HELP! EMU EGG NOT LOOSING WEIGHT!

[IHeartPoultry]

I'm a first time emu hatcher and I'm having difficulty with my eggies loosing weight.

It's now day 29 with 3 emu eggs I got from a local farm. They were 1-2 weeks old when we got them, so they weren't very fresh.

Egg A and Egg B haven't been loosing nearly as much as they should be. They've been loosing roughly 7-8g a week, which is nothing compared to the 11.5g they should be loosing. Egg C is RIGHT on track and has been loosing nearly exactly 11.5g/week, I've even seen some little tiny shakes with this little one!

In an effort to save A & B, I added a silica pack and a bowl of rice... didn't seem to change a thing.

I'm out of ideas, and as the closer hatch date gets closer, I'm really starting to worry!

I really need some sound advice from an emu guru on how to get them back on track, or if it's possible.


Thanks

 

[SunHwaKwon]

What is your humidity set at? I don't know much about emu eggs, but I know with chickens, guineas, turkeys, etc not losing enough weight comes down to humidity being too high.

 

[IHeartPoultry]

What is your humidity set at? I don't know much about emu eggs, but I know with chickens, guineas, turkeys, etc not losing enough weight comes down to humidity being too high.

The humidity is as low as I can get it. It's just under 20%.

I felt Egg C and Egg A wiggle about a week ago, not now I haven't felt anything since. I'm worried There's a terrible smell coming from the bator too...

 

[birdeo]

Quote:
if you don't want to deal with an olfactory explosion in that bator you better sniff out that stinker and get it out of there, asap.
If it blows you will surely regret it and it can/will ruin the others too, IF either are still alive, that is.

As far as lowering the humidity in your bator, ( for future reference ) please consider lowering it IN YOUR ROOM where the bator is also, makes a difference.
However, if you have only ONE egg that appears still alive you may risk losing it to save the other two that may not be (at least one sounds like it def. prob. is not) any good.
Running an extra bator for the unsure ones /ones not on a good weight loss track is a good idea .

 

[IHeartPoultry]

if you don't want to deal with an olfactory explosion in that bator you better sniff out that stinker and get it out of there, asap.
If it blows you will surely regret it and it can/will ruin the others too, IF either are still alive, that is.

As far as lowering the humidity in your bator, ( for future reference ) please consider lowering it IN YOUR ROOM where the bator is also, makes a difference.
However, if you have only ONE egg that appears still alive you may risk losing it to save the other two that may not be (at least one sounds like it def. prob. is not) any good.
Running an extra bator for the unsure ones /ones not on a good weight loss track is a good idea .

I can't lower the humidity in the room, as I have some other animals in there that can't withstand low humidity. I also have a big bowl of air dryer in there, I'm honestly not sure if it can get any more dry without messing with Egg C.

It seems like it's coming from Egg B. That's the one that smells terrible. I just always doubt myself, no matter how terrible it smells... lol. I'm about ready to chuck it though.

Thankfully Egg C seems maybe to be alive! It sounds different when you tap it and it seems to possibly wiggle.

 

[mich9510]

I like @birdeo 's suggestion of running a separate incubator for the possible stinkers. it was my experience that the eggs that are losing weird amounts of weight are usually duds. your egg that is right on track is likely alive. I have not seen wiggling in an emu egg before day 33. throw out the stinker. that would be a huge smelly mess if it cracks or explodes. I am new at this too though.

 

[gregbirdman]

Oh no i have 4 eggs and there only loseing 7 to 10 grams a week i been weighing them daily but the guy i bought them from said 1 to 2 grams a day was fine am i going to have a bad hatch worried also i am at day 15

 

[mich9510]

The best way to know if you are losing the correct amount of weight is to figure out what 15% of each egg's starting weight is. for example if you're egg started at 600g 15% of that is 90g.
(600 X .15). Your target hatch is in 52 days. 90g/52 days = 1.73g/day. Each egg will be different based on it's starting weight. Each egg won't lose exactly the same amount based on surface area and how porous each egg is but it should be close and it should be consistent.
Take that same egg. what if it lost 2g/day instead of 1.73? At the end of your incubation the egg would have lost 15g more than it should have and you little guy is at risk for shrink wrapping. That's why weighing is so important.
My recommendation is to weigh more often (every three days maybe) and adjust your humidity based on those weights.

Michelle