Diary & Notes ~ Air Cell Detatched SHIPPED Chicken Eggs for incubation and hatching

[lizanne]

Hugs! I know what you mean. Do you incubate them on their side or upright in cartons? I have had better success in cartons when I leave them in the upright position all the way through hatch. It's an art to learn, don't give up but take a break if needed.

I incubated in the carton, then laid it down at lockdown. The air cell looked good, it was shaped well and it re-attached. I just wish my hatching rate was getting better, instead of worse. My first hatch I had 10/12 hatch, and all 10 of them went into lockdown. One clear and one blood ring. Now I'm lucky to get 50%.

 

[ozexpat]

I incubated in the carton, then laid it down at lockdown. The air cell looked good, it was shaped well and it re-attached. I just wish my hatching rate was getting better, instead of worse. My first hatch I had 10/12 hatch, and all 10 of them went into lockdown. One clear and one blood ring. Now I'm lucky to get 50%.

I feel your pain Lizanne.

I have had hatch rated from 100% all the way down to zip. Most of us probably have.

When I was talking about trying to get the humidity in the Philippines bator below that you would find naturally, I got a comment asking if chickens can hatch eggs there.

The thing is we are not chickens. We do all sorts of things to emulate chickens, We drive ourselves crazy trying to hatch. All chickens do is sit their feathered *** on the eggs, I love them for it and hate them as well.

The death is part of it. Some cant deal with it. Mrs Oz has flash backs to us trying to conceive with IVF every time she loses a term chick.

We try to hatch against the odds. Shipped eggs of indeterminate age, indeterminate fertility, traveled by indeterminate methods through indeterminate temperatures.

Celebrate 50%.

 

[lizanne]

I feel your pain Lizanne.

I have had hatch rated from 100% all the way down to zip. Most of us probably have.

When I was talking about trying to get the humidity in the Philippines bator below that you would find naturally, I got a comment asking if chickens can hatch eggs there.

The thing is we are not chickens. We do all sorts of things to emulate chickens, We drive ourselves crazy trying to hatch. All chickens do is sit their feathered *** on the eggs, I love them for it and hate them as well.

The death is part of it. Some cant deal with it. Mrs Oz has flash backs to us trying to conceive with IVF every time she loses a term chick.

We try to hatch against the odds. Shipped eggs of indeterminate age, indeterminate fertility, traveled by indeterminate methods through indeterminate temperatures.

Celebrate 50%.

Thanks Oz.

 

[Dissonata]

My one chick set do hatch yesterday died. It pipped last night, in the middle of the egg under the air cell. When I looked at it I could see fluid around the pip, so I used a paper towel to try to remove some of the extra fluid. It seemed to have some in its mouth too, so I dried around it's beak. It never made a sound, but appeared to be breathing before I went to bed. I put the egg back in the incubator on it's side so more fluid wouldn't build up around it's beak. When I went to check this morning it had passed.

I have had so many issues with malpositioned chicks. I think I need to take a break from hatching (after my 2 batches I already have incubating hatch). It's frustrating that I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. When I look at the hatching trouble shooter, I have a hard time narrowing it down (.. too hot, or too cold - high humidity, or low humidity). I feel so guilty every time I have a chick that is full term, and dies.

Here is the picture of the egg. I removed a little extra of the shell this morning, but the original pip was at the very bottom of the removed shell (opposite the air cell)

I've been watching this thread because of how interesting it is (though I am only incubating parrot eggs myself, and haven't had many hatching difficulties in some time, knock on wood) and just thought I'd pop in to say that I would guess humidity issues to be the cause of this. Excessive humidity, specifically. The air cell doesn't look as large as I would expect in an egg that is internally pipped, and your pencil mark (I assume you measuring the air cell before lockdown) also looks far too high up the egg. The dead giveaway though would be the moisture in the egg and in the chick's beak. To me, I would think there can only be one explanation for that. Any time a chick drowns in its egg, it is definitely due to high humidity, and if there was fluid in the chick's beak, I'm afraid that seems to have been the case.

It's curious that the chick would have pipped so low, but sometimes they pip unusually with high humidity; sometimes even upside down, and that can be disastrous because they will sometimes have their heads tucked between their legs instead of under a wing as they should be. High humidity from my experience frequently causes malposition. Unfortunately the troubles I've had with hatching have mostly been due to this. And usually I find that the culprit is an inaccurate hygrometer. Every hygrometer that I've had has failed after a year or less of usage, or started to go off at least, and even new ones are iffy. That's why calibration, and the use of multiple hygrometers, is a necessity. When in doubt, less humidity is always better than too much.

With that said, I am very sorry about your problems. Better luck next time!

 

[lizanne]

I've been watching this thread because of how interesting it is (though I am only incubating parrot eggs myself, and haven't had many hatching difficulties in some time, knock on wood) and just thought I'd pop in to say that I would guess humidity issues to be the cause of this. Excessive humidity, specifically. The air cell doesn't look as large as I would expect in an egg that is internally pipped, and your pencil mark (I assume you measuring the air cell before lockdown) also looks far too high up the egg. The dead giveaway though would be the moisture in the egg and in the chick's beak. To me, I would think there can only be one explanation for that. Any time a chick drowns in its egg, it is definitely due to high humidity, and if there was fluid in the chick's beak, I'm afraid that seems to have been the case.

It's curious that the chick would have pipped so low, but sometimes they pip unusually with high humidity; sometimes even upside down, and that can be disastrous because they will sometimes have their heads tucked between their legs instead of under a wing as they should be. High humidity from my experience frequently causes malposition. Unfortunately the troubles I've had with hatching have mostly been due to this. And usually I find that the culprit is an inaccurate hygrometer. Every hygrometer that I've had has failed after a year or less of usage, or started to go off at least, and even new ones are iffy. That's why calibration, and the use of multiple hygrometers, is a necessity. When in doubt, less humidity is always better than too much.

With that said, I am very sorry about your problems. Better luck next time!

Thanks!! That pencil mark is from my 10 day candling. I didn't mark any other than that because I only had one egg left at that point. Poor thing didn't ever really pip internally because it was so low it was internal and external at the same time. I've been using the dry incubation method, but I will definitely run out and get a new hygrometer. These were large (very large) shipped eggs, so I don't know if that might have something to do with it. I really appreciate you advice!

 

[Dissonata]

Thanks!! That pencil mark is from my 10 day candling. I didn't mark any other than that because I only had one egg left at that point. Poor thing didn't ever really pip internally because it was so low it was internal and external at the same time. I've been using the dry incubation method, but I will definitely run out and get a new hygrometer. These were large (very large) shipped eggs, so I don't know if that might have something to do with it. I really appreciate you advice!

That is strange! Usually, with any fluid in the egg, the cause will be high humidity. But if you were going completely dry, that feels unlikely, unless you live in a very, very humid region. And for day 10 candling, the air cell looks all right. I've actually had an issue with eggs incubated at too low humidity where they will pip the shell at the same time that they internally pip. I thought it might be because they were convulsing too much, maybe because of too much carbon dioxide in the egg -- they would have less room in the egg if the air cell took up a large part of the egg, and that might cause that, from what I've read. But this is entirely speculation. Either way, a hygrometer might help you. I have also had problems with humidity being too low, because I live in such a dry area, and it has been so bad in the past I've had very underweight and dehydrated baby parrots hatch just in the nest box. So, dry incubation isn't always good in my experience. It's really tricky to say what your problem is, because I would guess high humidity because of the fluid, but everything else seems to contradict that. Sorry that I couldn't be more help, but I hope you figure it out.

 

[lizanne]

I don't do completely dry, but I usually have my humidity are 30% or so, and adjust after candling and checking air cell development. I did an eggtopsy on that one, and the poor thing didn't have a chance. completely malpositioned, with it's head between it's legs, curled up in the middle of the egg. I put some pics of it below, but it's kinda sad...

 

[sumi]

My one chick set do hatch yesterday died. It pipped last night, in the middle of the egg under the air cell. When I looked at it I could see fluid around the pip, so I used a paper towel to try to remove some of the extra fluid. It seemed to have some in its mouth too, so I dried around it's beak. It never made a sound, but appeared to be breathing before I went to bed. I put the egg back in the incubator on it's side so more fluid wouldn't build up around it's beak. When I went to check this morning it had passed.

I have had so many issues with malpositioned chicks. I think I need to take a break from hatching (after my 2 batches I already have incubating hatch). It's frustrating that I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. When I look at the hatching trouble shooter, I have a hard time narrowing it down (.. too hot, or too cold - high humidity, or low humidity). I feel so guilty every time I have a chick that is full term, and dies.

Here is the picture of the egg. I removed a little extra of the shell this morning, but the original pip was at the very bottom of the removed shell (opposite the air cell)

I'm so sorry

I hope you can figure this out!

 

[sumi]

Quote: From what I could tell candling last night the air cells looked as if I picked them out of my own nests. I will be able to tell more after they begin to grow. I set the eggs a little bit ago. I am stressing out already. I bought some expensive barnvelder eggs recently and while the air-cell were horrible, 11 of 17 were developing. 9 made it to lock down and not a single chick hatched. Then I realize the likely problem, my egg turner was unplugged the WHOLE time! I didn't even realize it. So spacey these days. Once I plugged it back in I couldn't believe I didn't notice the lack of noise coming from the incubator.

Such a dumb mistake...

Lisa
That is a beautiful rooster. I love black chickens. Best of luck with your hatch, hope it goes well for you this time round!

 

[NestingHillsSC]

I'm hand turning or tilting my cartons at least 3 times a day and in the one pic that is the top it's almost as big as my kitchen table and about as high as a dresser drawer is deep
Here are the Roos and some of the hens I would love to know what the 2 black with brown hens are they are pure got them from murry mcmurry

Wyandottes