FINCHforum

My societies started sitting on eight eggs almost three weeks ago. Two or three (can't remember) were gouldian, and the rest were society. Two of the societies' looked messed up from the start (odd-looking membranes, probably from old bird) and a third one had a bite taken out of it several days later (also infertile). The rest developed normally for several days and then stopped. I took them out today, and it was pretty clear nothing was going to happen; although there were no blood rings, the eggs hadn't developed any more since the several nest checks, or about a week, ago. The dark area has not extended any farther, and no new blood vessels have formed.

The pair of societies have been sitting tight for about two and a half weeks without much disturbance. Their nest wasn't great, as they pulled all of the bedding out from under the eggs and piled it up around them. I put some tissue underneath a few days ago, but they tossed it. (Turns out tissue is quite a nuisance if it gets in an open water dish, as it drains the water into the sand.) Could the nest have interfered with egg-turning? This is the only thing that makes sense to me at this point.

Icearstorm

Sorry to hear that.

Here is an excellent article on the subject of dead in the shell chicks, which you might find interesting (I know I did).

http://www.melbournebirdvet.com/dead-in ... viary.aspx

lovezebs

It seems like they died in the middle of incubation, probably around day 5-8. The nest looked clean and they had access to water to bathe in, so it probably wasn't infection or humidity issues. The nest box was rather enclosed, but the societies hatched their last clutch in the same box (though it has had a modification to the entrance). Since the eggs came from two to three different birds, it is extremely unlikely that some genetic issue or internal illness was at play.

There was always one bird in the box when I checked, but perhaps they were off for a few hours when I was away. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that the developed regions of the eggs had all settled to the bottom, rather than being somewhere in the middle. This does suggest that the eggs weren't turned enough (or at all).

Icearstorm

Maybe they couldn't turn the eggs properly because of the way they built their nest.

Icearstorm

Eggs can be tricky. I've have my share of egg-examining, incubator obsession that I will never repeat. So I pretty much know how what's going on with a flick of my pen light in seconds.

However I have had a few eggs "trick" me. One just recently with the javas that hatched. I SWORE one was DIS (it was so incredibly receded, less that 1/3 of the egg showed dark mass), I candled it after chicks had already hatched, pulled it and was ready to chuck it.

Then I thought....nah, just leave it. Hours later a wee baby popped out. Still baffles me.

If it looks like a yellow-brown snowglobe, then you know it was DIS around the time you mentioned.

lovezebs
That's what I'm thinking.

Babs

The eggs looked off-colored (old lemon yellow and brownish) and should have hatched a few days ago, so I took them out.

I did have two eggs that looked a bit odd but hatched. The first one was from three clutches ago and was killed shortly after, and the second one was from two clutches ago (Patches).

Perhaps your bird broke some of the membrane while hatching and was spread out so the dark area was less visible/concentrated.

Icearstorm

He had to be squeezed like a vacuum sealed morsel. Yep. Strong little sucker.