Help! All of my eggs look like they have detached air cells

[RubyNala97]

Rubynala, Why day of 16 to stop turning? I understand the basics of the chick needing to get into hatching position, however have you noticed a big improvement with shipped eggs if you stop at day 16 vs 18? I am assuming you Don't raise the humidity on day 16 like you do on day 18?

I've did a lot of reading on the this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/704328/diary-notes-air-cell-detatched-shipped-eggs and sorta just picked day 16 as a safe day to stop turning. Giving the chicks more time to position. I can't honestly say if it has greatly improved my hatch rates with shipped. It's just part of my "shipped" regimen. I still get a couple malpositions even when I stop turning early. I do not raise humidity until day 18/19 depending on the size of my air cells. Shipped eggs are so unpredictable! I had received a batch of call eggs that all had detached air cells. Only 2 made to week two. But about a week before lockdown I was sure one of the eggs quit. I didn't even bother to turn it anymore and that egg actually didn't quit and hatched! But I think it doesn't hurt to stop turning them a couple days early and better to give them every little chance you can.

Here are a couple of the eggs that are clearly developing (day 6). we could see some movement in them too.

I'm a little confused by the candling pics. The one on the left is on day 6? The air cell on that egg looks huge for day 6! And can you take a pic of the air cell on the egg on the right, please? (I don't know if it's just the pic) but which end has the air cell on the egg on the right?

 

[Nksg75]

Ok, I have a question, I have 1/2 of my polish eggs in my homade incubator and all my other shipped eggs in the Brinsea Eco. My question is in regards to the polish in my homade incubator.
Out of 10 polish eggs that are developing I have 5 that have really jiggly air cells. I am on day 6. I let them rest 24 hrs after they arrived then put them in the incubator. I put them in the auto turn, but did not turn it on till the very end of day 2.
I thought the air cells were much more stable when I peeked at them the 2nd day.
Then yesterday I was looking at the eggs and noticed that one row seemed to bounce. Apparently that row was not either locked into place for some reason or another. Since it was only that row (I sat there and watched forever) that is the issue, I left the eggs that were in another row alone.
All the eggs with unstable air cells were of course in that row.
I took them out and put them in eggs cartons off to the side of the turner.
My question is since these five eggs are actually doing really well, or they were as of last night, should I just leave them and not turn them in the eggs carton?
I fear my fumbling hands would do more damage than good.
And is it possible that the air cells will reattach at this point?

 

[gapey]

I've did a lot of reading on the this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/704328/diary-notes-air-cell-detatched-shipped-eggs
and sorta just picked day 16 as a safe day to stop turning. Giving the chicks more time to position. I can't honestly say if it has greatly improved my hatch rates with shipped. It's just part of my "shipped" regimen. I still get a couple malpositions even when I stop turning early. I do not raise humidity until day 18/19 depending on the size of my air cells. Shipped eggs are so unpredictable! I had received a batch of call eggs that all had detached air cells. Only 2 made to week two. But about a week before lockdown I was sure one of the eggs quit. I didn't even bother to turn it anymore and that egg actually didn't quit and hatched! But I think it doesn't hurt to stop turning them a couple days early and better to give them every little chance you can.
I'm a little confused by the candling pics. The one on the left is on day 6? The air cell on that egg looks huge for day 6! And can you take a pic of the air cell on the egg on the right, please? (I don't know if it's just the pic) but which end has the air cell on the egg on the right?

Actually the air sack on both of those eggs is on the top so you can't see it in this photo. I don't dare turn them upside down for fear of the air sack getting stuck in the wrong position. I'll mark the air sacks on them in my next candling tonight or tomorrow night. Not sure why the bottom of the egg is lighter on the left egg. I'm sure the air sack is at the top end of the egg on both of them though. It will be tricky to get a photo of it but will try. For these photos I had the candler attached to one of my light stands and sat the eggs on top while I took a pic with a tripod on timer. But can't do that if I'm candling from the top of the egg.

 

[gapey]

I've did a lot of reading on the this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/704328/diary-notes-air-cell-detatched-shipped-eggs
and sorta just picked day 16 as a safe day to stop turning. Giving the chicks more time to position. I can't honestly say if it has greatly improved my hatch rates with shipped. It's just part of my "shipped" regimen. I still get a couple malpositions even when I stop turning early. I do not raise humidity until day 18/19 depending on the size of my air cells. Shipped eggs are so unpredictable! I had received a batch of call eggs that all had detached air cells. Only 2 made to week two. But about a week before lockdown I was sure one of the eggs quit. I didn't even bother to turn it anymore and that egg actually didn't quit and hatched! But I think it doesn't hurt to stop turning them a couple days early and better to give them every little chance you can.
I'm a little confused by the candling pics. The one on the left is on day 6? The air cell on that egg looks huge for day 6! And can you take a pic of the air cell on the egg on the right, please? (I don't know if it's just the pic) but which end has the air cell on the egg on the right?

ok I did another candling tonight. bad news is the olive egger that previously showed signs of development now has a blood ring so I think that one is toast. There are now two with blood rings. There are still two left of the shipped eggs that still show signs of development though I only was able to see movement in one of the two eggs. The air sack didn't move around so I think it must have reattached which is good news. I took a photo candling from the top of the egg so you could see the air sack. My dark F2 olive egg eggs from my own hatch may also be developing. I could see a little better candling from the top and could barely see some veining in those so might be good there.

It's now day 10 and a half so am now halfway through the incubation. I marked the egg sacks on the 4 that appear to still be developing and will candle one more time before lock down. I think I will hatch them in an egg carton and remove all the rest of the eggs that show no sign of developing. I haven't removed any of them yet.

 

[gapey]

Well shoot just did another candling and one of the svart hona's stopped developing at some point since the last candling. Only one svart hona left from the hatching eggs and the two olive eggers from my own flock. Best case scenario is I'll have three chicks hatch. I will likely purchase a few chicks locally to add to this hatch. I have a friend that recently hatched some chocolate and lavender orpingtons but they will be about a week and a half older than mine. They are pretty docile so the age difference should be ok.

 

[gapey]

Yesterday was hatch day so this is a final update on how it went. I've also got more pics and details on my blog: http://www.gapeysgrub.com/2016/04/hatching-shipped-eggs.html

Only 1 of the shipped eggs made it to lock down and it didn't start well for this one. She started pipping in the middle of the egg instead of where the air sack was the day before hatch day. Not good news from what I've read. I repositioned the egg so the pip end of the egg was up so she wouldn't drown. After a while she still hadn't pipped through the membrane, only the shell.

The next morning, hatch day, at some point overnight the humidity dropped to 20%. eek. So the membrane likely dried out and she still hadn't made any progress. I figured she might run out of air so decided to poke a hole in the membrane for her so she could breath. I left her for most of the day as I didn't want to rush it in case she wasn't ready to come out. She didn't seem to be trying very hard to. With the membrane drying out I was thinking she may not be able to move so decided it was time to intervene. I got a warm paper towel and pulled her out and started removing the shell. I removed all but the bottom part for her to sit on. I put her back in and hoped she would be able to get the rest of the way out on her own. a couple hours went by and she was struggling a bit and still not making any progress so I started to pull back the membrane. The membrane was pretty dry around her head and stuck on but with a little water was able to pll it back. I pulled it back about half way and eventually she was able to get out.

I sure learned a lot from this hatch!

 

[Joanie1975]

Can you take the turning tray thing out of the mini? I have the mini Eco (it's actually my favorite incubator, I love it) and this is how I do shipped eggs in there:
(I just hand tilt them from one side to the other)

And I do stop turning shipped chicken eggs by day 16.

I know this is old but do you leave them sitting in these cups for the hatch too?? I know the normal way is laying them down. I have some shipped eggs with detached air cells and they have been in a turner for 9 days now. Thank you

 

[GlennLee]

@Joanie1975 I'd like to jump in on this old thread as well - more questions than answers, but if we share our experiences, hopefully we'll learn something.

I am in a similar situation - 10 eggs with detached air cells, in the incubator on day 12 today. I also have two more batches being shipped due to arrive tomorrow and will do things differently with these eggs right from the start.

First time with dealing with shipped eggs and it's been a steep learning curve. I didn't catch the detached egg cells until day 7 when I candled. Up until that point, eggs had been flat in the incubator and turned 5 times per day. (After the first week, I turn 3 times a day.)

So, I have the 10 eggs with detached air cells in cardboard egg cartons with the bottoms ripped out for air circulation and I have been moving them VERY GENTLY from side to side and then a quarter clockwise turn 3 x's a day. I plan to candle sometime between day 14 and 16. At day 16 I will stop turning.

I have posted in a couple of different places about laying down vs. keeping upright for hatching and am still trying to read opinions and will make a decision. One posting mentioned leaving upright until the first egg pips and then lay them all down and start lockdown. Still trying to decide what to do....

Anyway, always appreciate ideas and sharing of information. Will keep you posted.

BTW - I read that a 25% hatch rate with detached air cells is a good hatch rate. Gives us a bar to work toward and exceed.

 

[Joanie1975]

@Joanie1975 I'd like to jump in on this old thread as well - more questions than answers, but if we share our experiences, hopefully we'll learn something.

I am in a similar situation - 10 eggs with detached air cells, in the incubator on day 12 today. I also have two more batches being shipped due to arrive tomorrow and will do things differently with these eggs right from the start.

First time with dealing with shipped eggs and it's been a steep learning curve. I didn't catch the detached egg cells until day 7 when I candled. Up until that point, eggs had been flat in the incubator and turned 5 times per day. (After the first week, I turn 3 times a day.)

So, I have the 10 eggs with detached air cells in cardboard egg cartons with the bottoms ripped out for air circulation and I have been moving them VERY GENTLY from side to side and then a quarter clockwise turn 3 x's a day. I plan to candle sometime between day 14 and 16. At day 16 I will stop turning.

I have posted in a couple of different places about laying down vs. keeping upright for hatching and am still trying to read opinions and will make a decision. One posting mentioned leaving upright until the first egg pips and then lay them all down and start lockdown. Still trying to decide what to do....

Anyway, always appreciate ideas and sharing of information. Will keep you posted.

BTW - I read that a 25% hatch rate with detached air cells is a good hatch rate. Gives us a bar to work toward and exceed.

Thanks for your input. I’m on day 15 for my first batch of ordered eggs with bad air cells . I think I will candle later tonight which is when day 16 will begin. I’m debating on water candling (not sure yet ) to see if they are ok before i go through the trouble and worry for nothing.. Most are really dark eggs. I think if they are still ok, I may do as you said and leave them in the cartons until first pip. I will keep you updated

 

[GlennLee]

@Joanie1975 - day 18 and lockdown here. At the last candling I found that 6 of the eggs with a detached air cell actually healed! Yay! So here's what I'm looking at -

12 eggs total, 2 have been on their sides the entire time and development seems to be progressing normally with air cells intact.

That leaves 10 with a history of some issues, but things are looking more hopeful than when I first jumped on this thread. Only 4 still have detached air cells, 6 have healed.

4 have saddled air cells and one of those still has a detached air cell with some rolling fluid, but there's movement!

I have seen movement in 8 of the 12 and am hopeful that I will be able to beat the odds of that 25% hatch rate.

Ready to assist if necessary and keeping my fingers crossed!

Hope all is progressing well with you. How did your float test go? Let me know how things unfold. Sending good vibes your way!