large air cells

[chkinut]

i'm on day 15 (beginning of day 15) and the air cells in most (if not all) of my eggs seems pretty big! i've got small showgirl eggs (bantam size). but the air cells seem like they're taking up about 1/4 of the egg. is that normal? and then some of them.....the air cells even dip down into the egg about halfway.....making the air cell a funny shape. is this all normal or is my humidity too low? i've been keeping my humidity around 30ish to 48ish throughout all of incubation.....sometimes a tad lower, sometimes a tad higher.

 

[joe17]

Your humidity is wayyy to low then!!!! They can be different shapes. You may have mistaken the air sac for a bloodring?? Try a few more hygrometers to see which one is more accurate.

 

[chkinut]

no, there's no blood ring......they're all moving inside....they seem healthy. i guess i'll increase the humidity. maybe i should keep it around 50%? or in the 40s consistently? i just haven't been freaking out about the humidity....i just make sure it doesn't go below 28% or so. and i make sure it doesn't go above about 48%. i wonder if it's too late. hopefully not. this is my 1st hatch (incase you haven't guesses...lol).

 

[BawGock]

I think they will be fine. I generally have bantam eggs in the 50-55 range because they seem to dry down quicker than our large fowl eggs.
It sounds like you have shipped eggs there. I'm guessing because I've only seen the weird air cells that go down the side of the eggs in the shipped eggs I've hatched.
Just places where the membrane has pulled away (but has not ruptured) from the side of the shell during rough postal handling.
I think this can contribute to them drying down a little quicker too.
I have 6 eggs in my bator that look just like that and they are doing fine.
Carolyn

 

[chkinut]

thanks so much! i'll make sure to keep the humidity around 50-55%. they're going into lockdown on sunday anyway, which then i was planning on keeping them at 65%. and yes, they are shipped eggs. i'll keep everyone up to date on my hatch rate of my showgirl eggs. i'll make sure to put "showgirl eggs hatching" or something like that in the topic. thanks again!

 

[Kiwibird]

I just hatched large chooks for the first time on the weekend. It seemed to me as if their air cells were proportionately smaller than the bantams I am used to. So maybe your air cells are not as oversized as you are thinking, if these are your first bantams.

I wonder if other members have noticed a difference between large fowl air cells and bantam air cells?

 

[LALADY1101]

I just hatched silkies yesterday/this am. At lockdown, the air cell on one of them took up about 1/3 of the egg. I just KNEW that chick was gonna drown when it hatched. THe one with the big air cell pipped and hatched within about 3 hrs..alot faster than the other one did! Don't lose hope!

 

[BawGock]

I think when they are dried down that far they have lots of room to move around in there.

I've heard some folks on the forum are really happy to have them dry down that far...I've heard of as much as 50% space taken up by the air cell.
Seems a little scary to me. I try to match that diagram where it shows where the air cell should be on days 7, 14 and 18 and adjust the humidity accordingly.
Carolyn

 

[chkinut]

that's interesting about the bantam air cells v. the LF air cells.....helps me relax a bit. SO......i'm more relaxed, but also still uping the humidity a bit. i don't know how i'd survive without everyone at BYC. my hubby and son were laughing at me cuz i was concerned about the air cells. they just don't understand.

 

[Sweetfolly]

I have shipped Bantam Cochin eggs in the 'bator right now, and their air cells are a little funky too. Like BawGock said, the air cells seem to have slipped down to the side of the eggs on some of them, so that when candling from one side of the eggs, the air cell looks like it's taking up 1/3 of the egg, but if you turn the egg to the other side it doesn't look like there's an air cell at all! All of my eggs that look like that are developing normally, and they're "dancing" around in there!

They have been drying out fast though - I've had to keep both channels of water filled in my Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco to keep the air cells from getting too big - they seem to dry out much faster than the duck eggs I have in the other 'bator right now!