Weird thing happening in one of my eggs

[JLeigh]

I have some eggs due to hatch on the 28th, and I was candling them tonight. (When I candled them last, they were all doing great) and one of the eggs has a HOLE in the pointed end which is facing down in the auto turner, like the rest of them. The air sac is almost completely going up and down the side of the egg. Obviously the hole in the egg affected the air sac, but there are still veins that seem healthy, although no movement in the egg. I've never had that happen. What's up with the hole in the egg? I didn't have one when it went in. I inspect them before they go into the incubator. Weird. Any explanations?

The other eggs are doing just fine - perfect air sacs and busy little birds inside.

 

[PeepsCA]

Hmm...no clue what happened. If it's developing on schedule with the other eggs, and it has no other cracks (or holes), then I'd patch it with a thin coat of some Elmer's wood glue. You may end up with a blood ring/dead embryo, but IMO, it's worth a try to save it. It has worked for me before... but it has also failed, lol. Good luck!

 

[JLeigh]

The hole is too big to patch with glue (It's about 1/8 - 1/4 an inch big). The glue will go into the egg. I'm going to try electrical tape. I'm going to put a small piece non-sticky side toward the egg covering the hole, then cover that with the sticky side to the egg to hold it down. It will probably kill it, but my guess is it isn't going to make it anyway. It's still alive this morning though - the veins are intact and it's moving. Maybe it had a very small hole when I put it in the incubator and it got bigger. Maybe I hit that spot when I put the egg back into the auto turner without realizing it.

It will be amazing if this chick hatches. I'll have a "miracle chick".

 

[PeepsCA]

Yikes, thats a pretty large hole, lol. Must have already had a small hole before you put it in the incubator, and you bumped it making it bigger. Definitely too big of a hole for the infamous Elmers Glue fix tho. Electrical tape may work, but with a hole that big the chances that bacteria have already gotten into the egg are pretty high. It may have cracks radiating out from the hole that need patching too. Hopefully you get it all patched up and the egg keeps developing

 

[zazouse]

Put some toilet paper over the glue it will seal it.

 

[JLeigh]

Thanks zazouse - I'll do that when I get off work later. That's a great idea! It's got about 6 more days until hatch date....ya never know what will work or not. What amazes me is that the chick is still alive after at least 24 hours.

Yeah, Peeps, I started thinking about it and it only makes sense that I hit it without realizing it. Unless it was aliens . I'm always afraid I'll drop an egg if I pick it up and candle. I usually leave them in the auto turner, but pick them up once, maybe twice, to get a really good look at development. Bummer for the little keet.

 

[PeepsCA]

Oh it's an egg from one of your Guinea pullets? I thought you meant it was a chicken egg. Usually my Guinea Pullet eggs are rock hard, so that one must have taken a heck of a knock or kick. With it still developing despite the hole tho it shows ya how tough those Guinea eggs really are. Hope you save it.

 

[nailladi]

Curious on how the keet with broken home is doing? Still hanging in there??

 

[JLeigh]

"Broken home" LOL. Great way to describe it.

The little chick (not a keet) hatched last night. I'm stunned. All the chicks seem healthy this morning, too. I really thought it would die when I first noticed it and taped the hole with electrical tape. I kept candling it with the others and it continued to live in the shell, so I let it go until it died in the shell. Of course I candled it just before lockdown and it was still moving. Then I thought it would die during hatching, but nope. Wish I'd seen the hatch, but it was in the middle of the night.

I've just learned it's possible to save a bird in the egg with a 1/8-1/4 inch hole in the tip of the egg, with an air sac that literally goes up and down the length of the egg - and electrical tape. Things want to live you know? Amazing.

 

[PeepsCA]

I thought "broken home" was cute, lol.
Congrats on the hatch... pics pics pics, even tho they aren't keets we wanna see!