[rach312]

Hi ive just been reading on the internet about incubated eggs and that if they have a dark spot on shell that means they are dead and to dispose of so i thought id crack it open and see how developed it was and it was alive so what should i do now???
the membrane is still attached and still got the fluid around it but its got most of shell on it so do you think it will survive?? im so gutted i only wanted to take all the dead n unfertile ones out so they had more room to hatch im soo gutted.
At the mo its in a small food storage pot in the incubator.what else can i do???

[joyfull]

try sticking tape over the crack to seal it, you may be lucky. In future perhaps try candling the egg or being patient and wait until the time is up and the egg is due to hatch (remember they don't all hatch on day 21 - I have had some hatch on day 26.

[rach312]

Thats what i did,i candled it and nothing apart from a dark spot and what looked like a yoke floating around and as id had afew dud ones i thought id make more space.Thats the last time im going to crack any!!! im goin to leave them aslong as possible about 30 days for the chicks so i know for def they wont hatch. Im so gutted ive been right with the others as they didnt take.

[joyfull]

sadly it is a catch 22 situation, if candling doesn't show anything then leaving the egg means you run the risk of the egg giving off bacteria and effecting the other eggs. Dark eggs and blue eggs are notoriously difficult to candle which is why I never bother, but as I use broodies rather than an incubator I leave it up to the mother hen to decide whether the egg is viable or not. Fingers crossed for you and the little one xx

[rach312]

Yeah thats what i was thinking as idnt want it rotting away in there and affecting the other eggs,its a hard chose to make but i think now if i check eggs once in incubator and they are clear after 12 days ill chuck them if there is something there ill keep them for the 30days just be safe now as i dont want this happening again. these were eggs that id brought and had gone through the post.My hens arent laying but hopefully in spring ill have some brooders so i wont need the incubator. Thank you i hope chick pulls through but its not moved now so i think it might be dead 

[TeaPots]

Poor you.  30 days is too long to leave them though, as they can explode if they go 'off' and mess up your incubator.  I tend to throw away any that candle clear (or have the red 'ring of death) at 18 days, which is when I do the 'lockdown'. I remove the egg tray, put the hatching mat in place, turn off the turning function, decrease the temp and increase the humidity. Then the bator stays closed until the 1st chick hatched is 24 hours old. As quickly as possible, I transfer the oldest chicks into the brooder, leaving any still damp babies in with unhatched eggs. after the last chick hatched is 24 hours old, I examine any remaining eggs, look for holes/cracks...'pipping' and tap lightly and listen.  If there is a viable chick inside, they sort of tap back.

Although it is sad, it is a VERY useful learning opportunity to opne up unhatched eggs, and see what went wrong, the egg might have been infertile, the airsac damaged or wrongly positioned, the chick may be malpositioned. It is good to learn, but remember, if a chick is too weak to hatch, it is probably too weak to survive, will almost certainly  be pecked and picked on by siblings and not grow up to be a healthy, happy chook.  Sad, but 'survival of the fittest' sort of takes over at this point. 

Obviously, the best quality eggs you can get (laid by the healthiest hens) the better  :happy: :happy: :happy: 

[rach312]

Oh i didnt know that,when do you think i should leave them 26 days? this is the second time ive hatched eggs. I use a torch when candling is there anything better i can use?
The ring of death is that when theres a dark spot on side of egg? ive never seen it before as all the other eggs i hatched all hatched. this is the first time ive had clear eggs and this dark spot on side of egg.
ive been having to turn eggs by hand as got afew duck eggs in there,thats why i thought id get rid of all the dead and clear eggs and i did leave them abit longer than 18days as i was hoping they would end up being fertile lol stupid i know.
The rest of the eggs should hatch 2nd jan onwards so fingers crossed.

The egg that i cracked had a very small chick in with a large yellow sack still attached thats when i panicked i couldnt believe i cracked it maybe it just needed afew more days i was so gutted. But there was this dark spot onside of egg so i thought it was a dud. yes it is a good way to learn but not good if this happens so im going to leave it now and see what happens.
Thank you for your advice xx 
Yeah i think it was abit hard with buying those other eggs off ebay as you never know what you are going to end up with.