Thanks for posting this. You have given one good reason someone may want to try this. That must have been amazing to watch.
It is a shame you don't remember details to help
@ChickensAreGoat My main concerns would be moisture loss and that it is open to bacteria. Basically the same concerns if you drop an egg and crack the shell.
There are certain guidelines we follow to try to improve the odds of an egg hatching. Opening an egg like this certainly violates some of those guidelines. Not following those guidelines does not automatically mean the eggs will not hatch but that the chance of them hatching decreases. Sometimes a lot, sometimes not much.
I can think of one recent poster who is experimenting with breaking a lot of our standard guidelines to see what that does to her hatches. She is purposely doing things wrong. I'm waiting to see her latest results but she is finding out that some of these don't make as much difference as commonly thought. They do make a difference so I think they are worth following. But sometimes you can have fun.
A few years back someone posted a study performed in Turkey about how often to turn eggs, if at all. Turning makes a difference, but that difference was less than I thought it would be. I still turn.
@ChickensAreGoat I do not have any specific suggestions for you. I've never tried anything like that. But I wish you luck and hope to see the results, good or bad.
. It’s set to 95.5 temp and 50-55% humidity. It auto turns, but just rotates it, no real turning except when I take it out every day or 2. Thanks!
(it was my 1st attempt). I decided to attempt it again & I'm on day 4 (I'm doing a few bantam eggs & 1 Brahma/silkie cross). I hatched 3 healthy Brahma chicks & they’re all still healthy, growing & the 2 ladies are laying. As for the ‘window’ cover, I used the clear waterproof wound care sheets cut to size. I incubated for almost 3 days before making the window. The membrane on 1 of the eggs came off (which was a complete accident) but definitely made a much better view. Temp was 99.5°-100°. I never turned them & I candled quite often. It was 2 days before lockdown when I realized they actually may hatch. I watched from the heartbeat to hatch. It was absolutely amazing to watch! Here are some photos. I have some fantastic videos also.
