Egg autopsy (Blech)

[BeautifulPacificNorthwest]

I'm new to this. Just finished my first hatch...two eggs. One hatched, one didn't. I candled both at lock-down and saw movement. I'm assuming the incubator conditions were okay since one hatched. Maybe the conditions need to be different for the different breeds?

I gave the non-hatcher several extra days, did the float test, candled again, then resigned myself to the fact it was dead. I took it outside, screwed up my courage and cracked it open to see if I could determine what might have gone wrong. Fat lot of good that did me, I don't know what I'm looking for

I realize eggs can just stop developing for whatever reason, but I'm curious. This was a sex-link hen/Cubalaya rooster mix. Maybe that combo had something to do with it? For what it's worth, when I cracked it open, there was an approximately nickle sized blood clot type thing. Normal? I didn't see any yolk so I'm guessing it had been absorbed.

The good news is, I have a 50/50 success rate. I'm looking forward to my next hatch, but I'd appreciate any insight or feedback on what went wrong with this one

 

[CCourson05]

You have any pics? Would be much easier to determine what could have gone wrong...

 

[BeautifulPacificNorthwest]

I'll go get it and try to take some to post. I was afraid they might be too gross...

 

[CCourson05]

Quote:
Psh. Among the masses that we create, I am sure we have seen it all.

 

[Chickengal505]

Blood clot...hmmmm that doesnt sound good.... feel free. We've seen GROSS things trust me.

 

[Kedreeva]

This might help: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=363717

And if you post photos there, I'll add them to the original post so others can learn.

Also the blood clot was probably waste from the chick, or membrane left over especially if it was under the chick. Sometimes chicks just plain old fail to pip, and at that point... well, mother nature has spoken

They sometimes don't pip because they aren't strong enough genetically, or sometimes they get stuck to the membrane, or sometimes the egg shell is too thick, or they get positioned wrong... or they make it through inside and drown or... well, the list goes on! Bad luck would be my guess in this case.

 

[BeautifulPacificNorthwest]

So. I had buried under some composting straw in my garden. I had to lightly wash it off. My apologies. I don't recall if it was that wet when I opened it. Here it is with the clot next to it. Poor little thing.

Then I rolled it over over:

Clotted mass:

 

[BeautifulPacificNorthwest]

Wow Kedreeva, amazing egg autopsy thread. I wish I had read it before I broke mine open. Your pictures and information are incredible. Thank you.

 

[shandiane78]

This looks like normal membrane muck to me. Sorry about your chickie.

 

[Chickengal505]

Quote:
the clot is membrane gunk