HUGE MISHAPED AIR CELLS

[Ongiegirl36]

I had duck eggs shipped to my home and I am incubating them in two Janoel24 incubators. The ducks are growing well but the air cells are enormous and misshapen in the vast majority of the eggs. I read in an old forum that they hatch normally. Anyone else have experience incubating and hatching eggs with a funky air cell? Mine are at 19 days and doing good. Pray they hatch healthy!

 

[nuthatched]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hatching-shipped-eggs.75470/
This is a good article on shipped eggs. Are the air cells saddled or Scrambled?

 

[Ongiegirl36]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hatching-shipped-eggs.75470/
This is a good article on shipped eggs. Are the air cells saddled or scrambled?

Thank you! I look forward to reading this. This is my first time incubating anything other than leftovers in the fridge lol. I am praying they hatch at a decent rate. The eggs seem to be fine other than those darn air cells that look like little oval mountains.

I just read the article and it is too late for me to do much other than the egg carton. My humidity has been high too since I live in Louisiana. The air cells in the normal eggs look good for their incubation age. I have all of the eggs in a carton now as opposed to on their side. I am hand turning them 3-4 times a day just slightly.

I think at this point time will just have to tell and it is a lesson learned if the hatch doesn't go well. I will update next week when they are hatching like popcorn

 

[nuthatched]

Thank you! I look forward to reading this. This is my first time incubating anything other than leftovers in the fridge lol. I am praying they hatch at a decent rate. The eggs seem to be fine other than those darn air cells that look like little oval mountains.

I just read the article and it is too late for me to do much other than the egg carton. My humidity has been high too since I live in Louisiana. The air cells in the normal eggs look good for their incubation age. I have all of the eggs in a carton now as opposed to on their side. I am hand turning them 3-4 times a day just slightly.

I think at this point time will just have to tell and it is a lesson learned if the hatch doesn't go well. I will update next week when they are hatching like popcorn

If they look good, I wouldn't worry too much. The chicks might have a difficult time pipping, but try to angle the eggs so the chicks will pip up into the cell or whatever the article says.

 

[Ongiegirl36]

If they look good, I wouldn't worry too much. The chicks might have a difficult time pipping, but try to angle the eggs so the chicks will pip up into the cell or whatever the article says.

Angle them in the carton with what? or up and down with the blunt side up? or just kind of lean them in the space they have in the carton?

 

[Ongiegirl36]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hatching-shipped-eggs.75470/
This is a good article on shipped eggs. Are the air cells saddled or Scrambled?

This is what they look like. some are 20 days, and some are 14 days for the exception of a Muscovy that is also 20 days.

 

[TXChookstead]

How did it go?

I have a batch that looks very much the same as yours did. They are about 6 days from lockdown, also shipped. All seem to be developing well, and I traced the air cell patterns tonight so I could see how to face them at lockdown. (Air cells as close to vertical as possible?) They are upright, and I am tilting them very gently from side to side 3 or 4 times a day.

It has been tremendously hard to keep the humidity right, as we have had humid storm after storm blow in with some dry days inbetween. Really hoping the air cells will be the correct size by hatching time!

 

[Morrigan]

@TXChookstead. Don't lose heart. I had 12 shipped (chicken) eggs with some of the worst air sacs I have seen. 9 of 12 hatched (9/10 that made it to lockdown). Because of the huge, wonky air sacs I did a few things differently.

--Because of huge air sacs, I upped the humidity a little higher than normal throughout the hatch (45 vs 40) and again at lockdown (70 vs 65).

--I stopped turning them on day 16 and put them fat side up in cut down egg cartons for hatching.

I've had other shipped eggs where not a one even made it to lockdown, so shipped eggs are always a gamble, but if your eggs have made it this far, there is good reason to hope.

 

[TXChookstead]

Thanks, Morrigan. I started with 14 and am at 12 now, but other than the air cell shapes, they look good. Just hoping the cells will be the right size (if not the right shape) at lockdown. Spring in Texas (or anywhere in the South?) is an interesting time to incubate. The possibility of power outages combined with rollercoaster humidity swings is sort of like watching a suspense movie.

 

[chickfused]

I woud like to say that I have now hatched about 20 shipped eggs. And of those shipped eggs, literally every single air cell looked like it was half the egg, saddled, in one case I had such a badly damaged air cell that it split into two and only merged about 3 days before hatch.

Of those 20 eggs, I had 2 babies that made it to lockdown which didn't make it out. One never pipped at all, and I think really passed away on day 18 or 19 and the other pipped at the wrong end, but not externally and drowned.

In short? I never worry about air cells in shipped eggs anymore if they make it to lockdown. They look like hell and usualy turn out fine. Most of my losses occur long before then in shipped eggs.