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- #71
HeatherKellyB
✝️ Perfectly Imperfect ✝️
Hi! Sorry, I've been so busy today. I think the worst I've ever had is 2 saddled out of a shipment. Mine are usually pretty intact. I would still just set them all as is. I've never washed any of mine. I had one duck egg that a friend brought me fron his hens nest (she abandoned it during a storm) that was so caked in mud. I picked a bit of mud off with my fingernail, but it was uselessly stuck on. I just left it. About a week later it started hatching! I had to help it hatch since the mud was too thick, but other than that it was fine. I just put a super poopy and dirty quail egg on lockdown. I don't know how it got so dirty, but it's the best looking development wise. I never worry about dirty eggs. They usually end up being my toughest and healthiest birds honestly. I would just set them. Can you post a pic of the dirty ones? If you've been "washing" the eggs, that could be part of your problem too. It rubs the dirt in through the pores, and can cause them to die from bacteria contamination further into the incubation period.
I haven't been washing any of the eggs I've received. I don't handle them with unwashed hands though. Sometimes I put on a medical glove to handle. I just scratch off whatever I'm able to get off. I've not had a lot of dirty eggs.
That's really interesting about the air cells. I figured this was normal for shipped eggs. Out of probably 30 eggs, all but maybe 10, have had completely detached rolling air cells and tiny bubbles that move alongside the detached air any and every way the egg moves. This could probably be a part of my issue too, maybe. I nearly fainted at the amount of eggs with intact air cells out of the 8 Spitz eggs. Most are slightly saddled, but this is a HUGE improvement from the normal here. What are your thoughts about this? That's why I was so adamant about keeping them upright. With so many factors against the eggs, it's no wonder I've only hatched 4 eggs (the showgirl I should include on that count because I truly feel like she could have made it if I had intervened before I did, whether it meant taking Fancy out so the egg wasn't rolled around all over the incubator or just assisting with the zip) actually 5 if I include the showgirl that almost made it.