rotten egg ruining hatch?

[Christie Rhae]

I have some Q's about "bad eggs".

I am wondering if a bad egg in the incubator will ruin all the eggs?
If an egg bursts but does not get on the other eggs will it still hurt the others?
If there is a mystery stinker that has not burst will it hurt the other eggs?
If it is just a weeping egg will it hurt the others?

Anyone got some bad egg input?

 

[Gypsy07]

I've never had a bad egg in my incubator but I've just had one under my broody hen. She kicked it out of the nest on day 21, and it was sloshing and stinking, but not broken or seeping. When I opened it for a look, it had obviously been rotten for days, if not weeks. My other three chicks under the broody are hatching right now and don't seem to have been affected by the rotten egg...

I recently had a bunch of eggs that were seeping gunk due to being scrambled in transit. They didn't affect the other eggs. I don't think a rotten stinker would hurt the other eggs as long as you got it out of there before it burst. Eggs that explode are a bit different though, as by the time they have built up enough pressure to pop, they're obviously riddled with bacteria.

The main problem with bad eggs in your bator is that if they do burst, everything gets covered in them, and it takes ages to get your bator cleaned out and sanitised and get all of the smell out of it. And while you're doing that, your other eggs will be going cold. If I had a rotten egg burst on me, I think I would quickly wash all the other eggs in a mild bleach solution and then rinse them in water that was a couple of degrees warmer than 99F, to try and get all the bacteria off them, then I'd stick them into my emergency bator and hope for the best...

 

[bobbieschicks]

I had a bad egg last batch - I candled on Day 9 and then on Day 14 and the previously marked "good" egg I marked as "unknown development" - then on day 15 the incubator started smelling like hardboiled eggs - or worse - and when sniffed - only one egg was "bad". I took it outside and opened it and found that the chick hadn't progressed past about day 9. So if you find a smell - sniff the eggs - you'll know which one it is pretty fast & get it out quickly by covering it with papertowel and gently removing it. You don't want to have to clean up the mess inside the bator.

I don't know if it ruins the whole hatch if it explodes b/c thankfully I caught mine before that time.

 

[cukooformarans]

I've got some eggs due to hatch Monday, so we're on day 19. I went to check water levels in my Brinsea and noticed one egg literally broken in half, but still intact. The black/green/yellow stuff was holding the shells about 1/3" apart. I didn't see any ooze on any other eggs. I went ahead and took out the egg, which never completely exploded. I pulled the other eggs out and wiped everything down with a clorox wipe. It's a little early, but I took the wire separators out b/c two were in contact with the egg. So I had to take it off of the turner. I also went ahead and set it up for the hatch since I had it open for a while cleaning and didn't want to keep disturbing them. It's only about 12 hours early. Did the egg kill my hatch? Did moving it over to hatch mode kill my hatch?? We have hatched 3 or four hatches for ourselves with this particular incubator with wonderful success. But these are for my granddaddy. He got the RI red eggs from a friend and I hate to lose them. What do you think? Should I change anything??

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

It can infect other eggs but usually not many even it it does go boom.

 

[ggrap]

I think they can be harmful even if they don't blow, because they can emit gasses.

 

[woodman]

I have the same question about bad eggs in the incubator. I removed one about day 7 and another one day 15 today; both were oozing out the bottom in my Genisis 1588 Hova-bator but did not explode. The incubator and the room its in really smells though. should I remove the eggs for a few minutes and clean the incubator quickly before the chicks hatch or just let things be?

 

[Gypsy07]

I would remove each egg one by one and give them all a good sniff. You want to be absolutely certain there aren't any more bad ones in there! If you are confident your bator would regain temp and humidity quite quickly then yes, you could give it a quick clean out. If this were me I'd switch it off, wipe it out, then switch it on again and not fiddle with the temp knob at all. That way it should get back up to the same temp and you won't ahve to adjust anything. Good luck!

 

[ingasmile]

Quote:
I think if the room is still smelly then you have another bad egg. When I have removed the bad egg the smell dissipates pretty quickly. Unless a lot of fluid leaked into the bator, that is now cooking inside there.


Inga

 

[cukooformarans]

The smell could be from the fluid that oozed out, too. If there is still a smell, that is a sign of a problem though. Either there is bacteria in the bator itself or another rotten egg. I would pull the eggs, clean the bator and sniff test the eggs before putting them back. The idea of trying to wash the eggs at this point would scare me though because it may wash off bacteria already on the egg but it would also compromise the eggs ability to withstand bacterial invasion later. (ie if you missed a spot) I'm no expert, so this is just my opinion. I could be wrong.