I'm a Newbie - HELP Yolks Stuck???

[hennypenny99]

I think I did everything right but I am really worried. I bought a Little Giant Still Air Incubator. I ordered Silkie eggs on e-bay and had the temerature well adjusted two days before the eggs arrived. I filled the water reservoirs in the bottom of the incubator with water so I think my incubator was set up properly. Well the eggs arrived and I let them adjust to the room temperature for 12 hours before putting them in the incubator. I didn't spring for the automatic turner but I am thinking of buying it this weekend. I turn the eggs (end over end) at 7:30 am, 5:00 pm, and 12:00 midnight every day. I can't turn them any sooner in the day because I work.

Day 3 of Candling most have the red spider looking veins and are showing development. So exciting! Day 5 - 7 I can see the veins but only on one side of the egg. I can even see a baby swimming around in the egg! It is the little black dot and it's very active. I am just so worried that my yolk is stuck to the side of the shell. It is supposed to be? Only half of my egg has signs of development. If I were to sit my eggs straight up and down half of the egg is darker with development and the other half looks completely clear. Am I seeing a huge air cell or just the clear part of the egg? I do have an air cell that I can see on one end of the egg. Will my eggs ever hatch or did I stick my yolk to the side of the shell?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I read that IF it is a big air cell that I had low humidity so I added an extra bowl of water but I never let my water reservoirs run out in the first place. I need to buy a humidity monitor. I am on day 8 of incubation so will adding the extra water even help at this point if it did stick?

Another Question.... A girl at work heard me talking about incubating some eggs and she asked if she could bring me some eggs to incubate for her so I said sure because I have plenty of room in my incubator. Well she brought the eggs today and over half of them are extremely dirty. Mud or chicken poo - I'm not sure which. I told her that I had read that dirty eggs could contaminate the whole batch in the incubator so I was afraid to put in the dirty eggs. Well even though I told her not to she washed them.... they are still stained up. Am I going to hurt my eggs if I put hers in there?

Thanks for the help.

 

[muddyhorse]

you are doing fine the babies will fill in in other parts of the egg soon. I would not put in dirty eggs, silkie eggs are hard enough to hatch without other issues. I would get an automatic turner, LGs are hard enough to maintain the temp in without opening the incubator all the time good luck

 

[NoseyChickens]

What you're decribing when you candle sounds pretty normal. And for shipped eggs having only half of them develop it normal too. Even if every egg the seller sent was fertile they will most likely not all develop just due to the stress of shipping.

HOWEVER I would not be candling them as often as you seem to be. Too much candling is bad for the embryo. Candle at day 10 and then again on day 18 when you go into lock down.

Your humidity should be at 40% tops right now. ( your humidty CAN be lower during this time, but not higher) Not all the resiviors at the bottom of the incubator should be full. Get a humidity gage if you do not already have one. They sell them pretty cheap at pet stores for reptiles.


If this is your first time hatching, I would not try for a staggered hatch unless you have a second incubator. From days 18- end of hatch your humdity will need to be higher and you dont open the incubator for any reason until your eggs are done hatching. You also need to stop turning your eggs at this point. So if they are in a turner you take the out and lay them flat, or just stop hand turning. So if you have 2 sets of eggs set at different times you'll not be able to turn the other eggs during that time causing them damage.

I hope I am making sense

 

[HEChicken]

When you say you are turning them "end over end", I hope you don't mean you are alternating between having the pointy and large ends down? The pointy end should always be down, and the turn should be a 45 degree side-to-side.

 

[SarahIrl]

Ok, if she washed them in warm water, warmer than the eggs, they should be ok. I use a sanitiser and warm water to wash mine, I don't woryy about staining, but get any crusty mess off them. Ideally clean nesting boxes prevent the need to clean eggs.

As for your own: you need a hygrometer. If the instructions say fill one or two resevoirs for day 1-18 then just fill them. The air cells will naturally get bigger throughout incubation, don't worry about that. By day 18 around 1/3 of the egg should appear empty. Too much humidity will cause problems with development later on. Follow the instructions with your incubator or look on the manufacturer's website for the resevoir use. They are designed specifically to allow for an average % of humidity in a working incubator, it will differ slightly due to ambient humidity in your area/room, so it will never be 50% or 60% everywhere, but once you do a few hatches then you'l get to know how to make it suit what YOU want. A hygrometer in my book is just as important as a thermometer and the in-built thermostat. With experience, you'll get to know how big the air cells are supposed to be at what point and when to set them for hatching at the right time, if day 18 is too early/late (depends on eggs you incubate, some bantams like seramas can hatch as early as day 19). If you are worried it is now too high, get a plan in place before removing the top to correct it. If you have to remove the eggs, get the room very warm, get egg cartons sprayed with water (so sligtly damp, not wet), get the eggs in them and do it quickly. A towel will soak a lot of water up in no time, and you can then refill where you need to. If you just added another container of water then you can simply remove it. HHave what you need at hand first, so the eggs are out for the smallest amount of time. You can be sure you have around 15 to 20 mins working time in a really warm room at this stage in development.

As for the veining - yes it is normal. It will graudally spread around the outside of the egg to meet on the other side in the next four or five days on from day eight. As long as you can see veins (if they disappear you have a dead embryo) or movement, you are fine. By day 18 all you will see is black egg on one end and clear on the other where the air cell is.

Moat of all: good luck!

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
Well, that's how it happens in incubators with 'cradle' type turners. Lots of incubators (mine included) have a rolling rail system that lies the egg flat and rolls it over side to side. I think big end up just really means that IF you have the eggs upright, it must be the big end and not the small end on the top. But lying them on their sides is fine, and is how chickens do it.

But you're right. Hennypenny: If you HAVE been turning your eggs so that the pointy end has been on the top, you should stop doing it that way now. Either sith them fat end up and tilt them side to side, or lie them flat and roll them over side to side.

When you say half of your egg is darker with development and half is clear, I think that at day 7 what you are probably seeing is the difference between yolk and white, as at this stage, the chick embryo is still tiny, probbaly smaller than the size of your pinky nail. And if you have been turning your eggs regularly, you really shouldn't have any stuck yolks.

As for the extra eggs your friend wants you to incubate, I don't see why you shouldn't. If they've been washed off they shuldn't contaminate yours, and washed eggs hatch fine. I wash all my hatching eggs. Anyway, I would make it clear to her that you'll put her eggs in and do your best with them, but that your own eggs have priority. Mark her eggs so you know which ones are which. When it comes day 18 for your eggs, go into lockdown, close up your bator, and stop turning her eggs. If they are more than a week along, the turning isn't so important as it is early on in the incubation. Many people forget to turn their eggs completely and still have pretty reasonable hatch rates. Once your eggs hatch and your lockdown is over, you can go back to turning her eggs. I've done a few staggered hatches all in the one bator, and from what I've noticed, the first lot of eggs in usually have the exact same hatch rates as for normal incubations, and it's only the second and third lots of eggs that have lower hatch rates, probably because of humidity variations and/or bacteria from hatching debris scattered around by the first lot of chicks. So your friend's eggs may not do so well, but yours should be fine. That's just my opinion btw, but it is based on experience!

Good luck

 

[Crayonsmom]

I just hatched 3 out of 3 duck eggs. Two of them were dirty, and I was candling the malmost every day. I thin kthey'll be fine unless chickens are more sensitive to those thigns than ducks.

 

[hennypenny99]

Thanks everyone for all of your help - I feel ALOT better!

I really was worried that I had a giant air cell but it was on each and every one of the developing eggs so I am definately relieved.

When I say I turn the eggs end over end I mean that instead of just rolling them to the side I actually flip them over. My eggs aren't in a turner so they just like down flat on the metal mesh. I couldnt get them to stand up unless I found a way to prop them up with something. They are lying down like you would find them in a nest and I flip them over with each turn. Do I need to do it this way? Because it would be easier if I just rolled them the other way. I read that it helps them get exercise to roll them that way.

I probably shouldnt candle every day. It is just so much fun! I don't want to kill my eggs though! I will take out that extra bowl of water when I get home since the humidity is fine. My chicks are due to hatch on the 28th if all goes well.

Thanks!

 

[SarahIrl]

Just roll them, gently. Any shock to the egg, jolting or sudden movement, will NOT do the embryos any good. You can turn them (or roll them) so they are upside down. A lot of people mark the topmost showing side with an X or similar so you know that you have turned them far enough. To be honest, and little roll will do, it doesn't have to be the full 180' just so that the air cell doesn't settle all on one side.

You don't seem to be doing anything wrong! Just trust in your incubator, keep an eye on temperature (the chicks will begin to generate their own heat soon and some incubators will need adjusting accordingly. Get your hygrometer and you can be happy. FYI - when you get the hygrometer, if it is a all in one unit, make sure you can read it from outside the incubator. It is no good having to open the lid to read it.