Methods for checking Emu eggs Pre-Hatch (please post methods)

[ExoticRescue]

I have used the stethoscope daily since day 49. My temps have also been on the lower side because I figured high temps would kill faster so I tried to keep the incubator set to around 96 and that way if it went a lil high or a lil low we were in the clear. I have tried every test imaginable with these eggs.

With the cooling test, the air cell cools quite quickly down to 88-89 degrees but the other side stays quite warmer, around 93.6. I was also wondering about the solids cooling quicker than air thing and wasn't really sure if that temp difference was a telltale sign of a chick or not. And then of course, there may be a chick, but it may not be alive at this point.

I tap with my finger when I listen with the bell of the stethoscope and can hear a clear difference in different areas of the egg, and am pretty sure I can tell where the chick is within the egg. Again, this doesn't tell me whether or not the chick is alive.

But tonight while tapping, I got the bubbly squeaky noises again. First time since day 38 and tried to listen very carefully to figure out what it could be. The best way I can describe it is it sounds like a groan, like what a kid does when his mom asks him to take out the trash some other chore. I have written to my friend who hatches a lot of emus and uses the stethoscope to see if she can tell me what it is. Tonight it really seemed to be in response to whistling when I got the noise from 3 eggs so I'm so hoping it is something coming from the chick.

Tomorrow is day 60, though technically day 60 doesn't start until 8:20 pm so we will see what tomorrow holds. My second 2 eggs are on day 47 tomorrow already too! I'm so impatient for my babies!

 

[birdeo]

a bubbly squeaky groan and you are at day 60...
Have you done the sniff test on those eggs?

 

[ExoticRescue]

Yup, my friend calls it the gurglies and hears it her live eggs too. None of these eggs smell bad at all. I did have one egg go bad around day 30 so I removed it and cleaned out the shell. I feel better now that I spoke with her as she is a well known breeder/hatcher in the emu circle and one of the only ones that regularly uses a stethoscope.

Also, I had noticed that shell temp runs about a degree lower than my incubator thermometer says, so I wss incubating right around 96 degrees for the majority of incubation, which would've extended the hatch date.

Well, tonight starts day 60 so I will know something soon enough!

 

[ExoticRescue]

Ok I got wiggles!
Turns out I was afraid to keep them out of the incubator long enough for them to wiggle. My friend told me 10 minutes and a wiggle they did! I'm so ecstatic I want to jump around and stuff!

 

[Erka97]

My incubator's been running low basically the entire time, it gets down to 90 sometimes if it gets warm in my room.. Cold makes it run high up to 99 or 100.. I guess they aren't dead though if I'm hearing things.
You're really lucky to have friends that do this, I don't know of anyone in my area that does and all my friends think it's either really crazy or really cool that I'm hatching them.
Did your friend say what they think causes that sound? It seems like an odd sound for an egg to make to me.

 

[ExoticRescue]

No but she said dead eggs sound like nothing, real quiet. You should join Emus as Pets on facebook. I met some great people there, knowledgeable and happy to help!

 

[Erka97]

I will. I'll probably need all the help I can get. This is so much more stressful than hatching chickens and ducks.

 

[ExoticRescue]

I will. I'll probably need all the help I can get. This is so much more stressful than hatching chickens and ducks.

TOTALLY!
I didn't realize how much I relied on candling until now!

 

[Erka97]

I always knew I did; the highlight of my day -as lame as it sounds for a college student- is always the evenings when it gets dark so I can candle my other eggs.

In other news, I think I hear heartbeats! I've been hearing this sort of hum in all of my eggs, and I thought it was something in my house, maybe some appliance running, but I've tried listening to other non-living objects and they don't make this sound.. The only thing close I've found is listening to my chicken chicks, with some imagination of what they would sound like through a thick shell. Does anyone here know if it's even possible to hear heartbeats on day 34-35, or at all?
I posted the same on the Emu facebook page, but I'm excited about it so I posted here too.

 

[Erka97]

Eh, I got a drink bottle to do the same.. I guess it is just a reaction of fluids and some vibration of some sort after all. How disappointing. Still, 2/3 kicked this time while I was listening!