Hatching without shell- I'm doing it!

[Mrs J]

Obviously some opinions here, which is good - and expected from a chicken community.

For those of you against (I happen to agree) do you believe there is a circumstance when this would be acceptable? I believe OP referenced some scholars doing it so observe the growth of the chick.

What is the consensus on something like that?

I watched a video “Rambo” they called the chick. It was really fascinating to watch, to see every single step of a chick’s development, and also a happy story/ending. For educational purposes and if they mastered the technique But even doing it under a broody or in an incubator we still take the risk of having a chick develop and it not hatch. I wouldn’t do it personally, but I certainly wouldn’t judge anyone else. There are risks and casualties in hatching chicks all of the time.

 

[Oob Child]

I watched a video “Rambo” they called the chick. It was really fascinating to watch, to see every single step of a chick’s development, and also a happy story/ending. For educational purposes and if they mastered the technique But even doing it under a broody or in an incubator we still take the risk of having a chick develop and it not hatch. I wouldn’t do it personally, but I certainly wouldn’t judge anyone else. There are risks and casualties in hatching chicks all of the time.

That video in particular was very interesting, but they were doing it completely for fame.

 

[DLA]

So, on YouTube there are videos, shorts, etc that show chicken eggs being incubated without shells. I have watched all of these and been fascinated by this for a long time.

There was a Swedish YouTuber called SlivkiShow EN who tried this. It took him 3 full years to finally get one to survive the full incubation process.
An interesting video was made by Yusaku Watanabe who hatched one in a seemingly simpler way. Hi China made a short video documenting the growth process of a chicken, again, without a shell. So many shorts videos have been done in this as well. Yusaku Watanabe has a step by step guide of how he did it in his.

So, why am I talking about this?
I want to try this experiment, and document exactly how I tried/did it using cheap home supplies, using a quail egg. I will not stop until I have hatched the first quail to hatch without a shell. (I will stop, check the bottom of the post).

I will start the experiment in three weeks (I'm going on a holiday) and document it on this thread, then write a BYC article on it.

It would be cool if someone with a premium account could pin this so as many people see this as possible. I want people to know of this. (I'm not sure if it's possible to pin someone else's post)

Here's the cheap materials I will use:
-glad wrap
-fertile quail egg yolk+white
-Plastic cup
-mould for glad wrap (you have to mould it into shape, which I will use another quail egg for)
-hospital grade disinfectant
-absorbent cotton
-crushed eggshell(replacement of calcium powder)
-petri dish

To do this I will be following Yusaku Watanabe's steps and making a completely sterile environment for the embryo to grow in

Can I do this without any scientific experience or expensive equipment?
I'll update this post in exactly 3 weeks when I get the experiment started.
I recommend checking out the videos I mentioned, it will make this seem a whole lot more possible. Videos mentioned/reccomended:
- Yusaki Watanabe - Observation of the Development of Chick Embryo
-SlivkiShow EN - I WAS BORN IN A GLASS!
SlivkiShow EN - WE POURED EGGS INTO A GLASS AND NOW WE'RE WAITING FOR CHICKENS! EXPERIMENT
-Hi China - China's first chick hatched without an eggshell | CCTV English
-Ayush Lab (recommended) - How to Make Life in broken Egg without hen | India's first chick hatched without an eggshell |

Wish me luck

Edit: I'm only trying this once now due to people's skepticism.
I'm doing this with an egg that would otherwise be eaten

 

[Mrs J]

That video in particular was very interesting, but they were doing it completely for fame.

That’s the bit I didn’t like about it, the point was it can be very educational, and can have a happy ending if the the technology/technical issues improve.

 

[BelovedBirds]

I'm using eggs that would otherwise be eaten, so I thought that might make it slightly less bad.

It doesn't matter, when an egg is eaten there is no death or suffering involved
Once it is incubated, there is a chick and its life is being experimented with. It'd be better to eat the egg

 

[BelovedBirds]

Obviously some opinions here, which is good - and expected from a chicken community.

For those of you against (I happen to agree) do you believe there is a circumstance when this would be acceptable? I believe OP referenced some scholars doing it so observe the growth of the chick.

What is the consensus on something like that?

I still dislike it. But they have the best technology and knowledge on their side. Once it has been done and documented, what is the use in doing it again?
We've already learned what there is to learn. We can learn just as much from eggtopsies and candling.

I'm sure it would be fascinating to observe, we're only human, it's natural to be intrigued by a life growing.
But that isn't justification for experimenting with that life, especially when there isn't anything left to learn. No need.

 

[Red Mangrove]

For those of you against (I happen to agree) do you believe there is a circumstance when this would be acceptable?

When essential to save a life
Youtubers that harm and kill for views are evil

 

[Squeeing_Onion]

I don't like it, but i understand the priceless value of knowledge.

Much of it medical knowledge is owed to both humans and animals who underwent involuntary experimentation of endless types.

If this were being done with the intent of gaining valuable knowledge on his to do this efficiently and with the highest chance of success -- for, say, then applying that knowledge to saving endangered bird species (perhaps even could be applied to say, reptiles who also lay eggs? I'm not sure how different the development is) to try and raise the successful hatch rate, when they already have such a very low hatch rate or don't lay often.

That, that would make me feel better, even if i still recognize and feel sorrow for the ones who aren't going to make it, and there will be many.

Especially since Oob Child's goal appears to be to do this out of desire not for medical knowledge, but for the fame of having done it.

If that driving desire was focused on helping other birds, I'd think differently about this complex topic. As it is, yeah. Aye from my slim hopefulness this information could become pricelessly useful to a conservation effort, i feel like there isn't anything new to gain here, so it feels unnecessary.

 

[BastyPutt]

I watched a video “Rambo” they called the chick. It was really fascinating to watch, to see every single step of a chick’s development, and also a happy story/ending. For educational purposes and if they mastered the technique But even doing it under a broody or in an incubator we still take the risk of having a chick develop and it not hatch. I wouldn’t do it personally, but I certainly wouldn’t judge anyone else. There are risks and casualties in hatching chicks all of the time.

I thought about this original post quite a bit last night, and was actually More conflicted than I had intially thought about the idea. And this post, brings up great points.

I recently went through something similar when I learned about "Balut". For those not in the know, balut is when people allow a chick to nearly fully develop in the egg, then stop the incubation. The eggs are then sold, and people crack open the egg and eat the almost fully developed (dead) chick or duckling (latter seems to be more popular)

I would personally die before I ever participated in this, but people from other cultures eat them like they are going out of style. They are considered a "delicacy". It is culturally accepted there, and tradition (Asian counties mainly).

But why is it so bothersome to think about this, opposed to allowing the egg to hatch, then eating the chicken a few months later?! Wouldnt the former be more humane?

We are essentially "messing with nature" everytime we hatch eggs in an incubator, or even purchase from a hatchery where eggs came from an incubator. Ultimately, I bet an incredibly small percentage of backyard chickens are naturally born - and even smaller where the broody hen can be traced back a few generations of not being hatched in an incubator.

I think in general, a chickens life has been deemed expendable to an extent - and it is most likely because it is a rare animal where we eat them, but also keep them for "pets". (I don't care who you are. If you throw them treats and talk to them, it's a pet)

Then I'd say "OP, if it is for a purpose, then that's fine. Otherwise, don't risk the life". But I have lost whole incubators full of developing life for one reason of another, and I was really just hatching chickens because I can - or because I wanted to see what the chicken would look like because of the hen/rooster combo. I havent NEEDED another chicken in over 10 years.

Moral of the story is this - developing life and ending it is obviously one of the most contested topics of our generation. Like it or not, our views here are all shaped by that an extent. I happen to feel very strongly about my views in terms of human life, but this isn't backyardhumans.com or Twitter. It is chickens. The same chickens who I put upside down in a cone, bleed out then sprinkle with salt and BBQ after throwing treats to them the previous day.

@Oob Child id say, if you want to try it - and believe there is some benefit to it, then go for it. Maybe not the most tasteful to share it here where folks like myself are more partial to chicken life, but I'm sure a classroom or something along that nature would be very interested to see first hand how a chick develops in the egg.

 

[Oob Child]

Especially since Oob Child's goal appears to be to do this out of desire not for medical knowledge, but for the fame of having done it.

I would never do it for fame. I'm trying to see if it is possible to do it with a quail egg, as it has only ever been done with chickens. Whatever reason I want to do this, it would certainly not be for fame. I only talked about it on here because I wanted to fuel others curiosity just as this topic fuels mine. This thread is full of people thinking and wondering, giving their opinions on this topic. I would have just done the experiment without putting it on here. I'm not sharing this to any other platform, and the people on the backyard chickens forum are and will be the only people informed of this experiment.
However, the rest of your reply is full of reasonable and fair opinions that I do not have any problem with. I just don't like being accused of doing things for fame.