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

[Iluvmysilkies]

I really need advice about what I should do with my shipped silkie eggs. They are on day 11 and look to be growing great but their air sacks have gotten bigger and bigger and look very saddle shaped. I think I mighta screwed up the humidity by not giving them enough. I was just following a friends advice to do a dry hatch 20-30% but the air sacks look pretty big so im not sure if they are getting enough. That combined with the odd shape of the cells, makes me unsure what I should do for lockdown.
I was thinking about giving them to my broody hen to finish hatching but she's a first time broody, and the size & shape of the air cells make me nervous and unsure which route to go. This is also my first time hatching eggs. Are their chances better if I give them to my hen since she can get the humidity right, but at the same time I wonder should they be on their sides trying to hatch when they look like this?? Will they just end up unable to get out if I let the hen hatch them. Or.. should I leave them in the bator (Its a still air with fan) and maybe try the egg carton idea where I cut the sides down low and set them upright but slightly slanted so that the air sacks are held up and suppose to make it easier for shipped eggs to hatch and less likely to drown. But I am afraid of making the wrong choice, and also afraid of shrink wrapping them. Which option will give them the best chance to hatch? Incubator in carton or give them to my broody. There are five eggs total. Here's pics of them. Need help asap before next week, im kinda freaking out. I want these babies to hatch! Any advise appreciated.

 

[casportpony]

I am a novice, but I think that it might be a good idea to raise your humidity.

-Kathy

 

[Doug Hodges]

Destiny turns 1 today.

 

[casportpony]

Does anyone know if there is a point which humidity is lethal? What I mean is if I take a bunch of eggs from a broody right before they are about to pip internally and stick them in a hatcher, is there a number that is lethal?

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

@ronott1 found this for me to read:


-Kathy

 

[sumi]

Kathy I don't know exactly at which point the humidity would be too high, but I prefer to keep it around 65-70% at that stage. Why do you want to hatch them in the incubator, instead of letting the hen hatch them?

 

[casportpony]

Kathy I don't know exactly at which point the humidity would be too high, but I prefer to keep it around 65-70% at that stage. Why do you want to hatch them in the incubator, instead of letting the hen hatch them?

Often my ducks and hens make nests in less that ideal spots and some of their eggs and chicks will get damaged, so in those cases I prefer to put them in the hatcher, hatch them out and sell them on as three day olds.

What I found yesterday is a good example... Found a hen on a nest, but two of her eggs had been stepped on after they pipped. Both were still alive, but cold and shink wrapped. Hen is pretty docile, so I moved her to a box and brought her in. The two eggs warmed up, but the membranes were dried out and I didn't think they would hatch on their own under the hen, so I fired up the hatcher (Janoel 48), filled the entire bottom with water, added two more containers of water, warmed it up and put the two chicks in. Humidity was about 75-80% and that seemed to do the trick as neither one needed their membranes moistened by me. Both chicks hatched and are back under mama.

As Ronott1 pointed out in another thread and the pdf he found, it's not likely that a high humidity is lethal, but Co2 sure is, especially as they are hatching and their O2 requirements increase.

-Kathy

 

[sumi]

That makes sense! Too high Co2 levels can be fatal, that's why I push for maximum ventilation in the incubator, especially after lock down. I always leave my incubator's vent hole open fully. I think 90+ % humidity could be problematic though.

 

[casportpony]

My bators don't have vents, so I do worry about that a little.

So far 80% is the highest I've been able to get in the Janoel to stay at. FWIW, this came up because someone mentioned that they saw fatalities at 80% and they just assumed that 80% was lethal. In my case, 80% really seems to help those that are shrink wrapped and the last bunch of Muscovies zipped out in record time with it that high. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting people try this, just want to know if there is a max humidity for eggs once they've pipped.

-Kathy

 

[sumi]

I've copied and pasted this from my article for reference:

Quote: Humidity AFTER they pipped is not listed as a cause of fatalities, but it is before. Too high humidity before pipping can lead to fluid build up in the air sac, I've had that happen with my second hatch. Shame, the poor chick drowned and I felt awful about it. I don't know what the humidity was in that spot where the egg was though. It was one egg in the batch and it was directly above the water well in a (badly designed) homemade incubator.