Is this healthy?

[White Valley Acres]

So, recently I started a batch of chicks in the incubator they all were doing fine, I checked them out a day or so ago and took out the yolkers. After that, I knew there were some who were doing great, moving when I was candling, some very obvious progress, which I was super happy about. During this incubation my brother and I found our guinea hen laying on a nest of eggs. Hers were all yolks, (I couldn't tell of any development) but I found a chicken egg with her, I brought that in and it was completely dark, no sign of sun-bleaching or anything, it was just dark. So I assumed that it must be fertile and almost ready to hatch. I put it into the incubator (because it was the same breed I was trying for) Plus, I didn't want to kill a chick, and it was so far along. I brought it in and have it in a corner of the incubator away from the others. I did notice today that there was some yolk on the top of the egg, which idk if that's ok or not. I looked at my first two eggs which were healthy and strong a day ago and saw that they looked very similar to the one I added. I hope that the yolk kinda formed over a hole and is keeping the chick safe in the egg, but I have suspicion that the yolk wasn't a good sign. Anywho, I left it there because I was worried of losing a chick. The other two have now developed since I candled them a day or so ago and they look like the same progress as the one I found in the chicken run, development-wise. I'm worried they're hatching sooner than was intended. Chicken eggs take approximately 21 days to hatch, I put them in on the 24 of July and they're due to hatch the 13-15.

This is the questionable egg. The yolk can be seen sticking out on the bottom left of the egg.

These are my healthy ones that I just candled a couple days ago and they looked like this:

Again, they're not supposed to hatch for another 6-8 days.

Any advice?

 

[Tclloyd0812]

So, recently I started a batch of chicks in the incubator they all were doing fine, I checked them out a day or so ago and took out the yolkers. After that, I knew there were some who were doing great, moving when I was candling, some very obvious progress, which I was super happy about. During this incubation my brother and I found our guinea hen laying on a nest of eggs. Hers were all yolks, (I couldn't tell of any development) but I found a chicken egg with her, I brought that in and it was completely dark, no sign of sun-bleaching or anything, it was just dark. So I assumed that it must be fertile and almost ready to hatch. I put it into the incubator (because it was the same breed I was trying for) Plus, I didn't want to kill a chick, and it was so far along. I brought it in and have it in a corner of the incubator away from the others. I did notice today that there was some yolk on the top of the egg, which idk if that's ok or not. I looked at my first two eggs which were healthy and strong a day ago and saw that they looked very similar to the one I added. I hope that the yolk kinda formed over a hole and is keeping the chick safe in the egg, but I have suspicion that the yolk wasn't a good sign. Anywho, I left it there because I was worried of losing a chick. The other two have now developed since I candled them a day or so ago and they look like the same progress as the one I found in the chicken run, development-wise. I'm worried they're hatching sooner than was intended. Chicken eggs take approximately 21 days to hatch, I put them in on the 24 of July and they're due to hatch the 13-15.

View attachment 2789145
This is the questionable egg. The yolk can be seen sticking out on the bottom left of the egg.

View attachment 2789146 View attachment 2789147
These are my healthy ones that I just candled a couple days ago and they looked like this:
View attachment 2789154 View attachment 2789156

Again, they're not supposed to hatch for another 6-8 days.

Any advice?

The one with the yolk coming out is most likely bad and will explode in the incubator or expose the others to bacteria that can sometimes kill or stop development of a chick, from what I've heard. Smell the egg, if it has any foul smell throw it out (carefully!). If it doesn't smell, try tapping on the end with the air sack. If you hear a slight pecking noise it will hatch soon. I highly doubt this one is alive still, but I could be wrong.

The other 2 look fine... I think, but then again it's hard to be sure. Also, are the other 2 moving around in the eggs? If there is no movement they may have stopped developing.
But, from my experience they look like they still have at least 4 to 7 days to hatch meaning they aren't going to hatch too early. I have eggs hatching all of the time, in fact I have about 24 in the incubator right now and all of the bantam eggs are all hatching 2 days early (day 19) or at least pipping. The others (bigger eggs) are chirping and 1 or 2 pipping, but my bantam eggs always hatch early, especially because I choose to hatch at 100 degrees instead of 99.5
This is the same case for when my broody hens sit on eggs. Sometimes they will hatch earlier than 21 days, some can take up to 23 days.
Don't fret too much quite yet, I would candle them in about 2 days and then put them on "lockdown". Also, make sure to do the smell/tap test because that first one looks bad, but I could be wrong.

 

[White Valley Acres]

The one with the yolk coming out is most likely bad and will explode in the incubator or expose the others to bacteria that can sometimes kill or stop development of a chick, from what I've heard. Smell the egg, if it has any foul smell throw it out (carefully!). If it doesn't smell, try tapping on the end with the air sack. If you hear a slight pecking noise it will hatch soon. I highly doubt this one is alive still, but I could be wrong.

The other 2 look fine... I think, but then again it's hard to be sure. Also, are the other 2 moving around in the eggs? If there is no movement they may have stopped developing.
But, from my experience they look like they still have at least 4 to 7 days to hatch meaning they aren't going to hatch too early. I have eggs hatching all of the time, in fact I have about 24 in the incubator right now and all of the bantam eggs are all hatching 2 days early (day 19) or at least pipping. The others (bigger eggs) are chirping and 1 or 2 pipping, but my bantam eggs always hatch early, especially because I choose to hatch at 100 degrees instead of 99.5
This is the same case for when my broody hens sit on eggs. Sometimes they will hatch earlier than 21 days, some can take up to 23 days.
Don't fret too much quite yet, I would candle them in about 2 days and then put them on "lockdown". Also, make sure to do the smell/tap test because that first one looks bad, but I could be wrong.

I'll go and try your advisements with the bad egg. At first I thought it was fine, the incubator did smell kinda bad, so I'm gonna go do that after I send this.

I charged my candler a bit more to make sure it wasn't a fault with the candler and the two eggs I showed are still moving and I can see everything clearer, it's surprising how short a time the candler gets dimmer after charging it. Thank you for the tips and I'll keep that note for future cases!

 

[Tclloyd0812]

I'll go and try your advisements with the bad egg. At first I thought it was fine, the incubator did smell kinda bad, so I'm gonna go do that after I send this.

I charged my candler a bit more to make sure it wasn't a fault with the candler and the two eggs I showed are still moving and I can see everything clearer, it's surprising how short a time the candler gets dimmer after charging it. Thank you for the tips and I'll keep that note for future cases!

You're welcome! I've learned a few extra methods after hatching out hundreds of dozens of eggs!
Any updates? Did the egg with the yolk on the outside smell or is there any sign of life? I'm glad you see movement with the others, they should be hatching pretty soon now! 😊