Help! Dead embryo?

[CherriesBrood]

Hi I'm incubating 9 eggs. They are due to hatch in 7 more days. I have already candled twice. So far one has not formed and has been taken out, all the others look great except for one. When I candle it it's completely dark, I can't see anything inside to indicate if it's alive or dead, but the outer shell is (I think) showing some signs of a dead chick.

There's some dried blood which was not there when I put it in, the egg is a bit darker with a light spot which was not there. I haven't noticed any sticky oozing stuff yet, but if it is dead I'd like to take it before it could cause a problem. I'm curious if anyone can tell if it's alive or dead? Thanks.

 

[TheKindaFarmGal]

Well, if the egg is not smelly or leaking I leave it in. By day 18 when you candle for the last time, it should be either obviously dead or not, in which case you either remove or leave.

From the pictures, I don't see anything odd. From you description, I would lean towards a dead chick. There's a certain "look" that is hard to explain when you candle an egg that has stopped developing. Cloudy, dark, veins not visible, etc.

Are you incubating with a hen or bator?

 

[CherriesBrood]

Well, if the egg is not smelly or leaking I leave it in. By day 18 when you candle for the last time, it should be either obviously dead or not, in which case you either remove or leave.

From the pictures, I don't see anything odd. From you description, I would lean towards a dead chick. There's a certain "look" that is hard to explain when you candle an egg that has stopped developing. Cloudy, dark, veins not visible, etc.

Are you incubating with a hen or bator?

Thank you for the response. I am using an incubator. It's a still air. I just looked more closely at the shell It looks the same, no smell or sticky stuff yet. We just had a power outage for 5 hours last night, I'm hoping it won't affect the hatch rate.
I am definitely going to leave it in at least till I'm positive it's dead or alive. When I candled it it was just completely dark... I couldn't see any veins or anything... that's why I'm suspicious about it. Also one other note I noticed it's a bit heavier than all my other eggs and it's sort of a smaller egg.
Thanks for the help.

 

[TheKindaFarmGal]

Thank you for the response. I am using an incubator. It's a still air. I just looked more closely at the shell It looks the same, no smell or sticky stuff yet. We just had a power outage for 5 hours last night, I'm hoping it won't affect the hatch rate.
I am definitely going to leave it in at least till I'm positive it's dead or alive. When I candled it it was just completely dark... I couldn't see any veins or anything... that's why I'm suspicious about it. Also one other note I noticed it's a bit heavier than all my other eggs and it's sort of a smaller egg.
Thanks for the help.

Once I was incubating a batch of 22 eggs. Two weren't fertile, but of the rest I got 17 chicks. I had two electric outages two days in a row for hours each. I did cover the bator with towels to keep in some heat, because I was using a styrobator. So, hopefully it won't hurt your hatch that much.

 

[CherriesBrood]

Once I was incubating a batch of 22 eggs. Two weren't fertile, but of the rest I got 17 chicks. I had two electric outages two days in a row for hours each. I did cover the bator with towels to keep in some heat, because I was using a styrobator. So, hopefully it won't hurt your hatch that much.

Well that reassures me a bit, thanks.

 

[TheKindaFarmGal]

Well that reassures me a bit, thanks.

Hope you get a good hatch!

 

[chickens really]

Ask @WVduckchick about your strange egg.....

She will know....this ipad will not allow me to tag her for you........


Tag her.......Cheers!

 

[CherriesBrood]

Ok thanks @chickens really

@WVduckchick

 

[WVduckchick]

I agree with TKFGal. I'd leave it until it got smelly or obviously dead. Smell in the incubator often!!

It looks like a dark dense shell, so make sure you are candling in complete darkness, using as bright a light as possible (fresh batteries help alot!) and getting good "connection" between your light and the egg. Do you even see an air cell??

Also, don't shake the egg, but does it feel "sloshy" when you handle it? Hard to explain, but hope that makes sense.

What breed are they? Looks kinda like my golden comet eggs, they are some of the toughest to candle!

I also have chicks due in 7-8 days, so good luck to us both!

 

[WVduckchick]

Ask @WVduckchick about your strange egg.....

She will know....this ipad will not allow me to tag her for you........


Tag her.......Cheers!

Thank ya lady.

By the way, if you type the tag code, it should work. Square brackets [ ] around @ in front of the name and square brackets around /@ after the name.

Like this, but replace the parentheses with square brackets (@)chickens really(/@)