Floating test

[crystalmichelle]

How do yu do the floating test to see if your chick egg is live ? Is it harmful to the chick ?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I only try it when I think the hatch is over and I want to make sure there are no live chicks left. Usually I don't bother but I had a niece visiting so I showed her how it is done recently.

Get a bowl of water and put the egg in it. The egg will float. If the chick inside is alive the egg will wiggle on its own. If the egg does not wiggle, the chick is not alive.

If the egg has not pipped it should not harm the chick inside as long as you don't leave it in the water for very long. The egg shell is porous and water can seep in, but that process is really slow. You have enough time to let the egg settle before any harm is done.

I do not recommend doing this early just to see if you have a chick in there. If the chick is a little slow to develop it may not be to the point that it will wiggle. You should not harm the egg doing this, but you will wash away the bloom so if there is much time left, bacteria could more easily get inside. With a chick running late that won't be a problem. The bacteria won't have time to build up to harmful levels.

You can do this whenever you wish, but I reserve this for an emergency. The only time I'll do this is when I am ready to throw the eggs out, just as a final check.

 

[lambkamp]

Very useful - we are right at that stage now! Thanks for the helpful advice.

4th:
We had 3/15 hatch so far, today is the 23rd day, so I floated the remaining dozen. Three sank (I now know - duds), 8 floated with @ 1/2" or less above the surface, and one had a pecked hole in it which I didn't see until the last minute. Yikes! I apologized profusely as I yanked it out of the bath, Egg peeped in irritation, so I warmed him up and put them all back under Mom.

Later went down to find that mom had pushed Peeping Egg out of next, after enlarging the hole and creating a bit of a bloody mess. Put PE under a heat lamp, still breathing, but not much else. What a horrible day s/he is having!

Should I help PE out or just wait or ?