrane and that is the one that had a lot of fluid. 2 of the eggs seemed to have a normal air cell and one of the tighter membranes had a slightly larger air cell. Is there a way to save them when the air cell starts to get large? Or from drowning? Thanks.