What should I do? *UPDATE!*

[XxKiki_Bantam_BreederxX]

I got a dozen eggs in the mail 23 days ago. They had floating air sacs, but thought it would be fine.

It is now day 23, no signs of life. 11/12 eggs were empty and one chick-in-egg still remains.
No peeping, kicking, or any signs of life, but also no smell or veining on egg.

What do you think I should do? The temperature has been fluctuating quite a bit...could that have killed it? Do I wait, Take a peek, or just plain give it up?

 

[jm93030]

I pretty sure that by day 10 you should be able to tell if eggs were viable or not.

at this point you can do a water test

how was humidity ?

how much the temperature fluctuated?

 

[XxKiki_Bantam_BreederxX]

The humidity was perfect, we had no problems. The temperature at it's highest got to 104, the lowest 97.

I also don't know what the water test is, so can somebody please explain?

And yes, at day 10 we threw the icky/empty ones out.

Thank you!

 

[jm93030]

This a good explanation on how to do the water test
This information was posted from a BYC member JJ

Many Folks Are Having Eggs Go Overdue For Hatch And Wondering If They Are Duds, Late, Or Have Had Some Sort Of Fetal Demise.... The Float Test Is Simple Yet Effect Way Of Checking Egg Viability.

I Normally Give Eggs A Full 24 Hrs Overdue Before Float Testing. It Works On All Bird Eggs- Period! Takes Very Little Equipment Or Time To Do And Is Easy To Perform.


Start With A Bowl Of Sufficient Depth To Allow The Eggs Your Testing To Float Freely Or Sink. Add 100 Degree Water To The Needed Level And Allow It To Settle( Quit Swirling And Calm Down)

Once Settled Take The Egg Or Eggs To Be Tested And Gently Lower Them Into The Water With As Little Disturbance As Possible. You May Need To Wait A Few Minutes For The Water To Settle Again After Adding Egg/ Eggs. Then Just Watch....

Eggs Are Judged By Observation With Results As Follows:

1. Sinker= Dud, Never Developed

2. High Floater (like A Fishing Bobber Without Weights) Say 45% Or More Of The Egg Above The Water Line= Dud, No Development Or Fetal Demise, Likely Rupture Of Internal Membranes Causing The Egg To Dehydrate.

3. Low Floater= Viable Egg, Development Full Term

4. Low Floater Rockin And Rollin! This Is The Live Embryo Moving Inside The Egg= Definate Viable Egg!

Once Test Results Complete Take Viable Eggs And Gently Pat Dry And Replace In Hatcher. Duds Are Best Discarded At This Time.


It Should Be Noted All Eggs Warrant Close Inspection Prior To Float Testing--- Any Pips In The Shell? Do Not Float Test! If The Shell Is Broken, Pipped Or Cracked In Any Way Water May Enter And Drown The Chick Inside

This Test Works Off Of Air Cell Development With Embryo Growth. Infertile Eggs Will Have An Underdeveloped Or Absent Air Cell That Isnt Large Enough To Float The Egg....thus The Sinkers. Ruptured Membranes Will Allow The Egg To Dehydrate.... Thus The High Floater. Proper Development Of The Embryo Will Cause The Air Cell To Develope To The Point Where Viable Eggs Will Float With Approximately 10-15% Of The Egg Above The Water Line--- These Are The Viable Eggs. Obvious Movement Of The Egg Shows Signs Of Life For The Chick Within. Works On All Bird Eggs From Hummingbirds To Ostriches

 

[XxKiki_Bantam_BreederxX]

Thank you. We did this, and it was a high floater, no movement, so we did what Akane suggested on another thread and popped a hole in the air sac end. It is strange! There is no inner membrane, but it isn't dead! There is no smell and there was some movement, but no membrane. I am afraid it may have just collapsed on him. What should I do?

 

[XxKiki_Bantam_BreederxX]

Its Official! It's inner membrane is GLUED to it! I can see inside the shell and it looks like it's head is upside/down! Do I help it out? I think it may be suffocating?

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Quote:

That usually means the humidity is too low, or you opened the incubator after lockdown.

This is what I would do. (assuming it's over 23 days) Take the whole incubator into the bathroom and turn the shower and all the faucets on hot full blast, in a few minutes it will be nice and steamy, you can then take the egg out and SLOWLY SLOWLY peel off the shell tiny bit by tiny bit. SLOWLY. If it starts to bleed at all stop. When you get a good sized hole you can then take a q tip dipped in water and touch it to the membrane, that will help get it moistened back up and help to get it off. I would continue to peel both shell and membrane off ever so slowly while alternating tiny drops of water on the membrane.

Hope this helps!

 

[yinepu]

Quote:

That usually means the humidity is too low, or you opened the incubator after lockdown.

This is what I would do. (assuming it's over 23 days) Take the whole incubator into the bathroom and turn the shower and all the faucets on hot full blast, in a few minutes it will be nice and steamy, you can then take the egg out and SLOWLY SLOWLY peel off the shell tiny bit by tiny bit. SLOWLY. If it starts to bleed at all stop. When you get a good sized hole you can then take a q tip dipped in water and touch it to the membrane, that will help get it moistened back up and help to get it off. I would continue to peel both shell and membrane off ever so slowly while alternating tiny drops of water on the membrane.

Hope this helps!

to add to this.. if you do see blood.. wrap the entire egg (except for the chick's beak) with wet paper towels and return the egg to the incubator.. wait about an hour and check again.. it may take two hours depending on how much blood you saw... then after the time is up go back to removing the shell.. the key is to keep the membrane moist. just make sure that you don't get everything TOO wet around the chick's beak or you can drown it

what all of this does is allows the veins to "dry up" so the chick doesn't bleed to death.. if you are lucky blood flow will have already stopped and you can help the little guy slip from the membrane without any problems.. it also allows time for the yolk to be absorbed.. you do not want to remove the chick from the shell if it still has the yolk visible

 

[ReikiStar]

Quote:

That usually means the humidity is too low, or you opened the incubator after lockdown.

This is what I would do. (assuming it's over 23 days) Take the whole incubator into the bathroom and turn the shower and all the faucets on hot full blast, in a few minutes it will be nice and steamy, you can then take the egg out and SLOWLY SLOWLY peel off the shell tiny bit by tiny bit. SLOWLY. If it starts to bleed at all stop. When you get a good sized hole you can then take a q tip dipped in water and touch it to the membrane, that will help get it moistened back up and help to get it off. I would continue to peel both shell and membrane off ever so slowly while alternating tiny drops of water on the membrane.

Hope this helps!

Good advice on how to remove the shell. Been there, done that, got a beautiful healthy chick! You could also put some towels whetted with HOT water in the incubator to jack up the humidity, if moving it to the bathroom isn't an option.

Once the chick is out, give it some time. You might have to give it a bath to get the remaining membranes off. In a bowl, fill it with 100 degree water (check the temp) and then just wet the parts that have sticky matter on them. Be careful to keep its head above water and not to get water in it's nostrils. NO SOAP! You can use a wash cloth to help remove the gunk. Been there, done that, it works.

Good luck!

 

[XxKiki_Bantam_BreederxX]

I opened it more, it is dead. It was filled with egg whites and blood, wasn't even developed all the way. Strange that there was no smell and everything pointed to alive.

Thank you all for your help.