Shipped eggs with scrambled air cells

[Weeg]

You're welcome, of course! I'm excited for you - two groups of possibility.

If you get a chance to post a candling pic of Red, I'd be interested in seeing what's going on in there.

Sure! I'de definitely be willing to post a photo. I can probably upload a video too since I recently signed up for Vimeo for this reason. I'll probably upload it tomorrow though, since I've already candled Red twice today.
Its definitely going to be exciting to see the hatch rate from my bator, vs hatch rate from Sunny. I'm excited to see what happens as incubation continues!
Thanks for all the help.

 

[MadamContrary]

I've incubated a fair number of shipped eggs of different kinds over the years, and, most recently, incubated goose eggs and have a batch of chicken eggs in right now. USPS has been noticeably rougher on shipments over the past couple of years, and the eggs received this year had saddled and detached air cells as well as cracks, despite being responsibly packed.

I used Hova-Bators for the goose eggs and Brinseas for the chicken, so I can't really advise regarding your NR360. What I did was let the eggs settle for 24 hours after bringing them home, then I set them upright in cartons for 72 more hours without turning. I think minimizing movement, especially in the first few days, is very important for damaged eggs, but trying to get the air cell in the correct position is also important.

How about leaving them upright for the first 3 days (no turning) and then laying them on their sides if the air cells look better? I started the autoturner on day 4 and the air cells in the damaged ones seem to be ok - not normal, but in the right place, at least.

I got 1 gosling to hatch (of 2 eggs that began to develop - 1 quit halfway through). The chicken eggs are only about a week in but are still plugging along, including one with cracks that I covered in Liquid Bandage.

Best of luck!

This is what I do. It works very well, I use the NR360 and lay them down let the turner go on the end of day 2. I do stop turner early though, to give them an extra day or two to get into position. Based of large hatchery studies I have read, day 3 is the most crucial for turning and that more frequent turning (like the hourly turning in the NR360) can correct any early issues from lack of turning in the first two days. Good luck with you babies!

 

[Weeg]

When I candled Egg Red this morning, all the veins had disappeared, the egg seemed more yellow and the embryo's eye was dark, with other floaty like things moving freely around the egg as I turned. The veins did seem kinda weak yesterday, but its so odd he may have quit overnight. Did I candle him to much? I did pull him out of the bator twice to candle and try to figure out what was going on. Maybe its just because he was shipped with an already detached air cell. Maybe just too much trauma to make it any further.
I couldn't' get a good photo of the air cell, since when ever I moved the egg to shine into the ari cell, the cell moved as well. I traced the areas of the egg that I saw it in though, so you can get the idea.

 

[Weeg]

No way! I just candled all but 2 of my eggs, and they all seem to have quit, or are looking really faded with minimal veining. What the heck??? I had this happen to my last batch as well. I had 9 eggs, and on about day 5 all but 2 had quit? What could be going on here? All of Sunny's eggs look great. Lots of veining with movement as well. Did I open the bator to much to candle? I candled twice yesterday to see what was going on with Red, did that hurt the eggs?
I'm using the NR360 incubator. No calibrated thermometers or humidity gauges because I've heard you can trust things incubator, and I couldn't get a calibration on the thermometers I was using.
Any ideas as too what is going on? I'm gonna put all the thermometers I have in there even thought they're not calibrated, and see what they say. I'm so confused.

 

[Weeg]

I just candled all my eggs so I could see which ones are still doing alright. I saw no or very minimal veining with no movement in 6 of the 8 in my incubator. I did see veining and movement in 2 of the eggs, one of which I gave to Sunny to see if it would perk up since the veins seemed pretty dull. I kept the other one in the bator.
I didn't toss any eggs, I won't do that until day 12 since you never know what could happen. I candled 4 of Sunny's eggs yesterday, and they looked amazing! Huge, thick bright veins, with a visible eye and movement. The only 2, Egg Pink and Egg Yellow who had movement in my bator had dull, short, thin veins and I couldn't even see the embryo's eye. The movement was harder to see as well.
I'm borrowing a friends bator because all the NR360's are out of stock near me. She had a very successful hatch with hers, so I have no idea what is going on with mine.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

@Weeg, I'd definitely get an independent thermometer and hygrometer in there to check temp and humidity ("trust but verify", right? ). If those come back as expected, then my guess is that shipping stress may have caused too much damage for the eggs to overcome, if they quit. I've seen many more quitters with shipped eggs than with my own, even under the same incubation conditions and incubator.

Great news about Sunny's eggs! What a good broody.

 

[Weeg]

@Weeg, I'd definitely get an independent thermometer and hygrometer in there to check temp and humidity ("trust but verify", right? ). If those come back as expected, then my guess is that shipping stress may have caused too much damage for the eggs to overcome, if they quit. I've seen many more quitters with shipped eggs than with my own, even under the same incubation conditions and incubator.

Great news about Sunny's eggs! What a good broody.

I have 2 hygrometers and Thermometers that I can put in there. I calibrated one but got mixed results with temperature, (each time I calibrated I got a different result). I was able to successfully calibrate one of the hygrometers though, and it was spot on.
See, normally I'de blame it on shipping, but Sunny got half of these eggs. Sunny's batch and this batch are from the same far, same shipment, so why would her's be doing better than mine in the incubator?
Maybe its just because Sunny knows exactly how to treat each individual egg to make ti thrive, and I don't so thats making my half not do as good as hers?

 

[Weeg]

Alright, I one of the thermometers in there about 45 minuets ago. That thermometer has a calibrated humidity gauge which is reading 51%, and the NR is reading 43%. ????
The uncalibrated thermometer is also riding 100 degrees, and the NR is reading 99.5.
I'll add the other thermometer after I clean it off. I was using it in the brooder to tell heat.

 

[Weeg]

Great news about Sunny's eggs! What a good broody.

She really is a great broody. She's my favorite hen to, I love her to death. She lets me candle her eggs without pecking me, only puffing up and purring to let me know she doesn't approve. She's so great, and is doing a great job with those eggs. I think she's gonna get a great hatch rate.