Egg I was SURE was dead... isn't. What do I do with the giant hole in the eggshell?!

[UThobbyfarmer]

I'm part of the Homesteaders! And backyard chickens. I'm trying to hatch 'funky' chickens. I don't want generic babies. Gimmie some little weirdos! I like to buy mixes so you never know what you get. The problem is I'm in the Orem/Provo area and everyone else isn't. I can't find local eggs to hatch that aren't your generic babies. Once the babies are old enough I rehome them.




Really? I've had some real kickers before hatching. Maybe they were the odd ones and she's normal.

I'm in Mapleton. Pretty close to you. I know of a handful of local breeders who keep rare breeds in South Utah County. Specifically there is a lady in Mapleton with a mixed rare breed flock. Stunning high quality eggs. I think she charges $10/dozen for her hatching eggs.

There is another lady in Genola with polish, ameraucana, and silkies. Other breeds too but that what I can remember. She gave me a bunch of eggs when I bought a pullet from her. They all hatched out really well.

Send me a message if you'd like contact info for the lady in Mapleton. They other lady's I'd have to dig for. It was on my old phone.

 

[Tatuana]

I'm in Mapleton. Pretty close to you. I know of a handful of local breeders who keep rare breeds in South Utah County. Specifically there is a lady in Mapleton with a mixed rare breed flock. Stunning high quality eggs. I think she charges $10/dozen for her hatching eggs.

There is another lady in Genola with polish, ameraucana, and silkies. Other breeds too but that what I can remember. She gave me a bunch of eggs when I bought a pullet from her. They all hatched out really well.

Send me a message if you'd like contact info for the lady in Mapleton. They other lady's I'd have to dig for. It was on my old phone.

I might take you up on that sometime! The problem is I can't drive very far. A wheel barring is dying, my transmission is slipping, the van overheats if the AC is on at all, and my heater isn't working due to a broken thermostat. Nevermind the oil leak. We try to keep the poor thing as close to home as we can until repairs can be made. Plus my driver HATES going more than ten minutes away. But I want funky babies SO BAD.

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I think little baby is getting more active. I had to check her membrane not long ago so I snapped some pictures. It looks like she might still be working on her yoke as well. There's also a really big air bubble if you tilt the egg? It was bigger earlier. It terrified me when it first appeared. It kinda filled with blood a little bit. I thought baby had bitten through a vein and was bleeding to death. The blood seems to have dried up, and the thick vein running through it. If today IS her hatch day, she's several hours late. I put them in at noon exactly. It's nearly eight now. Which isn't cause for alarm, I know. But she's a slow baby.

PS ignore my crappy nails. My normal white polish dried up and the new one I tried is horrible.

 

[LynnaePB]

Glad to hear your baby is hanging in there! I wouldn't be surprised if she/he takes another day or so.

I don't think the bubble is a cause for concern as long as there isn't fluid in it. If only a little bleeding occurred the baby should be alright.

Your next challenge will be making sure the little one has access to air, once she/he starts breathing. This will be fairly easy if you can see the beak, more difficult if the baby is malpositioned. Hopefully your little one can internally/externally pip on it's own but I wouldn't be too surprised if it ends up needing help with that.

If the blood vessels start drying up more and there still isn't any breathing you might want to see if you can help it out with that pip. Unfortunately switching from using the blood vessel system for air to using their lungs can be difficult for them. The only thing you can really do at that stage is make sure they have access to air while they finish up absorbing the yolk and blood vessels.

 

[Tatuana]

I did one last check on her/him before bed and moistened areas I missed earlier. While (gently!) getting the edges a tear appeared. It's in the side without baby, or any blood vessels. You can see it in the pic with the arrow. I circled it in very tiny red so you can see clearly. Is that going to be a problem? Man I feel impatient and like my impatience is going to kill her. Please be okay baby! Her large vein is shrinking. There's also the tiniest hole on the other side of the egg where I began the eggtopsy before realizing it was the wrong side. A pin prick. So maybe she can get air when she wants to?

I'm honestly not sure what I'm seeing. Yoke? normally I can get an idea of what's inside. I don't see any features. No legs or beak. I THINK I saw her eye earlier? Maybe? If so she's shifted.

 

[LynnaePB]

I did one last check on her/him before bed and moistened areas I missed earlier. While (gently!) getting the edges a tear appeared. It's in the side without baby, or any blood vessels. You can see it in the pic with the arrow. I circled it in very tiny red so you can see clearly. Is that going to be a problem? Man I feel impatient and like my impatience is going to kill her. Please be okay baby! Her large vein is shrinking. There's also the tiniest hole on the other side of the egg where I began the eggtopsy before realizing it was the wrong side. A pin prick. So maybe she can get air when she wants to?

I'm honestly not sure what I'm seeing. Yoke? normally I can get an idea of what's inside. I don't see any features. No legs or beak. I THINK I saw her eye earlier? Maybe? If so she's shifted.

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I can't say for sure but that little tear probably won't be a problem (if it isn't against the yolk I wouldn't be worried at all, even if it is it will probably be alright).

It's really hard to say just from pictures but yeah that does look more like yolk to me. It's probably a good thing you have that little prick on the other end, it should up the likelihood that she/he can get some air. The good news is a lot of times they are able to hatch alright in that backwards/head in small end of egg position. I hope the little one manages to make an external pip for you, trying to externally pip for him/her in that position will be very difficult.

I haven't dealt with an assist with this exact malposition with an egg that hasn't externally pipped yet. This is a tough one to know exactly what to do, it's important they have access to air and it's also important not to break any large blood vessels that will likely still be there at this point. It's good you can at least monitor when that yolk is absorbed. If she/he finishes that up and hasn't been able to externally pip that'll be a safer time to widen the hole on the other end as likely there won't be many blood vessels left at that time. If you wait that long and she/he doesn't have air there is the chance she/he will suffocate. Seeing as that yolk still looks pretty large I'd personally wait for now and hopefully the little one will take the choice out of your hands and make her/his own external pip. If you do have to try widening anything on the other end just make sure to have a paper towel or something similar nearby to quickly stop the bleeding if you do hit a blood vessel.

I'm really sorry you are having to deal with what may be a more difficult assist, I'm routing for your little one! Good luck!

 

[Tatuana]

I'm sure the answer is "Whenever she darn well feels like it because animals are finicky" but do you by chance have any idea on how much longer we're looking at? What if - heaven forbid - someone screwed up and she's not actually due until next week? Could she make it that far? (I didn't set these ones, or change them over to this incubator, so I'm not positive on some things) I would think her veins wouldn't be shrinking if she was still a week early.

I'm rooting for the cutie. I've no idea what she'll end up being. Except probably a rooster. I have a very high success rate with hatching males. As far as looks go, who knows.

 

[LynnaePB]

Looking at the size of that yolk I'd be surprised if she/he comes out in less than 24 hours. I'd guess 1-2 days probably but it's just a guess. I've never been in the position where I opened or accidentally cracked an egg that had a weak left so can't comment on that unfortunately.

Hopefully you'll get lucky and get a healthy little girl unless you'd like a rooster than hopefully your rooster luck holds!

 

[Tatuana]

I can't see any movement today. I'm hoping she's just sleepy/sluggish like she normally is.

 

[Tatuana]

She died. And I know exactly what happened. And it's my fault. First off, I'm under an incredible amount of stress. I really shouldn't have been hatching anyway. (Husband dying overseas - no idea if I can immigrate in time) I'm also impatient and have ADHD/OCD/Anxiety.

So, what happened. She was alive and I got impatient. I poked a hole in the small side to see what was going on. Almost immediately a small amount of blood filled the egg and the bubble appeared. She was still moving then. After I saw that I stopped. I THOUGHT I was poking in an empty space, guess not. I'm pretty sure she was dead by last night. Most likely from the poke. I also shouldn't have opened her egg and given her a few more days. But again, impatient/anxiety. And I had convinced myself I hadn't seen any movement, when I might have. (I probably did, if I'm being truthful)

I retired baby today and turned off my incubator. I'm literally in tears. I keep forgetting my mental health issues can have real world consequences. In this case, death. I feel terrible.

Anyway, this isn't a mental health forum, but I figured I ought to let y'all know what happened. Mom got me the eggs to distract me. I guess it didn't work. *Sigh*

 

[Criticalicious]

It's not your fault. If it was meant to hatch, it would have done so already. Odds are, it was not strong enough to survive. And in any case, it's hard to raise a lone chick. They need friends!

Don't give up just yet. Incubating is tricky business under the best of circumstances. Which incubator are you using? Some brands are more successful than others. And as previously posted, odds are much much better with local eggs rather than shipped ones.