I have a 3 egg mini incubator with 1 remaining Silkie egg in it. Thursday was lockdown (day 18) and the chick was alive and well. I was thrilled to see the egg rocking on Friday night and Saturday morning (I think I also heard some chirping). I patiently waited on Sunday (Day 21) and there was no pip or movement. Sunday came and went with no sign of anything. I became worried because I caught my 4 yr old taking the lid off the incubator and feared that it might have not been the first time. I went ahead and candled the egg this morning and didn't see any movement or hear any chirping. One side & bottom of the egg was dark with an open area and shadow in the middle. I decided to do the float test and the egg floated at an angle with about 20% above water (80% below water). I'm nearing the end of day 22 and fear that the chick is shrink wrapped. Any advice on what I should(n't) do next? Thanks- Sharon
If you heard chirping from it on Saturday it would mean that it had already internally pipped and with it being Monday night now, I fear it would have run out of air. You basically have two choices. Leave it and give it another day or two, or candle and (if it was peeping) you should see where it internally pipped, mark that spot and put a little hole in the shell there (in the air cell) and see if there is any movement. If there is no movement you pretty much know that it died and could proceed with an egg topsy. I'm thinking if it internally pipped that it probably became shrink wrapped, but an eggtopsy would verify that. That's my personal opinion.
Thank you AmyLynn. I made the hole in the shell and sure enough, no movement. The top of the membrane was a little dry but the chick wasn't shrink wrapped. 95% of the membrane was moist and looked normal (per my amateur eyes). Looks like he made it to Day 19 and died- perfectly formed. I'm not sure what to make of it. I can't see anything obvious.
I think we have all had that happen... I had an egg once that rocked and rolled for two days then nothing...I had to wait for the other hatchlings to check but it had pipped the inner membrane and then died.. Best I could figure was it was positioned weird and although it was able to pip it wasn't able to complete the turning to get into the right position to hatch... Its always sad when that happens but a wise person told me if they get that far and don't hatch chances are it wouldn't make it anyways. Sorry for your loss and hope next time goes better for you!