Eggshells changed drastically?

[BurnBrightly]

I am a hatching newbie. We decided to try to hatch a few of our chicken and duck eggs when our broody Pekin duck abandoned her nest. The chicken eggs are due to hatch on 10/20, and this morning when I checked on them, the eggshells look completely different. They have developed striations on the circumference of the shell almost like the rings inside a tree trunk. Is this normal? The temp has been a rock solid 100 degrees and the humidity is 60%. Thank you for any input. My hopes are so high!!

 

[davemonkey]

The eggs I am incubated have changed to some degree or another during the process, but nothing drastic. The porous areas stand out more, the shells tend to get smoother as they are turned often, that sort of thing. Have you been turning the eggs regularly?

 

[BurnBrightly]

I've been turning them three times a day. Is that enough or should I have been turning them more?

 

[davemonkey]

Yep 3 times is enough. I'm not sure what could be causing the difference in the shells...is it too late to candle them to see if things still look normal inside, or are you at lockdown now? I suppose you'll find out sooner or later at hatch time.

 

[BurnBrightly]

I will candle tonight and then they will be on lockdown. The eggs are extremely dark and with the dark brown shells, I'm barely seeing anything anymore, but the air sac has been enlarging, and we were seeing embryo movement up until they got too big to really see anything clearly. Thanks for your input. Maybe I'm just over thinking it. The incubator is in the kitchen, and I peek through the clear top often to check temp and humidity, so I'm probably just picking up on more differences than I would if it were more out of sight.

 

[davemonkey]

Any updates on how things turned out? I'd guess that if air cell kept developing, so did the chick (that's been my experience so far).

 

[BurnBrightly]

They're in lockdown, and I've seen the eggs wiggle here and there, so I'm hoping for the best. I'm thinking my incubating temps may have been a tad low on these. It wasn't until halfway through that I read that still air incubators need to be a little warmer than forced air. I'm learning a lot, and just hoping for the best. I'm hoping for a hatch today or tomorrow. I candled just before they went into lockdown, and I could see movement, and the temperature and humidity have been very constant. I hope I've done everything I can do.

 

[minipaintedacre]

Sounds to me like your doing everything you can. Hope you have a great hatch.