kind of gruesome question

[pbjmaker]

Is there a good way to break open the shell of a egg in which the chick started forming but passed? I wanted to see about where this chick stopped forming for future reference.

 

[arlee453]

You can carefully crack it on a counter just like you would for cooking, OR take a knife and use the blunt side to tap it at the air cell end.

Many of us have done the same thing - it helps to know where things went wrong... and of course we are just morbidly curious too

 

[pbjmaker]

Yeah this one even had a name already - we kept calling the egg "swimmy" because of all my darker brown eggs when we candled it you could see it "swimming" all over. I think he must have passed right around day 14 but wanted to open it up. I am on day 22 with 6 potential eggs left and no pips...

 

[arlee453]

Awww - I hope at least a couple of those last ones hatch for ya!

 

[pbjmaker]

Thanks - tried it with the knife. Worked very well. I had three that looked like they died around day 12-13 since they had some feathers. My husband was like "What are you going to do if you crack one open and it peeps at you!"
I told them I wouldn't have pulled them if I wasn't sure they were bad.

 

[luvmychicknkids]

Sorry you lost them.

I ALWAYS break every egg I remove. I figure it is a learning experience. So I open them and I generally take a pic or two of each one.

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

If your not sure when they stopped developing if it's not to late OPEN THEM OUTSIDE! There could be some stink involved.