I have 9 eggs that got to the lockdown and died. I candled them before they went to lockdown and I would say 5 or 6 were for sure alive. 2 of the 11 hatched. One hatched on day 21 and one on day 22. So I have been reading that you are supposed to open the duds and see what when wrong. So, as I contemplate breaking open the eggs, I have no idea what I should be looking for. Any instructions or pictures you could refer me to would he great! Thx!
If you don't have any idea what you're looking at (or you're just grossed out by the idea), then don't worry about it, you certainly don't HAVE to do it. If you want to though...start where the air cell is, and poke something small and sharp in to break the shell, and then chip away at it gently until you've broken all the way in, and see what's in there.
I just tap the dud egg on the counter and empty the contents into a paper plate. Basically I would be looking for the approximate day of demise and any congenital birth defects. The presence of birth defects tells me not to use a certain seller ever again or to not let a certain rooster mate a certain hen. If the chick is fully formed, you can see if it was shrink-wrapped or if there was a bit of fluid left in the shell. This information can indicate if your humidity was correct. I find it a valuable learning experience. Feel free to post pictures here and you'll get many opinions.
If they made it to lockdown, it can be useful to know whether they broke through the membrane into the air cell before they died. To find out, you poke a small hole in the fat end - I usually use the point of a sharp knife for this - and pick away gently at the shell. If you just crack them into a bowl you miss this one bit of information.
