Infertile eggs would lose, maintain, or gain water at the same rate as fertile eggs, it is a passive process from high concentration to low and has nothing to do with fertility or embryo growth.
Humidity is fairly forgiving but temp stability is vital, work on that first. Also look into Yang stressors on pre/early incubation eggs (cold or heat exposure, shipping, over a week old at start of incubation, heat spikes in incubator) these can all lead to significant late embryonic death.
Humidity can be really hard to control in those cheap bubble incubators (mine runs 20 or 85% without or with water respectively). I’ve hatched chicks successfully at both extremes (lockdown was 80% for both!) and actually really like a dry hatch (though not quite that dry). What works for me...
I was able to contact the breeder, they said there was some German pastel in the source flock, which I don’t have a clue about, and apparently the interwebs doesn’t know much more but from what I can find, it is apparently a multi gene color collection rather than a single gene, and fee is part...
I have one in my current batch of day 13 quail eggs, I can’t find an air cell or see anything but the other eggs in this batch from this hen are fine! I can’t decide if it is a detached air cell or a ridiculously thick shell. I even water candled it (I’m hopeful it bobbed a bit) and floats...
Okay, I’m about to go into lockdown with 10 quail eggs, these are home raised eggs, max 4 days old at incubation, outside temps high of mid sixty when collected, incubator temp stable, a couple infertile but the rest developing fine, these eggs are out of 3 hens so I have multiple eggs from...
I think I’ve finally gotten a little bit of an answer on my mystery bird color, it may be an off shoot of the German Pastel line. This is a collection, not a specific gene, rather it is a bunch of genes that produce a certain effect when combined and it doesn’t always breed true even within the...
So I can never remember when I put eggs in the incubator, after 15 hatches I finally figured out I could write the date on the plastic incubator with a dry erase pen! Sort of like the time I invented a joke (what do pirates pay for corn, buck an ear) but apparently it already exists, don’t you...
I love and hate sand, the birds love it but it is heavy, gets nasty when wet, and we seem to go through a ton (the wet thing!). I use the bedding pellets and have started deep litter composting in my indoor group pen and really like that. My outdoor hutch has a leftover sand layer on the...
The bulls eye thing is suggestive but incubate ten or so and any vein or blood development day 3-5 means fertile for sure, you can crack them open if you don’t want chicks, I’d do it day two or three if you don’t want to see embryos.
I don’t like the look of them if they are term eggs, the dark one might be okay or just be too dark to tell, there shouldn’t be that much liquid or light visible in a day 21 egg. I doubt your problem was the 15 minute egg-venture.
Refrigerated eggs tend to develop well initially but expect up to a 50% late embryonic death rate due to cold stress. Eggs with started embryos that go from warm day to fridge may die even sooner but if they go from warm day to incubator they may have a better chance, but best chance if they...
Heat issues, turning issues, and pre or early incubation stress are the big causes for hatch failure. Definitely use external thermometers (plural) and watch them, adjust incubator accordingly. Make sure your turner is working appropriately for your egg type and periodically check it is...
Without seeing more than the back of your bird I’d guess autumn amber (Italian roux), and I will say I’m jealous, I’m trying to get one too but so far have gotten autumn amber fee (pretty too) but then I don’t get many non fee Italians either.
You’ll want to differentiate between a broken leg, a nerve issue and a dislocated femur. If she can’t seem to move it or feel it or know where it is at (but you can move it freely, have her stand if possible and flip the foot so the top is on the floor, she should fight it or flip it back to...