First time hatching and Murphy's Law seems to be in full effect

[AmyLynn2374]

It's always a good idea to candle eggs before setting them. Sometimes you can have hair line cracks that can't be seen w/o the light of candling that could pose problems with bacteria getting in and ooze leaking out. It will help you look at things such as porosity of egg shell which could help determine cause of deaths later on. If you are getting your eggs from an outside source it may even alert you to an egg that has been unknowingly incubated by a broody or bad storage in too warm conditions. (Rare, but a possibility.) Plus it gives you an opportunity to check for air cells and gives you an idea of how fresh of eggs your supplier is sending/giving you.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thank you, AmyLynn, we need all the help we can get, right, Naliez?
I was hoping there was a way to tell without cracking them open but alas, that isn't to be. I haven't ever bought eggs to be mailed so have no idea what happens to them. I would imagine the juggling and changes they go through would cause several to be ruined before you start. My cousin and I drove and picked up eggs from a lady and not one of the two dozen she bought hatched. That has to be frustrating for an experienced hatcher and some one like us - well just keep your chin up.

One of the biggest problems with shipping is detatched air cells/saddle shapped air cells. Also if they were handled extremely rough they can literally get "scrambled" inside the shell in which case they are ruined. Generally if you get 50% hatch rate from shipped eggs, you're doing good. There are a few tricks and extra things you can do to increase your chances of shipped eggs, especially in the area of air cell re-attatchment like not turn the first few days of incubation, incubate upright, but shipped eggs are much riskier..

 

[goats2chickens]

Here are some pics I snapped last night. The pretty green is actually light blue, the others are tinted and then there is one small banty egg which I suspect is Not fertile. The baked eggs will continue on in an incubator without a turner (except for me twice a day) until I am sure no one survived.

Just so everybody knows how clumsy I am, I dropped one of the eggs onto two others while trying to get pics and have several shots of my hand holding an egg with the flash (I think I must hold the phone too far away when that happens??)

Anyway, on to the better news...I have amassed a total of 45 eggs so I will be filling the incubator up tonight! Yippee!!!
So I am going to be candling (and hopefully not dropping) eggs a week from tomorrow.

 

[Naliez]

Here are some pics I snapped last night. The pretty green is actually light blue, the others are tinted and then there is one small banty egg which I suspect is Not fertile. The baked eggs will continue on in an incubator without a turner (except for me twice a day) until I am sure no one survived. Just so everybody knows how clumsy I am, I dropped one of the eggs onto two others while trying to get pics and have several shots of my hand holding an egg with the flash (I think I must hold the phone too far away when that happens??) Anyway, on to the better news...I have amassed a total of 45 eggs so I will be filling the incubator up tonight! Yippee!!! So I am going to be candling (and hopefully not dropping) eggs a week from tomorrow.

Hooray!!! My good news for the evening is that I got my first egg!!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Hooray!!! My good news for the evening is that I got my first egg!!

Congrats! So exciting. Is it a silkie???

BTW: LOVE the nails.

 

[Naliez]

Congrats! So exciting. Is it a silkie???

BTW: LOVE the nails. 

It's from my Speckled Sussex! My Silkie eggs go into lockdown on Sunday, so fingers crossed I get a few of them! They will be my first silkies.
Thanks on my nails! They're nail stickers from Walmart. They last for weeks. I love them! Lol

 

[Naliez]

I eggtopsied my only semi-developed Serama from my first batch. I didn't want to upset anyone, so I didn't post it here, but it looks like an infection to me.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I am proud of you!!! That is an awesome undertaking, IMHO. I would like to know what to look for and how to eggtopsie!

The "how to" is not hard. (Providing you are not squeamish.) I always start my eggtopsies by tapping a hole in the air cell of the egg to make sure there is no sign of life that I have missed during candling. Then I preceed by using tweezers to chip away the egg working down until I can get the chick out. (At least if they are full term.) If it's an early quitter, I just crack the egg normally over a container and hold my breath.

 

[Naliez]

I found it. With the discoloration of fluids and the smell, I'd say that there's a good chance it could have been a bacterial infection. A good share of the time I think that the smell is caused by bacteria.
I need to research on decomposition of chick embryos in the shell, because that is one area I am not versed in. I'm not sure what kind of rate for decomp occurs within the shell.

I knew it had quit, but my husband was holding out on tossing it, so it sat alone in the incubator for a few days after it was already gone. The smell was bad, but not overwhelmingly strong. The incubator was new and the eggs were shipped. I hand turned the eggs, but I was vigilant about washing my hands before touching the eggs. I'm not sure exactly how an egg can get an infection, but I would like to know so that I can learn and take steps to possibly prevent it from happening again in the future. Thank you for taking a look for me. Very much appreciated.

 

[Naliez]

Here's the link to the pics.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1017177/eggtopsy-warning-graphic-pics#post_15767313