What’s happened with this egg?

[Mama_in_the_Dell]

Chick never externally pipped. Once I realized there was no movement I opened it up and slowly peeled the shell away to find the head. This is what I found. It was malposition. Several of my eggs have been. It appeared to have tried to pip breaking the internal membranes but not the shell. There was a smal blood ring around the pip and some staining on the shell and surrounding membranes. So my thought is that it either bled out or drown. I would think a bleed out would have more blood so I really think it may have drown in its own fluids.

 

[RosemaryDuck]

Chick never externally pipped. Once I realized there was no movement I opened it up and slowly peeled the shell away to find the head. This is what I found. It was malposition. Several of my eggs have been. It appeared to have tried to pip breaking the internal membranes but not the shell. There was a smal blood ring around the pip and some staining on the shell and surrounding membranes. So my thought is that it either bled out or drown. I would think a bleed out would have more blood so I really think it may have drown in its own fluids.

Malpositions are often a turner issue. If the egg isn't turned properly, or enough times over the course of the incubation it can lead to these kinds of issues.

If you have an automated one, I'd invest in a replacement.

 

[Bweis13]

@Mama_in_the_Dell Is that a blue egg? Araucanas (and so some Americaunas/Easter eggers) carry a gene that causes chick mortality. It’s awful because the chicks are pretty much grown and can’t pip. I had the same problem when I bred araucanas, and they looked perfectly formed but just died in the shell. I stopped breeding them because it was so heartbreaking. We had about a 25% mortality rate.

“There was a big problem with the Araucana chicken breed, however. The gene that produced the bird’s unique neck tufts also caused chick mortality. If a chick inherited two copies of the gene, the mortality rate was nearly 100%. This is still a risk today, although some breeders have tried to breed the tuft out. Still, breeding two Araucana chickens does have risks. A lethal allele combination will cause some of the resulting chicks to die. Up to a quarter of a hen’s chicks will inherit the allele and die before hatching. Even if only one copy of the gene is inherited, the chick has a 20% mortality rate. This is a risk a pertinent breeder must be aware of before breeding Araucana Chickens. Because of their allele issue, the Araucana is more difficult to incubate and hatch than most other chicken breeds.”


https://www.chickencoopguides.com/raising-araucana-chickens/

I love the cute little tufts, but I just can’t handle knowing so many won’t make it.

 

[Bweis13]

Chick never externally pipped. Once I realized there was no movement I opened it up and slowly peeled the shell away to find the head. This is what I found. It was malposition. Several of my eggs have been. It appeared to have tried to pip breaking the internal membranes but not the shell. There was a smal blood ring around the pip and some staining on the shell and surrounding membranes. So my thought is that it either bled out or drown. I would think a bleed out would have more blood so I really think it may have drown in its own fluids.

My poor dead ones were perfectly formed and looked ready to hatch. I can’t tell for sure if that’s what you have or not. I’m so sorry.

 

[Mama_in_the_Dell]

@Mama_in_the_Dell Is that a blue egg? Araucanas (and so some Americaunas/Easter eggers) carry a gene that causes chick mortality. It’s awful because the chicks are pretty much grown and can’t pip. I had the same problem when I bred araucanas, and they looked perfectly formed but just died in the shell. I stopped breeding them because it was so heartbreaking. We had about a 25% mortality rate.

“There was a big problem with the Araucana chicken breed, however. The gene that produced the bird’s unique neck tufts also caused chick mortality. If a chick inherited two copies of the gene, the mortality rate was nearly 100%. This is still a risk today, although some breeders have tried to breed the tuft out. Still, breeding two Araucana chickens does have risks. A lethal allele combination will cause some of the resulting chicks to die. Up to a quarter of a hen’s chicks will inherit the allele and die before hatching. Even if only one copy of the gene is inherited, the chick has a 20% mortality rate. This is a risk a pertinent breeder must be aware of before breeding Araucana Chickens. Because of their allele issue, the Araucana is more difficult to incubate and hatch than most other chicken breeds.”


https://www.chickencoopguides.com/raising-araucana-chickens/

I love the cute little tufts, but I just can’t handle knowing so many won’t make it.

It’s a purebred Ameraucana. 5/6 hatched just fine. This one didn’t. When I saw that it had died I opened it up to find out why. This is the first time I had seen these marking on the egg and membranes. It was pipping at the pointy end and seems to have made it through the membranes but not the shell. Looks like liquid and a little blood stained the membrane when it internally pipped.

 

[Mama_in_the_Dell]

My poor dead ones were perfectly formed and looked ready to hatch. I can’t tell for sure if that’s what you have or not. I’m so sorry.

It was trying to pip. Fully formed. I lost a lot of my own egg last hatch. I think I worked out the humidity being too high and this hatch from a local breeder did so much better. Only had 3 out of 2 dozen fully form not hatch. One was under a broody and couldn’t fully pip because it’s foot was directly over its beak. One had broken earlier and was sealed with wax but still developed just never pipped and then this one. I lost have my eggs last time.

 

[Bweis13]

It’s a purebred Ameraucana. 5/6 hatched just fine. This one didn’t. When I saw that it had died I opened it up to find out why. This is the first time I had seen these marking on the egg and membranes. It was pipping at the pointy end and seems to have made it through the membranes but not the shell. Looks like liquid and a little blood stained the membrane when it internally pipped.

I’m glad to hear the 5/6 hatched fine. I opened mine up to see why they died too and couldn’t really see a reason except for the fact that they know the genes cause mortality. I’m sorry you’re losing any.

 

[Mama_in_the_Dell]

I’m glad to hear the 5/6 hatched fine. I opened mine up to see why they died too and couldn’t really see a reason except for the fact that they know the genes cause mortality. I’m sorry you’re losing any.

These were a local breeder and hatch rate was great. I ordered a dozen shipped Ameraucana eggs and only 7 made it to lock down out of 13 and then only two hatched. Not sure what happened with these. I had then propped up for the whole time right up until day 19 when I know they were alive so now I think I should have left them propped up or something. It was my first time with shipped eggs and I followed all the suggestions I had heard about letting them set and propping them up.

 

[Bweis13]

I‘m so sorry. I had the typical hatch rate for purebred Ameraucanas when I got eggs shipped. I’ve only used broody hens though, never an incubator.