What are these black specks?

[SymanSaysFarms]

So I've been watching my hatch all morning and was able to catch one of my silkies fully zip and hatch herself. Never gets old! But then I noticed the inside of her shell was speckled in these tiny black dots. Is this just old blood or what? The chick from this egg is very healthy and lively. But I'm a worried momma. Anyone else have experience with this? Thanks!

 

[chooks4life]

Nope, never seen anything like that. First thoughts are, what did you use to mark the eggs? Could it be a bacterial infection? What's the eggshell look like with a torch behind it?

Best wishes.

 

[SymanSaysFarms]

I always use a pencil to mark eggs. The egg shells are still in the incubator with other eggs actively hatching. So I won't be able to "candle" them till maybe tomorrow. I was kinda thinking bacterial infection as well but the chicks are all nice and healthy. But how could they get a bacterial infection?

 

[chooks4life]

I always use a pencil to mark eggs. The egg shells are still in the incubator with other eggs actively hatching. So I won't be able to "candle" them till maybe tomorrow. I was kinda thinking bacterial infection as well but the chicks are all nice and healthy. But how could they get a bacterial infection?

Bacterial infections can be airborne; there's no such thing as truly sterile but live eggs anyway.

You can even get latent viruses, parasites, bacteria and so forth that reside within the eggs, too.

Attempting to clean the surface of the eggs, as I'm sure you have probably heard before, causes the natural antimicrobial surface or bloom of the egg shell to be removed or damaged, basically when people do that with chemical disinfectants they're removing one protective film to try to replace it with another, which isn't natural and of course is harmful in its own way, just generally not noticeably overall.

If you got those pencils from a very cheap shop, like a reject shop or bargain basement or whatever, they may not have been subjected to ordinary safety standards and there's literally no guessing what seriously dangerous crap they could contain (I'm sure you've already heard the hoo-ra about counterfeits masquerading as reputable brands, including toothbrushes covered in lead paint, etc)...

There are some products I buy cheap which, after opening the pack and smelling them, I will then throw without using; I have mild chemical sensitivities that flare up without warning, and if it smells like death to me, it sure as hell is not going to be something I use on my animals. There's a string of stationery shops which are popular with schoolkids, but I cannot walk into any of their outlets without struggling with the overwhelming chemical stench of their products, all of which are petroleum-based and made in China. It's a 'cool' shop so many kids and parents frequent it for school supplies, but I have no doubt it would fail a proper safety review of its products' leaching of chemical residues or similar. Likewise with many products manufactured for livestock, they are simply not safe, but it's hard for users to pinpoint the cause of the strange symptoms they end up getting, and too many people have too strong and blind a faith in standards regulations or quality control systems.

I've done some searching on the internet and not found any info on what could cause the black spots, though some other chicken keepers have reported them. Basically the most common guess is that it's an invasive bacterial infection. Makes sense, since it seems to be coming into the egg through the pores, growing, and causing necrotic patches.

Best wishes.