Day 16, movement in all 3 eggs, but one air sac looks like trouble (photo attached)...

[TempletonPeck]

Hello!

I have 4 eggs incubating, 1 Blue Orpington two days older than the other 3 Buffs and doing really well, wobbling around happily.

I candled the 3 Buffs today because these are the only 4 eggs left of 10 (shipped, and incubated before I knew to let the air sacs settle) and I wanted tho throw any dead ones out.

To my surprise, all 3 are still showing definite signs of life. But the air sac in Buff 4 (middle photo) has trouble written all over it. I was really surprised to see such strong movement inside because all my Blue embryos with dodgy air sacs had died by this point.

Is there anything I can do to support the chick in this final week? I have it propped air-sac-upwards-with-blunt-end-a-bit-more-upwards on a sliver of toilet roll insert and I'm still turning a little bit but I'm nervous of doing a full 180 degrees so the chick is lying fully on the sac.

Any advice, as always, gratefully received!

 

[GermanKennhuhn]

@Kiki

 

[Silexian]

At this stage there is not a lot that can be done. Other than wait and hope for the best. You can stop turning them. They are moving in the shells. So not much chance of them sticking to the side anymore. A dodgy air sac is still a chance of a chick being able to hatch. Chicks can work through some overwhelming odds to hatch.

 

[TempletonPeck]

Thank you!

 

[Kiki]

I'd tell you to stop messing with the egg. The more you mess with it the higher the chances are something goes wrong.

 

[Kiki]

Do you have at least one calibrated thermometer in your bator? What has your humidity been at? Have you be hand turning since day one? Did you not start turning until a few days after you set them?

 

[TempletonPeck]

They’ve been turned 3 times a day since I set them but, being a complete moron, I set them before letting the air sacs settle (shipped eggs).
I am going to take them off their little toilet-roll-sliver pedestals and leave well alone now. The temperature is reliable and I mist as well as having a humidity tray, but I don’t have a humidity measurement. What do people use?

 

[Kiki]

They’ve been turned 3 times a day since I set them but, being a complete moron, I set them before letting the air sacs settle (shipped eggs).
I am going to take them off their little toilet-roll-sliver pedestals and leave well alone now. The temperature is reliable and I mist as well as having a humidity tray, but I don’t have a humidity measurement. What do people use?

So you've been hand turning since day one... Got it.

I have never once let eggs settle before setting them in an incubator and I haven't had any issues with screwed up air cells not hatching because I didn't let them set.


If I were you I would be more concerned about my humidity level being too high since you don't have a humidity gauge in your incubator.
You can buy humidity gauges at Walmart for just a few dollars.

What incubator do you have?
Are you trusting your bill in thermometer or temperature reading on the incubator or do you have a separately purchased calibrated thermometer?

 

[janiedoe]

I weigh my eggs when I set them, then daily for the first 4 days, to keep my humidity in range. I also weigh them at 7 and 14 days when I candle them.
This probably only works well because I have a reliable incubator, but I don't have room in the incubator for a hygrometer. It also helps keep my older brain semi-sharp.
This won't work for you this time, but it's pretty simple math. I agree with @Kiki about hands off. The less we handle incubating eggs, the better. Especially me, I'm a klutz.

 

[janiedoe]

I weigh my eggs when I set them, then daily for the first 4 days, to keep my humidity in range. I also weigh them at 7 and 14 days when I candle them.
This probably only works well because I have a reliable incubator, but I don't have room in the incubator for a hygrometer. It also helps keep my older brain semi-sharp.
This won't work for you this time, but it's pretty simple math. I agree with @Kiki about hands off. The less we handle incubating eggs, the better. Especially me, I'm a klutz.

And, as you can see, from my sporadic use of comas, I need a sharper brain.