Wrongly positioned air sac

[Lillith37]

Hello,

My broody hen is sitting on three eggs, two have the air sacs at the side of the shell rather than at the end.

Should I leave these eggs under mum to hatch or should I put them in the incubator from lockdown to keep an eye on them and assist if needed?

 

[Debbie292d]

I have a hen that on occasion lays eggs with displaced air cells and for the life of me don't know why.

Out of say about 8 eggs like that I've had, 50% of the time, they'll hatch themselves just fine. 25% of the time I waited too long and they died. The other 25% I helped and they made it.

It's up to you if you want to leave them, then see if that other one hatches but those two don't, then might want to bring them in so you can observe them for one more day. Perhaps they all will hatch just fine.

Should you need to help, I'd read this excellent article first!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

 

[Lillith37]

I have a hen that on occasion lays eggs with displaced air cells and for the life of me don't know why.

Out of say about 8 eggs like that I've had, 50% of the time, they'll hatch themselves just fine. 25% of the time I waited too long and they died. The other 25% I helped and they made it.

It's up to you if you want to leave them, then see if that other one hatches but those two don't, then might want to bring them in so you can observe them for one more day. Perhaps they all will hatch just fine.

Should you need to help, I'd read this excellent article first!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

Thanks for your reply! I did read that article and it was very useful when I had to help a shrink-wrapped chick — she took too long to hatch and mum got off the nest. She had externally pipped but then dried out due to exposure. I made a makeshift incubator and helped her hatch over the course of a day. She had curly toes from being stuck and so the whole family lived inside for a week while I splinted her toes so they could straighten out. That was an absolute trip. But the chick ended up developing fine and catching up to her brother.

I bought an incubator for the express purpose of emergencies like these, but I’ve never used one before. I want to give the chicks a chance under mum, but I also don’t want to be poking my head under there too often and disturbing the temp and humidity... I know mum will accept any new hatched incubator chicks if I pop them under her at night. She’s taken in foster chicks before.

I’ve got another day before lockdown so I might wait to see if anyone else has any experiences or thoughts before I make up my mind.