Hatching/Incubation Help

I have a question: I was trying to figure out at what point is the albumen expected to be absorbed? I found an article on-line but it was a little confusing and written long ago. It sounded like in chickens day 11, but it would increase day 12, then perhaps decrease by day 14. (With my eggs I usually weigh them and aim for 12% loss, knowing they will lose more in lockdown).

I have seen different things written and I'm confused about sticky chicks. I have seen it written that it was related to the humidity being too high during the initial 1-18 days. I understood this, as not enough moisture was pulled. I've heard that it could be too high humidity during lockdown.

Recently, I had my first sticky chicks. But only those few stuck eggs were sticky and they didn't seem to start off that way, just being stuck in the shell for a couple days before I assisted.
 
The albumen is absorbed throughout the entire incubation period actually! Here is a copy paste from BYC I added a few years ago, see if it helps you understand the process.....


HUMIDITY

The Air Bubble in the Egg


DRY HATCH incubation DOES NOT Necessarily MEAN RUN DRY! You already have humidity in your bator room!
It is not only the final size of the air cell that matters, but also the time it takes to form. In the first ten days of incubation, the embryo is small and floats in the amniotic fluid. Weight loss during this phase is mainly the effect of water evaporating from albumen and internal liquids. After this stage, changes occur quickly: the growing embryo gradually fills the egg, excepting the air cell. Low RH set points at days 14-18 of incubation increase evaporation from the allantois – and once the allantois is emptied of fluid, moisture will be drawn from the embryo, causing its dehydration.
The average chicken egg has thousands of pores running through the shell allowing the embryo to exchange oxygen, carbon dioxide. and water. Soon after an egg is laid, a small air bubble or “air cell” forms in the large end of the egg from this water loss. Humidity levels in the incubator determine moisture evaporation during the 21 days of incubation and hatching. The air cell is crucial for the chick to break out of the egg shell at the end of the incubation period. The chick can drown if the air cell is too small or the chick may be retarded in growth if the air cell is too large. This is why maintaining the proper humidity is crucial. Slightly lower humidity levels are more likely to be less disastrous than slightly higher humidity levels. There are quite a few opinions on Humidity, but it is no set number.

images


Humidity is NOT A SET NUMBER, you need it YES!

However, you use it as a tool to "adjust" egg weight loss during incubation. We candle on days 7,10,14,18 To WATCH WEIGHT LOSS IN EVERY EGG! An EGG MUST lose approximately 13-14% of its weight during the incubation process. THIS IS YOUR GOAL!! You can monitor this by marking Air cells and also by weighing. Please refer to CANDLING section of this Article for more Air Cell info.









Size of air cell on day 7, 14, and 18 of incubation





WHY to MEASURE WEIGHT LOSS IN EGGS,
MEASURING PROCEDURES (HOW TO), HOW TO CALCULATE, and HOW to interpret RESULTS

http://www.aviagen.com/assets/Tech_Center/BB_Resources_Tools/AA_How_Tos/AAHowto1WaterLossEN13.pdf



I choose the easier method, keeping a close eye on air cell growth during incubation. You begin by ONLY adding a small amount of water and keep Humidity between 20%-30% and adjusting as you weigh or candle depending on moisture loss. IN SOME AREAS OF THE COUNTRY YOU MAY NOT NEED TO ADD ANY WATER! USE IT AS A TOOL FOR THE CORRECT WEIGHT LOSS IN THE EGG! So if your air cells look too large at each candle period you must add some humidity, too small air cell lower it, and if your weighing you adjust as needed. UNTIL DAY 18 LOCKDOWN,

then stop turning and raise humidity to 65-70%



UNDERSTANDING HUMIDITY



Views of Day 18 Candle.....




MORE INFO HERE Hatching Eggs 101







INFO for my NOTES:





If the humidity is too low and the chick risks dehydration, it can swallow amniotic fluid and any remaining albumin to compensate for excessive moisture loss. However, persistent or excessive low humidity in late incubation can lead to dehydration and kidney failure due to decreased perfusion of the kidneys with blood. Low humidity in the first third of incubation interferes with the mobilization of calcium from the egg shell to form the growing chick’s skeleton and can lead to a stunted embryo. On the other hand, increased humidity levels during incubation mean that insufficient moisture is lost from the egg.



Various techniques have been described to control weight loss such as sanding eggs (to decrease thickness and increase weight loss), creating holes (that can then be closed again with tape), and covering a small part of the shell with paraffin. A technique is described where dehydrated eggs are placed in zip-lock bags with cotton balls dipped in sterile water. When large numbers of eggs are involved, running two or three incubators at different humilities to accommodate normal, dehydrated and wet eggs becomes essential to maximize hatchability.

http://www.melbournebirdvet.com/eggs.aspx



. Genetic problems
This seems to be much less of a problem in aviculture than in domestic species such as poultry. Lethal genes can be carried recessively. Recessive (and often harmful) genes are much more likely to be exposed through inbreeding.
 


CHICKS Wet? Sticky? Stuck? I wrote this when discussing some things about call ducks this mornin... sharing here.





There are two types of sticky chicks



Sticky embryos, BIG Wet, or Mushy Chicks (embryos may be smeared with egg contents / yolk residual present) (yellow jelly/jello or other fluids) HOWEVER, a green and gray tinted fluid can be caused from osteomylitis or meconium)

causes: any/all combination of the following:

high average incubation humidity

low incubation temperature

lack of sufficient ventilation

too many drafts of outside air in the hatcher

BREED ISSUES: Always avoid cross breeding in breeds that carry lethal genes.

are we aware of Lethal genes for this breed of duck Rav?





Quote:
THIS is from a mess from a JUMBO Project egg hatch,, obviously IT DID NOT have correct weight loss, NOT ENOUGH!



Had to wash the big wet chick with soap and water under the warm sink water, careful not to get water in nostrils, used a damp qtip on its head and beak, oh and it made a goopy mess all over the other eggs in his basket but I put it back in the bator and is doing GREAT!



if you can incubate different size eggs separately DO IT!! I could not spare a few eggs for the sake of all the normal sized eggs.




















LL



Embryos sticking or adhering to shell

causes: in any/all combination of the following:

Low incubation humidity (especially during hatching)

Excessive ventilation~ reduce rate but maintain minimum air exchange to prevent suffocation of embryos.




To confuse you a bit more, the amount of water that a chick has in its own tissues (not the albumen) has been shown to increase during incubation under perfect conditions; however, rate of egg water loss is found to have no effect on embryonic water, how could this be if we get big wet chicks from high humidity? Makes you think outside the box, perhaps it is in fact LOW TEMPS not the hearsay on humidity? Although AGAIN combination is usually the factor.


TEMPERATURE: Incubation temperature is one the most critical factors during embryo development, AGAIN studies have shown the optimum temperature is more 99.9. NOT FORGETTING that also its optimal to drop in temps during hatch, as I suggest in my article Hatching Eggs 101 in the lower day 18 section. So it may be worth a shot for you, and I am not clear on your temps or calibration, Hammond found that a bit higher incubation temps increase chick initial body weight believe it or not, at the higher temp 99.9 the higher the rate of egg water loss in the first 16 days of incubation. What I have found is when I incubate at a slightly elevated temp 100.5 calibrated I have much cleaner hatches. They found that its the opposite with low temps, body weight of chicks were less. Then you get into the additional factors of adding low high temps with humidity and ventilation.... Best we can do is work these areas to achieve absolute and relative weights. IN KNOWING THAT and then factor in that EACH EGG & breeds are different in age, air cell size, genetics etc.



I run at 100.5 calibrated spot on temps, rotating eggs n the bator often.






Researchers have found that lowering temperatures will prolong incubation,

HOWEVER it is favorable to do so at the end of incubation.

Day 19 & 20 Temp Min 98.0 Max 98.5

Day 21 Temp Min 97 Max 98.0

for more information please refer here:
PAGE 42

http://www.hubbardbreeders.com/media/incubation_guide_english__030374800_0945_07012015.pdf















This is what am EGG from a good chick hatch looks like! your goal post #14673












Empty shells -

a valuable source of information click HERE





The Cuticle removal in hatching eggs as a means to reduce weight loss: Has actually been found to increase embryo weight during incubation and has direct relationship between rate of egg water loss, embryonic metabolism, and growth during incubation. But that warning of contamination is there if you dont follow cleaning procedures correctly. Chlorine treated eggs were not altered either. So with all that it is found that cuticle removal can be an effective method for increasing growth and egg weight loss.
 
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