eggs denting

[amv123]

my female laid two perfect lookking eggs this mornign and i actually caught her in the act and i put the eggs straight into the incubator around 3 hrs ago and they are beginning to dent. Could this be due to the humidty should i add water to the vermiculite or do you think they are just not fertile?.

 

[amv123]

also the vermiculite feels moist wheni touch it but could it need more water?

 

[JordanAng420]

the vermiculite should be moist, but not so moist that you can squeeze water out of a snowball... what kind of tub are the eggs in inside the incubator? Most breeders use a tub with no air holes and vent the tub once or twice a week. Sometimes it takes a day for the eggs to retain the moisture...

 

[efx*]

You can try putting wet paper towel over them, I don't no how it works but it helps my eggs when there dented.

 

[amv123]

if it can take a day maybe i should wait and see because i felt the verm and its def moist i used the snowball method so there was so excess water dripping its being incubated at 85. i have a rubbermaid container with a see through top, no holes in it. when i opened the container i could feel humidty comign out of it

 

[JordanAng420]

Have you candled them? Most of the time you can tell right away if they're fertile. Just look for the pink bulls eye of veins...good luck

 

[amv123]

i did candle em and they are yellow so i think they are infertile but if they were is that what caused them to dent? and do u think i should just wait it out a couple more days?

 

[JordanAng420]

Definatly wait...I'd candle again in 2 weeks if I were you...and as long as the vermiculite is moist enough, the eggs should either retain enough moisture or shrivel and mold. Just make sure the eggs don't get directly wet. Hopefully you'll have good luck!!!

 

[amv123]

thanks for the help

 

[JordanAng420]

You're very welcome.

 

[amv123]

one more ques...would the eggs dent because they are infertile? or does denting just have to do with moisture

 

[Kristi23]

They can dent from being dry or if they're infertile. Give it some time and you'll know which it is. Hopefully they plump back up for you.

 

[lytlesnake]

They usually dent from too much dry heat. Make sure your thermometer is as close to the eggs as possible, otherwise the incubator could be hotter than you think. I had this happen to me. The thermometer was on the bottom grate of the hovabator, and I had the wafer set to around 85. But since there's no real air circulation in the hovabator, the air above was hotter. So my eggs were shriveling.

I corrected the temperature problem by putting the thermometer right on top of an egg container. But stupidly I over corrected the low humidity problem by misting the vermiculite too much. So then eggs started swelling from too much humidity, and some of them didn't make it.

If you can get a cheap digital scale that will help you achieve the proper (water : humidity) ratio of (0.8 : 1) or (1 : 1). Also, if you're using a hovabator style incubator, make sure there's water in the bottom so it doesn't get too dry in there. You can also cover the eggs barely with moist vermiculite or a moist paper towel. That helps 'em plump back up. Just make sure it's not too wet and molding. But if they're infertile they're infertile, nothing you can do.

 

[amv123]

so i just bought a humidty gauge and the humidty is at 95% and the eggs arestill dented (havent really changed overnight) so does this just mean they are infertileand is 95% too high?