What have I done??? (graphic pictures)

[kitkat2498]

I am so so upset. My egg had been doing wonderful,but then on day 18 it stopped moving inside. I just figured it was because it was so big,it couldn't move much. But then it looked exactly the same on days 20-22. I finally got too scared,and after reading other posts online,I was even more scared that if I left it any longer it would die....so I opened it. Just a bit at first,without breaking the membrane. But it was dry,very dry. There were only a few bloodvessels,but those didn't rupture when I opened the egg all the way. After opening it...well,here's what I saw
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I..I think I killed it. I feel so awful. I feel terrible. If only I had waited...is it normal for there to be less blood vessels on day 22,then? I felt really bad about what happened, but I'm not sure if I did it by opening the egg,or if she's been dead for a few days now. How would I tell? The egg wasn't smelly,but there wasn't any movement inside when I candled. I was so confused,so many different people had different opinions on it and I acted rashly. Since she had died,I did examine her to try and figure out what was the cause of her death so that I wouldn't make the same mistake the next time. I noticed that she hadn't developed wings. There were little knubs where the wings should have been,but no wings. Her eyes...well,there really was none. Just a glazed film. I tried pressing gently on the skull,but there seemed to be none. It was almost like her head was hollow. Could any of this be signs for an earlier death? Or do all these things develop just a few days before the egg hatches? Would she have hatched fine if I had left her until day 25 or 26? This feeling I have is so horrible,I never want to go through it again. Please,if anyone has any advice. Hopefully this might help others learn more about "helping" chicks before they actually need help..

 

[TweetyNPetey]

I think it died a few days before. Don't beat yourself up over it. It's not your fault. It just wasn't meant to be. But try again!

 

[kitkat2498]

Oh,thankyou so,so much. That makes me feel much better. I was afraid that my impatience had killed her. I will try again,and this time I'll try to follow the rules better.

 

[bugglesmommy]

I am sorry for your loss. Sometimes these things just happen. Don't beat yourself up over this. It was gone already before you did anything.

 

[kitkat2498]

Thank you very much for the response and the reassurance. I'm feeling a bit better now.

 

[Calix]

That looks really early for twenty two days- I'd say it died a while before, or had a severe defect of some kind. I doubt you would've gotten it to hatch even if you'd waited. Just bad luck, I suppose

 

[kitkat2498]

I suppose..this was my first hatch,and honestly I had never expected my eggs to get this far. So it was definitely a learning experience. Would the fact that it was Serama egg have anything to do with the early death? I know Serama chicks are very tiny and need lots of care,so would the same go for a Serama chick inside an egg?

 

[bugglesmommy]

A serama was an ambitious breed for a first hatch. They can be more of a challenge then others. If you try again I would pick something easier to try to incubate.

 

[Quyen Le]

How many eggs did you set? Usually my previous hatches, about 10-15% died on about day 17,18. some died earlier. If you set only 1 egg, then you've got bad luck. Try again. You learned something didn't you?

 

[kitkat2498]

A serama was an ambitious breed for a first hatch. They can be more of a challenge then others. If you try again I would pick something easier to try to incubate.

I didn't choose the Serama in particular to hatch, but when I bought my Serama hen from a flock of hens and roos, I couldn't resist trying to hatch some of her eggs. Like I said before,this was more of an experiment (although I did grow to love seeing the little hearts inside my eggs!) and I hadn't expected for the eggs to develop so much. But if I am going to try again,what are some breeds that are good for hatching? Thanks!