Egg with a pinhole....another with a very thin shell, yet another that is just so tiny

[LaylaJane]

When I put the eggs I ordered into the incubator, I noticed that one had a tiny pinhole that didn't break the membrane, one that the shell felt very thin/brittle, and one that looked small enough to be a guinea egg... I've put them all in the incubator just to see what happens till I candle tomorrow evening. The hatchery was kind enough to send 2 extra, so I'm guessing they don't think they will make it. Do these happen frequently, or is that a hatchery thing? I can't imagine how the pinhole got there and didn't break the skin!! (I'll post if I can get a good pic of it and the other 2...)

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

With the pin hole
I had one I got from a friend that I didn’t notice the pin hole the first week till I candied and the air cell was was way bigger then the other eggs I could then see it too
So I put candle wax on and crossed my fingers
The air cell continued to grow faster then the other eggs but had slowed from the first week
Baby was first to hatch and he zipped 8 hours after external pip
I was in shock
But with as big as his air cell was he was probably internal pip for much longer then 24 hours. He had lots of air
Smaller eggs may result in babies getting to big to turn to hatch and may need assistance

 

[LaylaJane]

With the pin hole
I had one I got from a friend that I didn’t notice the pin hole the first week till I candied and the air cell was was way bigger then the other eggs I could then see it too
So I put candle wax on and crossed my fingers
The air cell continued to grow faster then the other eggs but had slowed from the first week
Baby was first to hatch and he zipped 8 hours after external pip
I was in shock
But with as big as his air cell was he was probably internal pip for much longer then 24 hours. He had lots of air
Smaller eggs may result in babies getting to big to turn to hatch and may need assistance

Thank you! I'm candling tonight so I will see how it's doing and try the wax... I'm really worried about the lil one though, it's so small maybe it will be the "small but mighty"

 

[LaylaJane]

Candling went way better than I was expecting!! #3 the lil bitty one is swimming like a lil trooper! The brittle shell #13 I don't think is well and the lil one with a pinhole is doing well!! I did put a tiny dot of wax over the pinhole as suggested, so here hoping. All in all, 15 of 19 are for sure, and the other 4 I'm going to give a few days and check again. My lil bourbon red showed well too, so I'm pretty excited!! I've been turning like a mother hen, every 2 hours 6 am to 8 pm then every 3 hours over night... I know, excessive... Probably shouldn't be turning so much? Anyway, I took a few pics and video... The pic of #13, can anyone tell if it's good? I really see nothing.

 

[LaylaJane]

UPDATE- So being a semi micromanager lol, I candled a second time last night and was hoping for some insight as to air sacks and general viability and probable term outcome of an couple of them


#3 I'm naming Tiny, the egg is just tiny, but has been active from the get. The chick looks to be developing well, so my question is, can she survive in a shell half the size of a regular egg?

Air sacks, do they look healthy for day 11?

#15 The shell is so thick I could not get a good look at the chick, and being new to candling, I couldn't tell if I was seeing veins or not... I used #19 as a control, because even my untrained eyes can see the veins in her.

#4 Is still showing no further development and I'm not sure what I'm seeing... I am going to leave her in bc I need to see fails as well as successes, still worried. Her air sack looks good to me, but again, I don't know what I'm looking for.

Thank you again for any help, I truly do appreciate it!

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

for the egg that’s smaller
She may not be able to turn to hatch
( I incubated my ducks eggs when she was newer to laying )
I incubated 6 and all 6 made it to hatch
The 2 bigger of the 6 eggs hatched themselves. The other 4 were in the wrong position and stuck
Needed full assists
Just watch her at hatch time
She may need help out
My ducks are over a year old and doing great
It didn’t cause them any issues

 

[NatJ]

I can't imagine how the pinhole got there and didn't break the skin!!

The egg was probably laid with a lump of calcium. Later, the lump fell off or was knocked off, leaving the pinhole. But because it was something falling off the outside, not poking in, the membrane was fine.

The chick looks to be developing well, so my question is, can she survive in a shell half the size of a regular egg?

Bantam chickens do fine in small eggs. I don't think that egg looks smaller than a bantam egg. You can never be certain any specific chick will survive, but I think it's got a good chance.

 

[LaylaJane]

for the egg that’s smaller
She may not be able to turn to hatch
( I incubated my ducks eggs when she was newer to laying )
I incubated 6 and all 6 made it to hatch
The 2 bigger of the 6 eggs hatched themselves. The other 4 were in the wrong position and stuck
Needed full assists
Just watch her at hatch time
She may need help out
My ducks are over a year old and doing great
It didn’t cause them any issues

Thank you!!

 

[Stephh0701]

I'm going to agree that the tiny egg is a bantum and should do fine. I also had an egg with large cracks in it that I didn't notice till candling at day 8 and I just covered it with melted wax and moved on. The chick hatched fine thank goodness. I think the issue with a broken shell or one with holes is it possibly let's bacteria in. I got lucky that my chick survived. Fingers crossed for your little holey egg

 

[LaylaJane]

Well now I'm even more excited to see Tiny! I put a drop of wax on the pinhole just in case, so fingers crossed