Day 23 duck egg air cell

[CB81]

First time hatching, first time posting ☺
I have been trying to keep an eye on the air cell, which has been small, so I haven’t been putting too much humidity in, between 30-45. I have noticed that about 1/3 of the egg is empty, almost like a second air cell? With no veining seen on that part of the egg. The duckling only occupies the dark side of the egg, I never see it over in that empty space. I still see movement. Is this normal to have such a large empty space in the egg? I’m not sure if the membrane pulled away, like a shrink wrap, if I made the egg lose too much moisture? I want to make sure we are good before going in to lock down. I figured I have a couple extra days to either let it run on a lower humidity to increase the size of the air cell, or if it has lost too much and I need to increase it 50 now. Thanks!!!!!
And sorry for the quality of the pictures, it is really hard to hold the egg and flashlight in one hand and take a picture with the other! I tried to show the air cell and empty area with candeling, and then show the marked air cell and empty area on shell.

 

[WVduckchick]

I also agree, it appears to me to be the clear fluid inside the egg, and not air. This happens when the blood vessels fail to spread throughout the entire egg. Normally all this fluid gets enveloped by the blood vessel network and yolk sac. By day 23 it is a bit late to have that much fluid still visible. These usually fail to hatch, I’m sorry to say. But don’t give up as long as you see movement! Good luck.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

It looks like fluid to me and not air but I have had a peacock egg that developed a small second air cell where the membrane detached from the shell. You will be able to see that much more clearly in person than we can in an image. I can't say for sure but when you see the blood vessels receding and collecting around the embryo it has usually quit but since you're seeing movement I would proceed as usual and focus on keeping the humidity levels appropriate for the rest of the hatch rather than just this one. I would do the "sniff test" before lockdown if it still looks unusual, just to make sure you're not putting a stinky egg on lockdown and wait to see what happens! Fingers crossed for a great hatch!

 

[CB81]

I also agree, it appears to me to be the clear fluid inside the egg, and not air. This happens when the blood vessels fail to spread throughout the entire egg. Normally all this fluid gets enveloped by the blood vessel network and yolk sac. By day 23 it is a bit late to have that much fluid still visible. These usually fail to hatch, I’m sorry to say. But don’t give up as long as you see movement! Good luck.

Thanks!! Still saw movement this morning so we are still trecking forward. I have the incubator running dry between 16-20% humidity 99 degrees. The air cell grew a little bit today when I candeled. I saw somewhere in a thread where someone recommended positioning it air cell up to go into lockdown rather than on its side. I’ll try that. Anything else you might recommend? I’ve also read about making a safety hole (forgot what it was called) on the outside of the egg, that way when it internally pips it will have oxygen.

 

[CB81]

Still see movement this morning! Air cell has grown just a little bit. Baby must be getting big because I’m finally starting to see it over in the fluid space. We are on day 24- I realized my error in marking the day I put the egg in the incubator as day 1, not day 0. So I have until tomorrow to grow the air cell as much as possible. Incubator is 99 temp and about 16% humidity.

 

[Isaac 0]

Best of luck with your hatch! You've been given wonderful advice

 

[CindyinSD]

@Pyxis @FortCluck @CluckNDoodle

 

[DuckyDonna]

@WVduckchick too!

 

[CB81]

It looks like fluid to me and not air but I have had a peacock egg that developed a small second air cell where the membrane detached from the shell. You will be able to see that much more clearly in person than we can in an image. I can't say for sure but when you see the blood vessels receding and collecting around the embryo it has usually quit but since you're seeing movement I would proceed as usual and focus on keeping the humidity levels appropriate for the rest of the hatch rather than just this one. I would do the "sniff test" before lockdown if it still looks unusual, just to make sure you're not putting a stinky egg on lockdown and wait to see what happens! Fingers crossed for a great hatch!

Fluid, interesting!!! I was thinking air! Thanks! the other eggs were either infertile or had a blood ring. This is the only that developed. So I am fortunate enough to be able to tailor the humidity to just this one. And I’ve got all my eggs in one basket, so to speak, so I want to do everything I can to help this little one hatch!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Thanks!! Still saw movement this morning so we are still trecking forward. I have the incubator running dry between 16-20% humidity 99 degrees. The air cell grew a little bit today when I candeled. I saw somewhere in a thread where someone recommended positioning it air cell up to go into lockdown rather than on its side. I’ll try that. Anything else you might recommend? I’ve also read about making a safety hole (forgot what it was called) on the outside of the egg, that way when it internally pips it will have oxygen.

I incubate and hatch horizontally with all of my eggs now but I always made an extra effort to always hatch waterfowl on their sides because I was told to never incubate waterfowl vertically, there are definitely people that have gotten away with it but I personally wouldn't change the orientation if you've been incubating horizontally through the rest of incubation.

I've done safety holes, mostly with my waterfowl actually now that I'm looking back on it but I always wait until they have internally pipped before putting in the safety hole because it can actually start to dry out the internal membrane and make it difficult for the duckling to internally pip at all if you do a safety hole too early. Definitely wait to do the safety hole until you've increased the humidity at least.

Still see movement this morning! Air cell has grown just a little bit. Baby must be getting big because I’m finally starting to see it over in the fluid space. We are on day 24- I realized my error in marking the day I put the egg in the incubator as day 1, not day 0. So I have until tomorrow to grow the air cell as much as possible. Incubator is 99 temp and about 16% humidity.