Chicken eggs are the gift that keeps on giving, these small objects can hatch and create a chicken which will, in turn, produce more eggs.
Unfortunately, not every egg will hatch and produce a chick. Some eggs will never hatch because the chick has died in the egg. But how do you check if a chick has died in the egg without cracking the egg? This article looks into it.
Ways to tell whether a chicken has died in the egg is to candle the egg, perform a float test on the egg, check the egg temperature, check for a blood ring, check that the egg is moving, check for a yolk in the egg, and check if the eggshell is cracked
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How to tell if a chicken has died in the egg, 8 ways to tell
Knowing how to tell if your egg is alive or not is important when raising birds, unfortunately, one cannot open an egg to check if the chick has died in it, but fortunately, there are several tried and tested ways to tell if a chicken is alive or has died in the egg. Here is how:
Lack of veins in the egg:
Candling is one way to tell whether a chicken is alive or dead in an egg. This process involves shining a bright light through one end of the egg while in the dark. The light will illuminate blood cells, eyes, and even show organ development.
If these are not present, then the chicken is likely dead.
Blood ring:
If a chicken has died in the egg you will not see a network of veins in the egg when candling it, you will rather see a ‘blood ring’. A blood ring is a dark line running around the circumference of the egg. This ring will become thicker the older the egg becomes.
This ring is made up of blood vessels that have separated from the embryo which has died
The yolk is still present:
The baby chicken will absorb the yolk into its abdomen in the later stages of embryonic development. If you candle the egg and notice that the yolk has not absorbed into the bird’s body even after 21 days, then the bird is likely dead.
However, you may want to give the bird more time to absorb the yolk, this chicks development may simply be a bit slow
Floating the eggs:
Another way to find out whether the egg is dead or not is to float the egg. This involves placing your chicken eggs in some warm water to see whether they float or sink. Floating eggs generally contain living birds while sinking eggs generally contain dead chickens.
Lack of movement:
If a baby bird is alive and growing in its shell, it will move in the shell. If the egg is not moving at all, not even a little bit, then the chick in the egg has likely died.
Cracked eggshells:
Eggshells keep the contents of the egg safe, they keep various bacteria and other organisms from entering the egg. They also keep the contents of the egg from leaking out. If an egg has a cracked shell then the chicken inside is likely dead.
Cold egg:
Live chickens in eggs will produce body heat while in the egg as they grow. They need this warmth in order to stay alive. If you touch an egg and it feels cold, then the chicken in the egg is likely dead.
Eggs in the wild:
The above ways to figure out whether a chicken has died in an egg may work if you’re taking care of eggs in your home, however, finding out if an egg is alive in the wild will require more time.
You can tell if a chicken has died in an egg by keeping an eye on the egg over a couple of days.
If the egg is alive then birds will check on the egg over a couple of days, if the egg is dead then no birds will check on the egg and the egg will be left to be found by predators and eaten by them.
Why did my chick die in the egg?
Before hatching out of their eggs, baby chicks are very vulnerable to humidity changes, getting drowned by egg fluids and even being stuck by the inner shield of the egg. Chicks can die in the egg if drastic or long-term changes in temperature happen.
Also, just before breaking out of the eggshell, baby chicks must race against the clock before all the available air in the shell gets used up.
In addition, the chicks have to break through an inner layer within the egg. If the chicks can’t do this they will never see the light of day outside the egg.
All of these reasons can cause a chick to die in the egg.
Will cold eggs still hatch?
A common test to check if chicks are still alive in eggs is to check for warmth. As chicks develop, they create their own body heat, because of this, eggs with living chicks are warm while eggs with dead chicks are cold.
Eggs that have been left out in cold weather, or without mama hen brooding for long enough, will eventually die and will thus not hatch. Still, brief changes from warm to cold often do not have lasting damage on eggs.
How long can a hen stay off her eggs before they die?
Hens occasionally step off their eggs for some periods of time. They may do this if the eggs are getting too hot, or to stretch their muscles a bit.
A few minutes even up to half an hour is a common length of time for a hen to be off her eggs. If she stays off for longer than this then it may be necessary to catch your hen and put it back on her eggs or else the eggs will die.
Some species of chickens are great at sitting on the eggs for long periods of time while others become frustrated and leave before the eggs are ready, causing the eggs to die.
Conclusion
In conclusion, you can tell that a chicken has died in an egg by candling it to check for blood vessels and movement inside, you can float the egg, check whether the egg is moving, check the temperature of the egg, check to see if there is a blood ring within the egg while candling, check to see if the chick has absorbed the yolk, check to see if the eggshell is cracked, and wait to see if other birds check on the egg in the wild.
Reasons why your chicken may have died in the egg, include: drastic changes in humidity, drastic changes in temperature, it was struck by the inner layer of the shell or it drowned in the egg fluids.
Cold eggs may not hatch as the bird may be dead, the mother can only stay away from the egg for 30 minutes or they will die.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other chicken related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: How to fatten up chickens for winter. Symptoms of too much protein in chickens. Can chickens eat frozen peas? Do fertilized eggs taste different?
