Poll! What would YOU do?

[lizanne]

if it has a live viable embryo in it (by day 10 or so).. it won't migrate around the shell...

as the embryo forms the aircell "sticks" for lack of a better word.. the same air cells which were damaged in shipping that were rolling about or were bubbly... there is no way that they CAN continue to migrate once a healthy embryo forms simply because the veins will adhere to the membranes and "stick" them to the shell.. If you have ever done the "stages of incubation" where eggs are cracked open on different days of incubation you will have seen what I mean

in a rotten egg.. or one where the embryo died.. or an infertile or scrambled egg the membrane can still roll around simply because there are no healthy veins to hold it in place.

So, if I can't tell if an egg is still viable through candling, I can assume that any with moving air cells are not going to hatch and take them out after 10 days(or so) or at lock down? I haven't heard that before. Thanks for the info.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
I would give them until hatch (what y'all call "lockdown") simply because your incubator temps will also help determine how quickly the embryo grows.. if you've had temp issues it can slow down or speed up embryo growth (not something to aim for since it can result in problems).. the "10 days or so" is just a number since I haven't monitored eggs specifically for and made notes of exactly which day the air cells "stick".. in a perfect incubation it could possibly be day 12.. lol.. like I said I never bothered to make notes of it since I don't candle every day.. but by "lockdown" if you still have air cells migrating all over the place you can be certain that that particular egg has issues and won't contain a viable chick.. then again you should be able to tell by candling if the egg is rotten or clear by then.. if the chick has reached a decent size and died you should still see a dark blob.. but if the shell isn't too dark and you have a very good, very bright candler.. you should be able to see if there are still good veins or not .. now not everyone has access to extremely good lights.. and not all egg shells are easy to see through.. but over the years I have seen my fair share of veins turn brown and degrade from embryo death.. so it is possible to see those under the right circumstances..
needless to say though.. if the chick is still alive.. the air cells should be "fixed" to the egg.. you may see the top (or the sides if it's saddle shaped) of the air cell move (either from chick movement or too high of humidity and liquid in the air cell.. but the edges should not be migrating all around the inside of the egg.. the movement should be restricted to a bump here or there if it's chick movement causing it..


as a note.. with rotten eggs many times the membrane will pull away from the inside of the shell.. giving the appearance of a water balloon inside the shell.. those can move about pretty easily and should have a bit more special care in moving the egg around simply to avoid egg explosions... not all rotten eggs will explode.. but it's not a pleasant experience when they do



I'm going to be gone out of town (Galveston trip YAY!) for several days.. so if I'm a bit slow getting back on here it will be because me and my phone aren't on the best of speaking terms when it comes to browsing the interwebs!