Does the air cell grow in quitters?

[laurenelisabeth]

I pulled a bunch of "empties" from my hatch at day 7. When I cracked them open, most were infertile, but one had a developing chick. Whether I killed it or not, I don't want to know. I marked air cells at day 10, and noticed another empty looking egg. Because I had missed it before, and now I'm more cautious after the little chick, I decided to leave it in. Today is day 14, and the air cell has gotten bigger. I thought this was a sign of life, but is it just what all eggs do when they lose moisture? Also when I candled it, I could see two very small dark spots. I saw only one first, and thought it might be a blood spot. Until I saw the second one. It doesn't smell, but there's probably little chance it holds a living chick, right?

 

[lazy gardener]

Yes, air cells do grow even in eggs with a dead chick. Though I doubt that they grow at the same rate. If an egg is lagging behind the rest of it's "clutch mates" I'm guessing that it's not viable. But, not being experienced, I tend to err on the side of caution regarding culling.