my first ostrich egg...

[johnskoi]

what day are you on?.. -- 40

I can tell you that the liquid is not a good sign.. Is the liquid IN the air cell? if so then it sounds like he may have drowned.. --- nope, not in the air cell, just below it under the membrane

which also makes me wonder what your humidity was during incubation. From your last comment it may have been too high during incubation, but I must admit i havent read back through the entire thread to see. --- was running a dry inc thru the first 5 weeks (house runs about 30-35 %)

If it's within a day or so of hatch date you can drill a small hole in the air cell end to allow for air exchange. But without not knowing I would hate for you to if it's just too early.
so basically I would need to know:
What day is the egg on? --- day 40, my understanding is 39 -44 days is normal

How has the humidity been through out incubation? 30- 35% i've increased it the past few days by filling the wells adding sponges (keeping them wet but dripping) -- i don't have a hygrometer (rt word?) for this incubator

Have you been weighing the egg to make sure it lost the correct amount of moisture during incubation? -- no

What has the incubation temperature been? -- i've tried to maintain 97.5, but there have been a few fluctuations -- i've dropped it to 96.5- 97.5 the past few days

Also.. what kind of incubator have you been using? Making sure the chick had enough oxygen (fresh air exchange) would also indicate if it had died in the shell due to carbon dioxide poisoning or if it was too high of a humidity. --- an LG, but i added a fan

Sorry, hopefully he's still alive and well.. but that liquid has me thinking he didnt make it. . gonna keep my fingers crossed that he's still alive and kicking -- me too

 

[johnskoi]

John, depends what stage the egg is on, if it's over the time and alive, there is still hope, keep it shut and just listen,
good luck,
Calla

oooooooooooooooohhhhhhh, but that's easier said than done.... if i can help it, i want to ---- i'm second guessing what i swore were taps (time will tell one way or the other) --- may have been a 'ticking' before it explodes....

 

[yinepu]

what day are you on?.. -- 40

I can tell you that the liquid is not a good sign.. Is the liquid IN the air cell? if so then it sounds like he may have drowned.. --- nope, not in the air cell, just below it under the membrane

which also makes me wonder what your humidity was during incubation. From your last comment it may have been too high during incubation, but I must admit i havent read back through the entire thread to see. --- was running a dry inc thru the first 5 weeks (house runs about 30-35 %)

If it's within a day or so of hatch date you can drill a small hole in the air cell end to allow for air exchange. But without not knowing I would hate for you to if it's just too early.
so basically I would need to know:
What day is the egg on? --- day 40, my understanding is 39 -44 days is normal

How has the humidity been through out incubation? 30- 35% i've increased it the past few days by filling the wells adding sponges (keeping them wet but dripping) -- i don't have a hygrometer (rt word?) for this incubator

Have you been weighing the egg to make sure it lost the correct amount of moisture during incubation? -- no

What has the incubation temperature been? -- i've tried to maintain 97.5, but there have been a few fluctuations -- dropped to 96.5- 97.5 the past few days

Also.. what kind of incubator have you been using? Making sure the chick had enough oxygen (fresh air exchange) would also indicate if it had died in the shell due to carbon dioxide poisoning or if it was too high of a humidity. --- an LG, but i added a fan

Sorry, hopefully he's still alive and well.. but that liquid has me thinking he didnt make it. . gonna keep my fingers crossed that he's still alive and kicking -- me too

the LG will give plenty of air flow.. so carbon dioxide poisoning can pretty much be ruled out

You don't need the extra sponges in there... remember ostrich's are from an arid region.. so they aren't like ducks or geese. So like the other ratites they go dry for incubation and at hatching.

When is the last time the egg rocked or tapped back at you?
The slight drop in temperature will probably not make much of a difference this late in the game.. had it been lower throughout incubation then it would have extended the incubation by several days to a week or more (depending on how long it was low).

 

[johnskoi]

the LG will give plenty of air flow.. so carbon dioxide poisoning can pretty much be ruled out --

You don't need the extra sponges in there... remember ostrich's are from an arid region.. so they aren't like ducks or geese. So like the other ratites they go dry for incubation and at hatching. -- gonna lose 'em

When is the last time the egg rocked or tapped back at you? -- only heard it the once

The slight drop in temperature will probably not make much of a difference this late in the game.. had it been lower throughout incubation then it would have extended the incubation by several days to a week or more (depending on how long it was low). -- i just edited the last post because it wasn't clear that 'i' dropped the temp intentionally

 

[yinepu]

the LG will give plenty of air flow.. so carbon dioxide poisoning can pretty much be ruled out --

You don't need the extra sponges in there... remember ostrich's are from an arid region.. so they aren't like ducks or geese. So like the other ratites they go dry for incubation and at hatching. -- gonna lose 'em

When is the last time the egg rocked or tapped back at you? -- only heard it the once

The slight drop in temperature will probably not make much of a difference this late in the game.. had it been lower throughout incubation then it would have extended the incubation by several days to a week or more (depending on how long it was low). -- i just edited the last post because it wasn't clear that 'i' dropped the temp intentionally

Ah.. gotcha.. well... sit tight then and keep monitoring the egg. I still don't like the sound of liquid in there though.. but I won't give up hope until you know for sure one way or the other. PLEASE keep us updated!

 

[Calla]

Keep going John...that last candling gives me hope....have seen it on Rhea eggs, and hatched later, if day 40 you have more days to go...nothing more you can do now ........but wait......wait and not open.
Good luck !
Calla

 

[Raptor65]

As said in other threads, don't assume the worst unless it starts to stink or leak. Don't loose hope, the fat lady hasn't sung yet!

 

[johnskoi]

day 43 -- no changes noticed -- i'll probably drill a hole tonight, unless i see something different going on...

 

[johnskoi]

... and the fat the fat lady hasn't sung, but she's humming mighty loud

!

 

[Raptor65]

Hold fast, you tried getting a response from it? May need to try once in the morning, once at noon and once in the evening, could be a stubborn sleeper (Hoping).