Need advice! what is best position for hatching shipped eggs with huge air cells?

[rinehart63]

Hi everyone. I'm so glad I found this place to get information! This is a fantastic resource! This is my first post and this is my first hatching attempt! Learning so much day by day but hoping not end up gaining knowledge at the expense of any chicks! Hoping for some good advice here! I have some chicken eggs that will be 18 days on monday. Of the 18 total, about half of them have large saddle shaped air cells while a couple have huge cells that extend from the big end down one side nearly to the other end. Yes, these were shipped eggs! But other than that, development seems to be going fine however I am getting really concerned about hatching these, especially those with the worst air cells. They have been incubated in a styro incubator with turner so they have been in a basically small end down position the entire time. I will be placing them in another small incubator without fan or turner on monday but I have been wondering, should I place them in a carton or lay on side and just leave alone or place on side with something raising large end up slightly and with that air cell going down the side on the top position of the egg? I have attached a picture of the worst one. This pic showing the outline of the cell was actually done several days ago but you can clearly see how bad it is. There are 3 others that are about 2/3 to 3/4 down the side. I hope I can get these chicks out alive!!

 

[Eggcessive]

You might try posting this on the Easter Hatch thread right now since everybody is constantly on there, but just briefly ask your question in a sentence or two.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I would lay them on their sides with that air cell up.... you will need to read this article and understand the hatching process and what to do since these may need assistance, but its a SLOW process read thoroughly before you begin after most of the other normal air cell chicks hatch. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

 

[rinehart63]

Hi. Thanks for the two posts. I will check out the Easter hatch thread and maybe post there too. Thank you "sally sunshine" for your advice but have to say I have already read that page on assisted hatching! Yep, I've been really busy reading all I could! I'm fearing that I may in fact need to do a little "assisting" but I understand the dangers if timing isn't right. All I can do is make the best of the situation that I have been presented with on these shipped eggs. From what all I have read, hatching shipped eggs requires quite a bit of skill because of the "abnormalities" caused by the shipping process. Being a nurse, I have a lot of knowledge that I can bring forth to this challenge. Instead of feeling discouraged, I want to learn as much as I can and get MORE eggs to hatch! lol Yeah, this must be the hatching addiction I hear reference to and I have yet to actually hatch my first chick! I have also been dealing with air cells that are too small for this stage. I did what the incubator instructions said and that was to keep humidity at 45 to 55%. Well, now that i am at this point, I'm reading that maybe going by the incubator instructions isn't such a good idea. Read threads on dry incubating and now have humidity down to 30% to try to dry them out as much as I can before hatch time. I have learned so much since I put those eggs in and realize I have made some mistakes. Just hope I can make up for my knowledge deficits before it's too late!