What causes yolk/liquid to turn green/blue/gray in hatching eggs?

[Wynette]

I've searched and searched and cannot find anything on this...I gifted some hatching eggs recently. The hatch was unsuccessful, and the hatcher broke the eggs to see what was inside. She indicated several were about 3/4 developed, but "the surrounding yolk and liquid had curdled and turned all sorts of greens and blues and grays." This must be some sort of bacterial issue, but I've never experienced it before in hatching any of my eggs. Does anyone have any clues? Thanks for your feedback.

 

[2txmedics]

I know I had rec'd a bad shipment for my RIRs and non hatched...but one started to seep...I wiped it and it did it again...looked like tiny beads of sweat...when i went to open it to just check it...I barely got the shell opened and it bursted open like it was full of air...and It was filled with BLACK BLACK UGLY LIQUID...and man did it stink!!!!

I couldnt get the smell off me just washing my hands....it was a bad egg for sure. Being a medic, Im going to say it was because the chick didnt make it and died, thus breaking down chemicals in the egg from its body.

Kind of like when a person dies...the body inside starts to purge, gases break down the organs to mush and they start to purge out of the body...so any orifices like nose, ears, eyes...privates...your internal body oozes out...and it smells bad, as its your organs turned to mush, and internal gases. Thats my guess on the chick.

 

[Wynette]

That makes sense, but doesn't it seem interesting that htis happend in more than 50% of the eggs? I mean, I've done lots of incubating, and I've had many begin developing and then quit...I always open those that didn't hatch....and I've seen many embryos in different stages of development that had died, but NONE had turned green/blue/or gray. Is it possible there was an external contaminant?

 

[2txmedics]

yes the possibe, but what was good is that it didnt affect the other eggs in there. I would most definetly sterlize that bator real good every piece before you use it again...even what you can on the hygrometer...be sure to clean off the fan as much as you can and the turner motor. Use a q tip to get in hard to reach places.

keep me posted and best of luck.

 

[Wynette]

Thanks - I'll let my customer know this info. Hatching is so frustrating...most times, you just don't have a definitive on exactly what happened...or didn't!

 

[skeeter9]

Yes, I think you had a contaminant from the outside. I've had many chicks start to develop, then die in the egg, and rarely have I had one turn rotten. Is it possible the eggs were washed before being set? If they are washed improperly bacteria can be pushed into the egg via the porous shell, and it can eventually kill the developing embryo and turn into a yucky mess.

 

[Wynette]

No, they definitely were not washed. These were eggs that I bred, and I gifted them to a friend. They were not shipped. They were quite clean...my girls are very neat in their nests, and I clean nest boxes frequently. Wish I knew what happened. Just wish I knew for sure if it was something I did wrong or not.....

 

[skeeter9]

Hmmm. Maybe your friend handled them without washing her hands????

 

[Wynette]

I'm not sure on that, I suppose that could be. It's also a home-made bator, so maybe it was just a weird bator malfunction? She also did say she was going to do a really good job of disinfecting the bator before she hatched again, so it's possible that it wasn't quite disinfected properly last time, I guess. I guess I just need to not obsess about it.

 

[skeeter9]

Yes, a bator that has not been disinfected could definitely be the culprit. I'm sure it will go better next time.