Hatching Pros: why is air pocket so small?

[Bat Cave Silkies]

I have 6 eggs left in the bator that did not hatch (I give them till day 25). All 6 of them have comparatively small air pockets. What would have caused this? (I don't want to repeat the mistake)

Thanks

 

[eggsrcool]

What was the humidity? If the humidity was too high, not enough liquid would evaporate from the egg, therefore giving you small aircells.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

If when I candle the eggs I see some that have small air sacs. I mist them 2 times a day till they hatch. It makes the air cells bigger. It does something to the egg causing the egg to loose more moisture.

 

[GreenGoddess]

Quote:
Ok.. Am I missing something?? How does ADDING humidity (i.e. misting) make the air cells BIGGER? If that was the case, then we would all be keeping the humidity UP!

Goddess

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Quote:
Ok.. Am I missing something?? How does ADDING humidity (i.e. misting) make the air cells BIGGER? If that was the case, then we would all be keeping the humidity UP!

Goddess

It does something to the egg to make it loose more moisture. It works. I have been doing it since last year when I read it. But I cant find it again.


I found it.

Some breeders suggest that you spray waterfowl eggs daily. This can be done with a small amount of slightly warmed water. You can then leave the incubator open for a minute or so afterwards. Sometimes this can be of benefit. If you do it, start at day 7 and do not spray after day 25. The actual consequences of spraying are interesting. It changes the membrane of the egg so a greater percentage of moisture is lost during incubation. Ideally, a duck egg looses about 13% of its weight between the time it is laid and day 25 of incubation. Loosing significantly more or less than this reduces hatchability.

http://www.duckeggs.com/hatching-eggs.html​

 

[klf73]

yeah, I'm not getting the misting thing either, unless you are removing all other water from the bator? There is a website that explains egg water loss(or whatever it is), I will see if I can find it later...

 

[klf73]

I did hear that about duck eggs, but not chicken eggs....

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Quote:
I do remove all other water from the bator. I just mist. So far, it has worked for me.

I do it with my duck, and chicken eggs. I only do it with the chicken eggs if I see the air sacs not growing properly. And it does make them larger.

 

[eggsrcool]

Quote:
Ok.. Am I missing something?? How does ADDING humidity (i.e. misting) make the air cells BIGGER? If that was the case, then we would all be keeping the humidity UP!

Goddess

It does something to the egg to make it loose more moisture. It works. I have been doing it since last year when I read it. But I cant find it again.


I found it.

Some breeders suggest that you spray waterfowl eggs daily. This can be done with a small amount of slightly warmed water. You can then leave the incubator open for a minute or so afterwards. Sometimes this can be of benefit. If you do it, start at day 7 and do not spray after day 25. The actual consequences of spraying are interesting. It changes the membrane of the egg so a greater percentage of moisture is lost during incubation. Ideally, a duck egg looses about 13% of its weight between the time it is laid and day 25 of incubation. Loosing significantly more or less than this reduces hatchability.

http://www.duckeggs.com/hatching-eggs.html​

How interesting, never knew that

 

[GreenGoddess]

Quote:
http://www.duckeggs.com/hatching-eggs.html

Huh! See that? You learn something new every day! I never would have thought of it that way...

Goddess