Most of my Eggs Have a Misplaced Air Sack, Should I help Them Hatch?

[nibs]

Hi! While candling my eggs around day 7, I quickly noticed that five of them had a misplaced air sack, even though I placed them correctly after shipping. The air sack is on the COMPLETE opposite side, so I put all of the eggs in an egg tray, large end up. This did nothing, and now it is day 21. What should I do? Should I poke a hole in the side of the eggs? Do you think they positioned themselves accordingly? Help! Thanks!

 

[sumi]

Have the shown any signs of pipping yet? Don't make holes in the shell yet. Wait and see where they pip and how they do. Then we can wait and see if they manage to hatch or need help. I had a duckling pip on the complete opposite side of the egg from the air sac last weekend and it managed to hatch by itself, with no help from me. They can take extra long if they pip in the wrong spot but they sometimes manage to get out unassisted.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Have the shown any signs of pipping yet? Don't make holes in the shell yet. Wait and see where they pip and how they do. Then we can wait and see if they manage to hatch or need help. I had a duckling pip on the complete opposite side of the egg from the air sac last weekend and it managed to hatch by itself, with no help from me. They can take extra long if they pip in the wrong spot but they sometimes manage to get out unassisted.

I also have the same questions

 

[nibs]

The eggs have not shown any signs of pipping but at least five should be. They were developing well a few days before lock down. Anyways, at what day should I consider poking holes and where should I make them? Should they be where to incorrect air sack is? Or where it should be? Thanks for your help so far, hope you can help even more!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

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

and then come back with questions,

had your thermometers been calibrated?
do you have a fan model or no?
what is humidity?
did you weigh them or track air cell growth for weight loss?
how did this look day 18?

you can candle and tap stage and look for internal pips and follow the assist, BUT this assisting takes a loooong time IT CAN NOT be rushed.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

If you can understand that there are TWO membranes, one is the outer membrane that coats the entire inside of the shell

The inner membrane also surrounds the shell but separates from it to create that air cell, so as long as you see open air cell your safe to go into that area gently.
just try to open slow chips keeping away from the inner membrane. YOU AVOID INNER MEMBRANES you wont harm the chick.

only you will be able to tell when an assist is necessary, its so hard without being there, knowing incubation procedures and such.
I put as much info as I could in that article.

 

[nibs]

I'm very grateful that such an educated person in helping me! Thanks! But my main concern right now is, from what I've read, the chick breaks the inner membrane into the air pocket where it rests. From there, it will crack the outer shell. Since the air sack is misplaced, the chick wont break into the air sack and will not get oxygen once it breaks the inner membrane. For this reason I don't understand why i would crack the shell outside of the air sack. It is very well possible i am wrong, but this is from my understanding. Could you shine any light on this?

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I'm very grateful that such an educated person in helping me! Thanks! But my main concern right now is, from what I've read, the chick breaks the inner membrane into the air pocket where it rests. From there, it will crack the outer shell. Since the air sack is misplaced, the chick wont break into the air sack and will not get oxygen once it breaks the inner membrane. For this reason I don't understand why i would crack the shell outside of the air sack. It is very well possible i am wrong, but this is from my understanding. Could you shine any light on this?

At first I didn't quite understand that a chick can breathe and chirp still in the inner membrane without an internal pip. What you would need to do is open the air cell up on one to investigate, NEVER GOING BELOW AIR CELL LINE, as that holds all active membranes no matter what its shape. once you have access to the internal membranes and dampen them you will have a better idea of whats going on in it, AS LONG AS YOU DONT HIT THE membrane and make it bleed you should be ok. most times even these wonky air cells the beak is still at the lowest part of the dip, in your case its actually better to have such a loooonnngg air cell, since you will be able to see the chicks position better as well as where his head/eye/beak wing etc are at, KNOW ANATOMY before you head in there! see the article there is a link to positions. IF you press gently on the inner membrane and you see fluid put it back in the incubator its NOT ready! at this point only use water, I don't use ointment until I have a free beak. as you can tell from my notes in the article, heading into an egg not knowing where its head is at is extremely risky. I can only add to the article with KNOW ANATOMY before you get in there and DO NOT PANIC take your time in a sense, breathe!

 

[nibs]

Thanks! Maybe ill give it a go, but i think i'm just going to let nature take its course! Still, thanks for your help, I'll tell you the outcome.

 

[Sally Sunshine]