my first ostrich egg...

[Calla]

Raptor,
when is a good reason to believe, eggs will not hatch ? I rarely candle them, only if I need space to enter fresher eggs and not carry on with a dud egg.
Calla

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

I am interested in how the temperature of emu eggs may fluctuate without the chick failing to develop! Last winter, we learned that the eggs may be 'stashed' for several days, in winter wind and rain, before the incubation begins. Moreover, considering the extreme range of temperatures in wild-hatch environments (that is, the business of the male's body adusting its temperature in order to provide an appropriate temperature-range for incubation), we might consider the eggs to be rather tolerant of fluctuations of temperature -- but these are musings, not opinions.

(In fairness to Boy Emu, the nesting bird in question, he was extremely disciplined, and was never off the eggs for more than a couple of minutes -- stretching his legs, you understand . . . )

Supreme Emu

 

[Raptor65]

Raptor,
when is a good reason to believe, eggs will not hatch ? I rarely candle them, only if I need space to enter fresher eggs and not carry on with a dud egg.
Calla

For me it would be a stench or weeping, I hand turn all my eggs so a sloshing effect is a sign as well.
Weeping is when the egg is well and truly rotten to the point it starts building up pressure inside the egg and it starts leaking out through the pores leaving crusty looking spots on the shell, I recall someone in last seasons hatch-a-long had an egg like this. It's best to remove an egg immediately if it does this as it's possible for them to explode which can infect the whole batch and really ruin your day. That said you should know a bad egg long before it explodes.

I checked my eggs by smell from the air cell end every day up until they started wiggling, they have a sort of musky smell but not stinky per say.

I am interested in how the temperature of emu eggs may fluctuate without the chick failing to develop! Last winter, we learned that the eggs may be 'stashed' for several days, in winter wind and rain, before the incubation begins. Moreover, considering the extreme range of temperatures in wild-hatch environments (that is, the business of the male's body adusting its temperature in order to provide an appropriate temperature-range for incubation), we might consider the eggs to be rather tolerant of fluctuations of temperature -- but these are musings, not opinions.

(In fairness to Boy Emu, the nesting bird in question, he was extremely disciplined, and was never off the eggs for more than a couple of minutes -- stretching his legs, you understand . . . )

Supreme Emu

I recall someone suggesting that 96F was a good incubation temperature based on some information from an experienced caretaker, allowing longer gestation time for healthier, stronger birds. 98F would probably be the upper safe limit long term, it's really not how high but how long the eggs are exposed to a lack of or excess temperature.
I was keeping the incubation room temp at 68-72F to as low as 58F late in the incubation to counteract the extra heat generated by the chicks inside the eggs, the 5th and 6th weeks were marked by a temperature of 97.7F while first four weeks and the 7th week stayed at 97.5F due to this extra heat.

 

[Calla]

I keep my Emu eggs at constant 96 degrees, hand turning, 5x7 in 24 hours, airvent fully open at all times...low humidity till last week then increase to about 60%...same with Rhea eggs, just a degree higher.

Sad story......Jan. 2012.

After knowing Rosie's egg were all fertile in her 1st lay, 25 ...apart from 1st 3 I found frozen....I wanted to incubate quite a few last season 2012 and bought 5 eggs from another breeder In the hope to make up unrelated pairs....filled 2 incubators, 12 and 6.......after some weeks I detected foam oosing from a bought eggs and following day noticed a crack on an other, smell very bad...like a rotten egg ?

Removed them very quickly, cleaned out both Incis, carried on with the rest, started new hatch in one......but had opened all up all eggs, mine were all fertile but half cooked....and sadly dead, all got contaminated by this bad eggs..and no hatch.
Non of his was either.. Took 3 days to deliver ? very poor packaging,just loosely broken up egg trays, no paper for padding , supposed to be over night, for just 120 miles.


Another breeder informed me, same happened to her, actually expoded in her incubator, ruined it, same seller !! and 2 more had bad luck too...it's not always the posting, but a bad Seller.

Calla

eggs on arrival
I rang him, saying water was coming from paper.....ohhh yes...I always wash them...ha ha


then few weeks later....and awful smell.

 

[yinepu]

I recall someone suggesting that 96F was a good incubation temperature based on some information from an experienced caretaker, allowing longer gestation time for healthier, stronger birds. 98F would probably be the upper safe limit long term, it's really not how high but how long the eggs are exposed to a lack of or excess temperature.

that would have been me.

The info I got from Janice Castleberry (author of several books on raising emus and also long time breeder of emus and other exotics) was that the chicks are much stronger and healthier when the eggs are incubated at 95.5ºF and for a duration of 55 to 58 days. The eggs still need to lose 15% of their weight throughout the incubation period.. so weights still need to be taken at least every week and humidity adjusted as needed.


As a note. Mrs Castleberry has hatched thousands of emu chicks during the time when emus were being considered as an alternative meat source. Her and her husband were some of the few people who became successful emu breeders before the bottom fell out of the market. Today they raise rheas, zebras and assorted types of deer,(theystill have a few emu and ostrich at their home) but their main interest is in raising other exotic critters (kinkajous, coatimundis, kangaroos, lemurs, and genets).

 

[johnskoi]

For me it would be a stench or weeping, I hand turn all my eggs so a sloshing effect is a sign as well.
Weeping is when the egg is well and truly rotten to the point it starts building up pressure inside the egg and it starts leaking out through the pores leaving crusty looking spots on the shell, I recall someone in last seasons hatch-a-long had an egg like this. It's best to remove an egg immediately if it does this as it's possible for them to explode which can infect the whole batch and really ruin your day. That said you should know a bad egg long before it explodes.

I checked my eggs by smell from the air cell end every day up until they started wiggling, they have a sort of musky smell but not stinky per say.

appreciate the info

...i've seen the weeping on eggs that i've received from various breeders of both peas and silkies --- one of the 'joys' of shipped eggs

... i'm glad you mentioned the musky smell --- i smoke like a fiend, but i'm sensitive to smells -- that being said, i've been picking up on a smell that's definitely coming from the BIG O -- like you said-- not a bad smell, just an odor of it's own ...

i'm beginning to think this thing is fertile ( i was kinda skeptical, because what reading i've done it seems that ostrich laying season in the northern hemisphere ends in sept --- i got the egg from a friend of a friend, so i don't know the source) .... almost tossed it last week -- THANK YOU CALLA!

i've got a bunch of silkie eggs in the bator to help keep the temp stable -- still air, keeping the temp at just below 100, i'll pull the silkie eggs before they go into lockdown and swap them with other silkie eggs that i haven't set yet, that'll hatch AFTER the BIG O is due --- temp's a little low for the silkies, but they're plugging along anyway --probably hatch on day 23-24....

i really expected to see veining of some sort, but i haven't --- the pictures that i've taken also appear somewhat darker than what i'm actually seeing -- made me realize that the pictures of the candled eggs that i was looking at on the net, may be darker than what they actually are as well....

anyway, here's a couple of shots -- and thank you ALL for the advice and input

 

[Raptor65]

You may want to upgrade to an incubator with a fan, those big eggs give off a LOT of carbon dioxide which can asphyxiate them. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air so it'll settle down at the bottom of the incubator.

 

[johnskoi]

You may want to upgrade to an incubator with a fan, those big eggs give off a LOT of carbon dioxide which can asphyxiate them. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air so it'll settle down at the bottom of the incubator.

as much as i'd like to, i can't do it ... don't plan on trying to hatch more after this (win or lose)... empty bators in my hands are dangerous --if i don't have the eggs here to fill 'em, i find 'em or they find me

.... good to know about the CO2 --- even though the silkie eggs are small, they're still adding to it ---- i'll swap the eggs with bottled water brought to the right temp instead...

i know someone(s) on byc have adapted their still air models with computer fans .. (it's where i got the info to glue a bottle cap to the temp adjust --) , i wouldn't mind doing that, but i'd be araid to screw up what just might be working ...

(hope i'm not coming off as pissy -- i'm appreciating the added info bigtime

)

 

[Raptor65]

Just opening the incubator will kick up the CO2 and let in fresh air as long as you keep doing that every few hours, with an egg that big you need not worry about it getting chilled from repeatedly letting in fresh air. As for adding a fan, I'm pretty sure you can find one for your incubator or at the very least make one out of stuff from Radio Shack or the like, not hard to wire up a fan to a battery and a switch.

It's quite a challenge you've got there, really hope to see this bird hatch for ya.

 

[Calla]

John
I wish you GOOD luck too, wonderful experience. That 1st hatch of a new type of breed...try to get more eggs, you don't want a lone Ostrich., do you ?

Correct air ventilation is vital to successful hatch...Fresh air - versus ......carbon dioxide inside escapes and the right amount of oxygen comes in to the Incubator...too much carbon dioxide can kill embyos....and no hatch or dead in shell and can be almost fully formed.


Is temperature as important ??
While incubating Rhea eggs I often added some bantam eggs to them, just to test fertility and had space, , lower temp? all 8 ....and 4 Rhea eggs hatched too.... were also on test for fertility.



Calla