"Settling" Shipped Eggs: Necessary? With Auto-Turner?

[aveca]

deviled eggs works..your welcome..i hope it helps..use dry incu for the most part with it..you will be amazed at how great the air cells heal ..after 7 days its like you went out to your barn and just picked them up. i seriously try not to touch them at all either uñtil day 7 and then again on 14, 18. its just so worth it to try to do everything you can to get off to a good start.

they posted the paper vet gave me as well as the redwood incubator instructions that say pretty much the same thing over somewhere in mahonris 3rd anual easter hatchathon but i couldnt find it..that thread has gotten so big.

So, I candled all mine and I know which ones are loose, and there are some that are semi loose, and the ones that appear to be okay. I'm thinking of letting the totally loose ones sit for the 7 days, and the semi for 3 and letting the rest sit in the auto turner. The turning slats are removable. I have identifying marks on all and a written description documented for each egg listing air cell mobility, amount of staining on egg, dappleing or tranlucence, rough or smoothness, large or small for each breed, and their origin. I don't have a scale to document weight, but I hope to by next hatch. I don't think I will candle them until 10 days in.

I have 16 silkie eggs, 18 serama, 9 LaFleche, 2 Cream Legbar and two of my own mutts for a kinda control set. Wish me luck! Aveca, thanks for all the advice- it makes me feel more comfortable knowing someone has used this info for hatching parrots and that a vet reccommended it. I read all sorts of conflicting opinions and see stuff about just throwing out ones with loose air cells, but I reallyreally really want my La Fleche and Legbars and they seem to be the worst off so I'm setting them anyway. They are going to get the 7 day treatment and I will report back on whether it works. I will know which ones have loose cells and which don't and I hope to get ahold of a bunch of the plastic berry baskets so I can corral the eggs into identifiable groups so I can narrow down who hatches and how well. Thankfully my hatch day will be a saturday and I will be home. My friend and I are going to have a hatching party (or sobfest- depends on how it goes) and I will try to give you guys some feedback on whether the 7 day no turning in the incubator helped.

Any reccomendations on what I should serve for our hatching party? Are deviled eggs too ironic?

 

[curranchickens]

deviled eggs works..your welcome..i hope it helps..use dry incu for the most part with it..you will be amazed at how great the air cells heal ..after 7 days its like you went out to your barn and just picked them up. i seriously try not to touch them at all either uñtil day 7 and then again on 14, 18. its just so worth it to try to do everything you can to get off to a good start.

they posted the paper vet gave me as well as the redwood incubator instructions that say pretty much the same thing over somewhere in mahonris 3rd anual easter hatchathon but i couldnt find it..that thread has gotten so big.

Ok aveca, every time I think I have "the plan" down then something gets thrown in the mix. Some of the above posters are labeling the different levels of damage and allowing the ones without damage or only minor damage to turn prior to the seven days. I did not label mine... Will the good eggs be ok waiting the seven days or should I gently candle and start turning the good ones? The angel on my right shoulder says no... Just leave them all alone... But that devil on my left shoulder is screaming "CANDLE CANDLE CANDLE ... USE ANY EXCHUSE YOU CAN TO CANDLE! Makes to worse because my led flashlight was a cheap 7 lumens light from wagreens. I went out today and got a 208 lumens flashlight from home depot for 39 dollars that I can not wait to use.... Especially on those 6 maran eggs that were shipped to me where I could not see ANYTHING so I did not even know if they were detached or damaged or anything...

 

[chickmashnoon]

I happened to candle and document all the info previous to setting them all in the incubator (as they came out of the shipping box), but if you are not sure (like the Marans or other dark eggs that were shipped) I would probably not rotate them for 3-7 days. I did a cursory scan and can't seem to find it now, maybe it was on a different thread, (i've looked at soooo many opinions and recomendations it's all starting to blur) but one of the things I read was that the rotating helps the embryo discard wastes and there's not much of an embryo to create wastes until the 6th or 7th day.

Wait until you get more opinions as I am just basing this on reading and certainly can't remember my reference and have no scientific backup. Someone else might know more the whys and wherefores. And I just happen to be lucky enough to have candled them before I set them and Lucky enough to be able to see the loose air cell! If yours have set a bit after shipping, or are already in the incubator, I'd personally just let them set without the autoturner for at least 3 days. If they have already set and are in the incubator Don't candle! besides, to candle them and see the loose air cell you have to wiggle the air cell around to see if it moves. If they have sat at all after shipping, by candleing for the air cells you are redamaging all the repair it has tried to do during its period of rest.

If what aveca says is right, you can candle them plenty after the rest period. Let's cross our fingers and wish for a good hatch!

 

[chickmashnoon]

Looked at the mahonris 3rd anual easter hatchathon thread- no wonder you can't find it! ugh! soooooo many pages . . sooo little time. wow.

 

[aveca]

here is one of the articles posted ,it is about redwood incubator and shipping egg advise.. I will try and find where they posted my vet cheat sheet letter and post that here too..it will take the confusion out of it for you..

article from redwood incubator .

INCUBATION TECHNIQUES:
All eggs in nature are incubated flat. You'll never see a hen set them on the small end and turn them. By laying them flat and rolling them 180 degrees each time you’re making everything inside the egg shift completely. This complete shift is called “Making the Embryo Exercise”. This will give you a stronger chick when it comes time to hatch.
The only time I'll incubate eggs in the upright position is when I get eggs shipped in. Then I incubate them in the upright position for 7 to 10 days without turning them at all and then turn them for the remainder of the 18 day period. This stabilizes the air cell and gives the embryo a better chance to start growing and get strong. You should let them rest at least 12 hours prior to incubation when you use this system. When shipped eggs that have air cell damage, it's best to have them incubate in the upright position the entire time of incubation just tipping back and forth after the first 7 to 10 days. I've taken eggs that have the air cells damaged so bad that they'll shift all the way down the side of the egg and I've gotten a good percentage of them to hatch doing it this way. This is my idea from getting hatching eggs shipped in over the years and then nothing hatching because of air cell damage. I just studied the eggs and opened tons of them that didn't hatch and came to the conclusion that to get them to hatch you first had to get the embryo growing building up strength. That was always the biggest battle. That's what blood rings are in shipped eggs. The embryo starts and then dies because it can't attach itself properly in the egg. Run both of these incubator with the air vents wide open. This will keep the air healthier in the incubator and keep the humidity lower. Only go by the size of the air cell in the egg to gauge the humidity in your incubator. Some eggs dry down easier than others. Marans eggs will dry down slower than Leghorn eggs. This has something to do with the egg shell. But if you go by standard operating directions and run your incubators according to the incubator directions you'll have poor hatches. You have to shoot for getting the air cell size to grow up to 1/3 of the egg by the time the chicks are supposed to hatch. The smaller the air cell the wetter the chicks will be. Small air cells will lead to a lot of chicks pipping and then drowning in the eggs.
As far as the humidity goes like I said, just watch the air cells. They're what will determine if the eggs are incubating right. Sticky chicks are caused by way to much moisture in the egg. What you have to think about is all the white of the egg has to be gone when that chick is ready to pip out. Then what happens ,if it is still there, is as soon as air gets into the egg when they pip through, the white of the egg acts like glue and as they're pipping it's drying and eventually it plugs their nostrils up and they smother. I have all my vents wide open and I don't add any water until the eggs are pipping. I set my Redwoods up so when I start them I fill the water pans full of the hottest water that comes out of the faucet. Then let them run for a couple of hours to seal up the wood. Then set your temps. Once the Redwoods are sealed then the moisture evaporating out of the eggs seems to be enough until they start pipping. Then, when the eggs start pipping, fill the water pans with straight hot water again. I do this even with my waterfowl eggs. They hatch so much better this way.

 

[NYRIR]

Quote: 208!!

I need one!

I would love to hear how well that lights up the darker eggs...

 

[NYRIR]

I think everyone here is a bit ahead of me...my eggs are still being gathered! I hope to get them this coming week, early on.
I am so grateful for the information on this thread. I will be candling the eggs to look for damage but not really sure what I will see, or know what I am seeing. Does anyone have a pic of a damaged air cell? Might help to know what to look for.

I'm excited to hear that even shipped and damaged eggs can hatch! It gives nervous Nellies like me a lot of hope!

 

[aveca]

well your right, you cant find that vet sheet in that blizzard of information...but you can see them discussing it..i kept going through it but like you said...so little time.
it
basically says same thing as the redwood incubation tecniques except she goes into little more detail about blood rings, she said in the letter that the embryo began to develope early on and due to unpressurised air travel it scrambles the dna and that is why hatching eggs are picked very fresh and stored in cool location to prevent the germ from beginning to develope.. and embryos that are able to begin to re-assemble cannot find ability to attach itself to inside of egg..due to loose air cells..she recomended allowing them to sit upright in incubator undisturbed for 7 days . her letter also says never just be in a hurry to get eggs into incubator...this is shocking to embryo if the egg is not rested and slowly warmed up may cause condensation on inside of egg shell and bacterial growth handeling hatching eggs that are shipped is chalanging but so rewarding when you hatch high quality breeder birds..always wash hands when handeling these eggs and dont beat yourself up if all of them do not hatch ..this method will help increase your hatch rate..when i have a little more time i will re-write it if i have to..its a good tip for those who like to buy from breeders..

 

[aveca]

when you shine your candeling light through the top or fat end of the egg , you will see a little air pocket...you can practice using a white grocery store egg or 2...use a fresh egg of your own to see this is a stable air cell..it wil be small...dime size..that will grow you will really see a difference on day 7 as the air cell begins to grow...brown eggs are harder to see through.. so when you open carefully your shipped eggs sit them right up in egg carton for their rest...pick one up candle the top and tilt the egg just a little bit back and forth..you will see that air cell move where it should stay still..this is very common in shipped eggs but with above tips you can get a larger number to develope and hatch..
somone a couple years ago had a short films on youtube showing stable air cell and shipped air cell..but it has been a long time i cant remember what they titled it..
i just got some more hatching eggs and i found an anomoly...one of the air cells is on the side of the egg..it just happens every once in a while that is one that might need a little assistance at hatch time..or sometimes they just figure it out themselves..

I think everyone here is a bit ahead of me...my eggs are still being gathered! I hope to get them this coming week, early on.
I am so grateful for the information on this thread. I will be candling the eggs to look for damage but not really sure what I will see, or know what I am seeing. Does anyone have a pic of a damaged air cell? Might help to know what to look for.

I'm excited to hear that even shipped and damaged eggs can hatch! It gives nervous Nellies like me a lot of hope!

 

[DirtCreature]

we have an LED that is 250 lumens and it kicks butt!

208!!

I need one!

I would love to hear how well that lights up the darker eggs...