In need of advise for incubating goose eggs with irregular air cells- nearing time for lock down.

[crycat]

I am incubating goose eggs shipped from three different sources. One batch has developed very large, saddle shaped air cells and one egg from another batch has a worryingly small air cell. They are in the same incubator and nearing the lock-down period. Attempts to shrink the large air cells with increased humidity, misting, and submerging in warm water daily have made no difference and the egg with the small air cell has not improved- but the goslings inside these eggs seem to be developing just fine. It will be time to lock them down in two days and I am worried that the hatching will be dangerous for them. I want to give them the best chance of surviving the process. Does anyone have any suggestions about positioning the eggs during hatching for the two types of irregular air cells- and is there anything I can do for the thick shelled egg with the small air cell to provide enough oxygen for the baby inside and help it to get out if needed? (THANKS!)

 

[sylviethecochin]

A little late, but @Pyxis?

 

[Pyxis]

For the small air cell, I would wait until you see draw down to lock it down, if you haven't locked down already. Keep the humidity low and continue misting it - misting actually helps them lose moisture, not retain it.

For the others, lock down on day 25 and monitor them. Position the lowest part of the saddle on the top of the egg, and hopefully that is where they will pip.

 

[crycat]

Thank you so much for responding! I'm becoming a bit of a nervous wreck at this point - afraid I'm going to do something wrong and hurt one of the babies. The positioning of the eggs in lockdown was weighing heavily on my mind so thank you for the suggestion as to how to place them - with the air cell up. I had no idea that misting would dehydrate the eggs! I've been missing them daily thinking I was increasing humidity so hopefully I haven't done any damage. At this stage in development the eggs have become opaque as expected- other than that air cell's area -so I can no longer see movement inside. I haven't locked them down just yet. Today will be day 25 for one batch and day 23 for the second batch- in two different incubators. 1 incubator has the anomalous air cell problems. Giant saddle shaped cells and the one small air cell all in one incubator. I rotated the eggs all around the incubator when it was time to cool them down daily so I don't believe heat and humidity are being unevenly distributed -I could be wrong- but I believe the giant misshapen air cells are due to abuse they suffered in the shipping process. The box looked like it had been sat on, used as a punching bag, and was torn nearly in half by the time it arrived -in a sorry state. Which was shameful really since it was clearly marked fragile / eggs/ live embryos. One egg was smashed out right and three never developed at all- honestly I was surprised any of them developed. Lastlty, I decided to remove one of the eggs from the incubator permanently tonight. It had been developing but developing and a sluggish kind of way. And a day ago I noticed a musty mildew sort of smell in the incubator and determined it was emanating from that particular egg so I decided to remove the poor thing rather than continuing to heat it with the others in case that signifies the embryo has died and the egg could possibly explode and potentially contaminate the rest. I hated to do it but I can only imagine and unpleasant odor counting from an egg can't signify anything good for the egg's occupant. Thanks again for responding. I've never incubated any kind of eggs before so I've been been floundering. It's nice to have someone with some experience give me a word of advice. I'm doing my best for the little creatures..

 

[crycat]

I just noticed your handle.. "Hatchi Wan Kenobi".. Ha!

 

[Pyxis]

I just noticed your handle.. "Hatchi Wan Kenobi".. Ha!

Lol, thanks! A friend jokingly called me that in my emu egg hatching thread and it stuck

The saddle air cells are definitely from shipping. Did you happen to weigh these eggs to track moisture loss? With them being shipped and saddled, the air cells might look deceptively large, but actually not be so bad in terms of the moisture the eggs have actually lost.