Saddled air sacks

[Hj0988]

I have 3 beautiful chicks but so far lost two after they pipped mid egg. Both that passed had saddled air cells. The eggs were shipped so I knew it was a possibility but does anyone know a way to position the eggs to encourage them to pip in the proper place on my next hatch? I do have one more who had a slightly saddled air cell so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

So your eggs with saddled air cells externally pipped but were unable to hatch? Were they malpositioned in the egg?

Incubating badly shipping-damaged eggs can be a real exercise in frustration. I've found that chicks from these eggs that make it to lockdown often need assistance to hatch, so I candle daily to check for internal pips. Once I see an internal pip, I proceed with making a safety hole.

As to how to position the egg to best facilitate hatching, I look for where the air cell has drawn down and try to place the egg so that the lowest point of the air cell is up; this is intended for eggs placed on their sides for hatch - some choose to hatch shipped eggs upright in cartons and have had success.

Best of luck with your hatch!

 

[Hj0988]

I only candled the last one and the pip was right at the bottom of the air sack in the corner. It had been so long and the chick wasn’t chirping so I took the risk and intervened and gently broke the membrane. 3 hours later I awoke to the sounds of a brand new chick! I will definitely make safety holes like you mentioned next time. 4 out of 6 hatched (one was deformed) so I’m happy but I feel I could have saved the other one with the saddled air sack. Everything I read is always discouraging helping chicks but this little guy probably wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t and he’s strong and healthy so far. Thank you so much!

 

[K0k0shka]

I put my shipped eggs upright in cartons at lockdown, and that seems to help.

Don’t listen to the “never help a chick” crowd. They often miss or ignore the context. If you are a breeder who’s going for a “survival of the fittest” approach and you need to eliminate any possible weakness, it makes sense to let troubled chicks die. But if your chickens won’t be reproducing and passing on any weaknesses, it doesn’t matter. Or if you’re hatching your own eggs that have only traveled from your coop to your incubator, and you’re going for a “natural” process.

However.

There is nothing natural about either the shipping of eggs, or their incubation in a man-made box. The process is already stacked against the chick, who has to overcome artificially created challenges to hatch. You can have a chick with perfectly good genes and health struggle and fail to hatch because the process has been compromised by these human-created obstacles. So I don’t accept that argument once humans have stepped in and removed the “natural” side of the process. Once you start introducing artificial elements to the environment, it is no longer the chick who is entirely at fault for failing at any point in the process.

Another thing to consider is the cost of shipped eggs. After all that trouble and expense, I’d want to give each one of them the best chance possible. If it was eggs from my own flock that I have an endless supply of, I’d probably let them fail because I have so many more. But with shipped eggs - no way am I wasting my money and effort like that.

And lastly. It also matters how many you’re hatching and whether they will be pets. It’s easier to let chicks go if you have many, or if you view them as livestock and don’t get attached. But if you’re hatching just a couple of pet chickens, and you are emotionally invested in them, it makes sense to help each one. People even help and raise disabled chickens after they hatch, because they are emotionally invested in them, even though that’s against common sense from the purity standpoint which dictates to never help.

I help every shipped egg in distress. I don’t breed my chickens, so their issues stop with them. I also only have a small handful, and don’t want to lose any if I can help it. I assisted 3 hatches this past spring. One had other problems and died, which I’m glad for because as much as I want to help, I also don’t want to drag out the inevitable when quality of life is compromised. The other two assisted hatches are 7 months old now, healthy, and the sweetest lap chickens ever! They would’ve (unnecessarily) died without me, and I’m glad I helped them. I would absolutely do it again.

Here they are, lap-napping

 

[Hj0988]

I put my shipped eggs upright in cartons at lockdown, and that seems to help.

Don’t listen to the “never help a chick” crowd. They often miss or ignore the context. If you are a breeder who’s going for a “survival of the fittest” approach and you need to eliminate any possible weakness, it makes sense to let troubled chicks die. But if your chickens won’t be reproducing and passing on any weaknesses, it doesn’t matter. Or if you’re hatching your own eggs that have only traveled from your coop to your incubator, and you’re going for a “natural” process.

However.

There is nothing natural about either the shipping of eggs, or their incubation in a man-made box. The process is already stacked against the chick, who has to overcome artificially created challenges to hatch. You can have a chick with perfectly good genes and health struggle and fail to hatch because the process has been compromised by these human-created obstacles. So I don’t accept that argument once humans have stepped in and removed the “natural” side of the process. Once you start introducing artificial elements to the environment, it is no longer the chick who is entirely at fault for failing at any point in the process.

Another thing to consider is the cost of shipped eggs. After all that trouble and expense, I’d want to give each one of them the best chance possible. If it was eggs from my own flock that I have an endless supply of, I’d probably let them fail because I have so many more. But with shipped eggs - no way am I wasting my money and effort like that.

And lastly. It also matters how many you’re hatching and whether they will be pets. It’s easier to let chicks go if you have many, or if you view them as livestock and don’t get attached. But if you’re hatching just a couple of pet chickens, and you are emotionally invested in them, it makes sense to help each one. People even help and raise disabled chickens after they hatch, because they are emotionally invested in them, even though that’s against common sense from the purity standpoint which dictates to never help.

I help every shipped egg in distress. I don’t breed my chickens, so their issues stop with them. I also only have a small handful, and don’t want to lose any if I can help it. I assisted 3 hatches this past spring. One had other problems and died, which I’m glad for because as much as I want to help, I also don’t want to drag out the inevitable when quality of life is compromised. The other two assisted hatches are 7 months old now, healthy, and the sweetest lap chickens ever! They would’ve (unnecessarily) died without me, and I’m glad I helped them. I would absolutely do it again.

Here they are, lap-napping

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Aaaw precious! You made so many good points. These are pets since me and the kids want some friendly chickens very unlike our laying hens so we are very emotionally attached. We love them too of course but lap naps with some friendly chickens sound awesome

 

[K0k0shka]

Aaaw precious! You made so many good points. These are pets since me and the kids want some friendly chickens very unlike our laying hens so we are very emotionally attached. We love them too of course but lap naps with some friendly chickens sound awesome

Good luck! I hope you get some friendly chickens, too! I find that my assisted chicks are friendlier than the others, maybe because they got extra handling and attention at the beginning. Handle them a lot, right away, every day, to up your chances of friendly chickens and lap naps I hatched with/for my kids, too, and the handling really paid off.