First Time Hatcher Hatch-A-Long

[citymeetscountry]

I took the last egg out, no activity on day 24 and clearly dead. I carried it into the woods for an eggtopsy.

Poor little thing made it to an internal pip and no farther. I'm too inexperienced to tell, but I *think* that it pipped in the wrong place, on the side rather than into the airspace.

Spoiler: Eggtosy Photos

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I'm eager to have experienced people tell me what lessons I should learn from this hatch.

To sum it up:

14 eggs set.

3 clear.

3 quit early, probably in the first week.

6 hatched naturally.

1 assisted hatch with splayed leg and curled foot.

1 dead in shell after internal pip.

Obviously I’m no expert as this was my first hatch too. Can they *internally* pip if it’s not in the air cell? I guess I don’t see how that would work?

 

[3KillerBs]

Obviously I’m no expert as this was my first hatch too. Can they *internally* pip if it’s not in the air cell? I guess I don’t see how that would work?

It's beak was through the membrane, but there was no hole in the shell.

It seemed to be at the side of the egg instead of the air cell end.

 

[citymeetscountry]

It's beak was through the membrane, but there was no hole in the shell.

It seemed to be at the side of the egg instead of the air cell end.

That makes sense. I was wondering if that was a possibility.

 

[3KillerBs]

That makes sense. I was wondering if that was a possibility.

It's just my best guess based on what I saw. The poor, little thing was entirely enclosed in that membrane except for the beak poking through. I had to tear the membrane away to uncurl it and look at the belly (I *think* that's a little bit of unabsorbed yolk?).

 

[citymeetscountry]

It's just my best guess based on what I saw. The poor, little thing was entirely enclosed in that membrane except for the beak poking through. I had to tear the membrane away to uncurl it and look at the belly (I *think* that's a little bit of unabsorbed yolk?).

I thought it looked like unabsorbed yolk as well

 

[JewelBirds]

Congrats on the healthy chicks! Sorry to see the last one didn't make it. If it had been able to make an external pip, it would have had a much better chance, as long as it didn't hit a vein

 

[3KillerBs]

Congrats on the healthy chicks! Sorry to see the last one didn't make it. If it had been able to make an external pip, it would have had a much better chance, as long as it didn't hit a vein

It was sad to see how it got SOOOOO close then died. But that sort of thing happens.

 

[JewelBirds]

It was sad to see how it got SOOOOO close then died. But that sort of thing happens.

Yes, probably the saddest stage of hatching for them not to make it.

 

[JewelBirds]

Yesterday was day 7 for my eggs (set 12 shipped, 8 of my own, 20 total). Down to 16. Unsurprisingly, the 4 that didn't make it so far are all from the shipped category. 2 of the Welsummers, 1 Light Brahma, and 1 Black Australorp. Blood rings in 2, the other I could tell was a quitter as well.
The final one, a Welsummer, looked more "clear" than the others, so I followed my gut. Well, cracked it open to confirm, and it was completely empty (this was also the one with the completely detached air cell). No embryo or veins. I believe the yolk had been scrambled during shipping, thus no development to begin with.

And here was the contents inside (basically, nothing):

One of the blood rings:

This is a live one, which is from one of my Leghorn hens (did I mention how grateful I am to be able to see so clearly in white eggs? lol).

Unfortunately, many of the shipped ones have saddle shaped air cells, but luckily the scrambled one was the only one with a detached air cell. So, all in all, what I am experiencing with my first shipped eggs is what I have read many shipped eggs may experience. I have never been more grateful for the more "normal" look of my own eggs!

 

[JewelBirds]

I noticed around day 10 one of the eggs was looking weird (yellow dots that weren't there when set). Sure enough, upon candling, it appeared dead. Pretty sure it was developing bacteria. Candled the rest to be sure, and there were 3 more that had died as well. All 4 were my eggs, so I was not expecting that. That left me with 12 eggs (8 shipped, 4 of my own).
Day 14 and day 17 candling went good, all 12 eggs are in lockdown today. Saw some rocking in one of the Welsummer eggs this evening. Brooder is already set up, one of the many things I have done to keep my mind occupied. Definitely the most nerve-wracking days for me!