Large irregular air sac?????? Help!!!!!!! Would like peoples thoughts on this.

[dandydoodle]

I am incubating some shipped eggs. Out of 7 eggs I have three with babies alive in them. Two out of the three have really large irregular looking air sacs. Is this because the air sacs got messed up in the mail? The air sacs take up over 50 percent of the egg and they are irregular shaped. The babies are still alive. What are there chances? Do any babies make it when they have really large irregular air sacs???????? What are their chances and what causes this?????


Help!!!!!!!

 

[dandydoodle]

????

 

[bugglesmommy]

Yes, the shipping helped cause the irregular cells. What's your humidity been at? Low humidity will also lead to large cells. What day are they on?

 

[dandydoodle]

Humidity has been 48 to 50%. I think it is probably the shipping thing verses humidity though. The reason why I say that is out of the three eggs one has a air sac that looks perfect. If it was humidity I would think they would all look bad. My biggest question at this point is there anyway I can get them here safely? I know with the air sac being like this it can cause complications. Is there any chance they can make it. Am I more then likely gonna have to assist hatch in order to save them? If the air sac is messed up is it likely the chick is too? I have so many questions and we are on day 17. We go in lockdown tomorrow. I am really hoping there is some chance for them even if I have to help them out. I sure would hate to only get one baby after paying for these eggs and having them shipped. I really need a Wheaten Ameraucana roo and if only one hatches out that really decreases my odds. I will probably get a girl.

Well I would love to have a girl but, if I don't get a boy I will have to do this all over again.

 

[Kelsie2290]

I've had shipped eggs do that also, where part of the eggs will have normal sized % air cells and some will develop big irregular sized cells, If I catch it soon enough I have separated the eggs and put the ones with oversize/weird shaped cells in another incubator and upped the humidity levels, that seems to help those eggs develop more normally. I still am lucky to get 50% hatch rate with the big irregular cells. The ones with normal looking cells in the same batch will hatch at 90-100%. I swear it has something to do with the porosity of the eggs and some evaporating faster, but how that would really be affected by shipping I don't know. Have not had local or home eggs do that like the shipped ones will.

 

[bugglesmommy]

They may or may not make it. You don't want to help too soon though, or they will die. One of the biggest issues I have with irregular air cells is the chick cannot get into proper position. Another issue is being unable to externally pip with saddle shaped cells. You can look over this to understand when and how to help in worse case scenarios.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

 

[dandydoodle]

I've had shipped eggs do that also, where part of the eggs will have normal sized % air cells and some will develop big irregular sized cells, If I catch it soon enough I have separated the eggs and put the ones with oversize/weird shaped cells in another incubator and upped the humidity levels, that seems to help those eggs develop more normally. I still am lucky to get 50% hatch rate with the big irregular cells. The ones with normal looking cells in the same batch will hatch at 90-100%. I swear it has something to do with the porosity of the eggs and some evaporating faster, but how that would really be affected by shipping I don't know. Have not had local or home eggs do that like the shipped ones will.

Yea, I haven't had this happen with my eggs. Only with shipped eggs and this is the only time it has been this bad. I will just cross my fingers.

 

[dandydoodle]

They may or may not make it. You don't want to help too soon though, or they will die. One of the biggest issues I have with irregular air cells is the chick cannot get into proper position. Another issue is being unable to externally pip with saddle shaped cells. You can look over this to understand when and how to help in worse case scenarios.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

Thanks, I read this last night. I guess between being tired and them explaining about so many different scenarios so quickly it felt kind of confusing. I have already saved this site and I am gonna go back and read it a couple more times so hopefully I will understand a little better. How she was saying to do the assist hatch was just a little confusing to me.

I am hoping I can find someone who has actually done this and can tell me about there experiences before we get to hatch time. I am nervous because, I don't know whether I am gonna need to assist or leave well enough alone. I have had babies pass in the past because, they couldn't get out and I waited to late. In that post it says to wait until 21 days and in my experience a lot of my little guys that needed help and I didn't ended up dying in the egg on the night of day 20. I guess because, I didn't give them a pip hole and they couldn't breath.

 

[bugglesmommy]

I have assisted a number of hatches, including my entire peachick hatch last week. EVERY one got malpositioned. The biggest thing with helping is slow and careful. That guide is how I learned to save them. It can be a hard call of when to step in, and I have been too late a number of times. 21 days is just a baseline. Some, often bantams, will hatch a bit sooner. If those air cells are that bad, I'd say chances are high they will need assist.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Sorry, got side tracked and never finished my thoughts. What I do with those eggs, and I don't know if it really helps, or it just makes me feel better, but I always hatch them in slanted cartons and try to prop/position the egg so the aircell is in the most normal position, I don't like other chicks rolling them around. (I put the odd eggs in another incubator/hatcher) I keep the humidity high, I usually hatch around 65%, I try to keep the oversize aircell ones at 75% or more. My chicks tend to hatch in a pretty short time range, so if the normal eggs in the batch start pipping/hatching, and the odd ones are not doing anything, I will candle and start poking holes in the odd eggs by the time the first normal egg chicks are out or 24 hours after the first normal egg has pipped if I am at all uncertain ... usually when the air cells are that big there is plenty of space on the top of the egg to open them up. I pretty much follow the advise and instructions on the link above about assisted hatching about what steps to take from then on. Like I said, I expect about 50% hatch from the eggs with the really big or really badly shaped air cells at day 18, it has improved as I have gotten better or braver at helping. I am not sure that there is anything I could do to help some of the chicks survive once the aircell is really oversize, some of the chicks just don't develop right, and some of the chicks seem to die the last day or so before they should hatch. The ones with the more just badly shaped aircells seem to have a better chance at making it. Helping does give a good 2X as many live chicks as I used to get just letting the bad eggs try it on their own.