Huge air cells for air-cell-detached eggs, Tiny ones for normal eggs.

[Pyxis]

I apologize, it's really hard to jump back and forth between so many threads to figure out what's going on; can you summarize here what the trouble is other than the temperature issues you're having? From the title I'm thinking that your air cells are too large, and also that they may be detached? But also that you may have some that are too small as well? But it seems that you've already been given some great advice about that in your first thread.

Or were you more looking for advice about the topic of your second thread from earlier today, which is that it seems they have drawn down a day early and also that you see a shadow in one egg's air cell?

My advice on that would be that yes, you should lock down now. The shadow that you're seeing might be an internal pip. A picture, if you can get one, would help determine that. Is it possible your temperatures have been a little too high and could have caused them to be hatching a little early? From your post in this thread it doesn't sound like the incubator is the most reliable.

As for the temperature, I would be trying to get it up, if you can. Let the incubator stabilize for maybe an hour or so, then try to make an adjustment and see what happens. If you just added the water for lockdown, that's likely to be throwing it off, since the incubator needs to get the water warmed up before it acts like a heat sink and helps stabilize temperatures. Until then, it's just another cold thing the incubator is trying to warm.

It sounds like it might be time for a new incubator, or at least a new thermostat, once this hatch is over.

In the future it might be easier for you to just post updates as they happen on the first thread you start, so that everything is all together

 

[PaulX]

You're right that I'm just talking about the shadows and the lockdown today. The issue with the air cell size is the past, I just didn't want to start a new thread.

So now it's half way through day 25. Yesterday when I left it at 35.3 C 95.5 F for 2 hours, it seemed to be stable but a little to low (37.3 C 99 F), so I bumped the thermostat up to 35.5 C 95.9 F then left for 4 1/2 hours, then I returned to see the temperature at 39.3 C 102.74 F! Then I adjusted things back and forth but the incubator seems to have stabilized now, with the measured egg shell temperature around 1.5-2 C 3-4 F over the thermostat. I guess it was because I switched it off for a long time while transferring eggs from the egg carton yesterday that it became unstable for a couple hours.

I just candled again a while ago. There seems to be many internal pips now. I can't here any chirping, but I think I heard the 'click click' sound. Unfortunately 2 out of 5 eggs with detached air cell appeared to have quit. They were cloudy and not moving and I think I saw a blood spot that probably came from broken down veins. I still left those in for now, since they were still alive yesterday they're not gonna explode yet.

I'm down to 3 'good' eggs and 3 eggs with detached air cell now. I'm contemplating whether I should go poke a safety breathing hole over each egg. I think I will.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@WVduckchick

 

[WVduckchick]

I haven’t looked at all the related threads yet. But concerning safety holes, it’s fine to make a small hole if you are concerned. Just keep the hole very tiny.

Now I’m going to try to review the other threads.

 

[WVduckchick]

Paul, one other thing I’d like to mention. On the shipped eggs, be sure that what you are seeing is actually air cell. When air cells float, and detach areas from the inner membrane, it’s easy for them to “appear” much bigger than they truly are. So try to candle along the rim of where the membrane meets the shell and imagine where the true air cell is. I know I’m not explaining well, but just keep in mind that just because it’s pulled away, it may not really be as large as it appears.

Also, tilting air cells are normal. It’s when they start pressing more into the fat end, and drawing down that they are getting into hatching position. If the tilt is still regular shape, just tilted, those are ok.

Drawdown,

Same egg, a couple days prior - normal air cell tilt:

 

[PaulX]

Thank you. The 'detached' ones had pulled away membrane as you said, but as the 'normal' ones' air cells have enlarged over the days, the 'detached' ones remained roughly the same size, I guess it's the 'real air cell' expanding to fill those gap between membranes.

I just went to listen to them again and I am 99% sure I heard clicking sounds from all 6 of the remaining ones, and even chirps from 3-4 of those! They're definitely alive and internally pipped, so I've gone to make tiny safety hole in each.

As for the two that I thought was dead, I couldn't hear a thing and they were definitely colder, so I just chucked them out.

 

[Pyxis]

Keep us posted!

 

[PaulX]

half way through day 26, everybody is still chirping and moving, but I see no dent in the shell, as in, no visible attempt to external pip, yet. I'm slightly worried that there's no progress at all.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Do you see the attempts from inside? They are really slow pokes. Hopefully someone will be here soon to help.

@Pyxis
@WVduckchick

 

[PaulX]

Do you see the attempts from inside? They are really slow pokes. Hopefully someone will be here soon to help.

@Pyxis
@WVduckchick

I think I can hear the attempt to peck at the shell, but I could be confusing it with just the 'clicking' breathing sound.

Yes, they're really slow pokes. My previous hatch I could see external-pip attempts from the outside no more than 1 day after internal pip. I just hope they're not too weak to pip by themselves here.