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Some Eggs are Green and Black

richm2778

richm2778

New member
Hey Everyone,

My girl dropped 12 eggs last week. They are all in the incubator and out of the 12, seven look pretty good. The other 5; however, have developed a green and black coloration to portions of them. I would say that the worst two are about 50% discolored. They all started off white, but as time has passed, they have discolored. Four of the discolored ones have badly dented, but their shells are still hard. I guess my question is, should I get rid of any and all eggs that are discolored, or do I still try to hatch them out? This is the first clutch I have ever gotten from my girl, so I am learning a tremendous amount. The incubator is set at between 82 and 83 degrees fahrenheit, and the humidity is over 90%. I thought that maybe the discoloration resulted from humidity being too high, so although the eggs are still in the incubator, the discolored ones are in an open top tray in the incubator as opposed to the healthy ones being in a closed container within the incubator. Any advice for me?

Rich
 
Sounds kinda like mold to me, I've read where eggs can hatch with no problems even though they had mold on them, so I'd at least wait a while before throwing them out. I also remember there is a way you can try to take the mold off, but you had to be very careful, so better wait for someone more experienced to chime in. I've never had eggs myself, just read a lot about it as I do plan on breeding eventually, so take what I said with a grain of salt.
 
The green/black eggs don't sound hopeful. Your temps and humidity sound fine, so I don't think it was caused by the incubating conditions. As they've gone within a week of being laid, I'd guess these were probably infertile to start with.

HOWEVER... what I've learned over the years, is to keep apparently bad eggs in the incubator until they really are dead beyond a doubt - totally mouldy and collapsed absolutely flat. You never know quite what might be hiding a hatchling.
 
The black and green is most likely egg mold. Fortunately, it's not detrimental to any of your healthy eggs if you keep them in there. Egg mold usually only effects slugs, or eggs that have gone bad. If the others aren't discolored, there's a very good chance that they're still healthy.
 
Thank you very much for the info. Is there any way I have to treat it, or am I better off leaving it be and just trying to hatch out as many as possible from this clutch?
 
richm2778 said:
Thank you very much for the info. Is there any way I have to treat it, or am I better off leaving it be and just trying to hatch out as many as possible from this clutch?
Click to expand...

I would say just leave it be. There was something a while back about possibly using some sort of athlete's foot powder to try and treat it, but you're better off just leaving them alone. I can't remember exactly what the powder was, and I've never tried it, so I can't make a recommendation.
 
I never treat my mouldy eggs. Generally, healthy eggs are resistant to mould, even if there are mouldy eggs in the same incubating container. If an egg goes mouldy for whatever reason, then it wasn't meant to be.
 
Nuff Said. The eggs will remain in the incubator in the same tub as the rest. I am leaving them in a separate uncovered tub today, but tomorrow when I open the tub to ventilate, I will place the moldy ones back inside along with the others. I appreciate the advice.
 
Usually you will do more harm than good if you start messing with them. As the others have said, the mold won’t really hurt anything. If the eggs are not stuck together and you have one that is really bad, take it out. But I’d wait until it was really rotten, I’ve seen really bad looking eggs hatch. For sure don’t mess with it if they are stuck together.

As Robbie said, the good eggs are not harmed by the mold. Usually only infertile eggs with get moldy.
 
A small amount of Athletes foot powder wouldn't hurt. My incubation room has very high humidity (basement) and I always use a same amount in the incubator to prevent mold. It has really helped me over the years. Don't put it on the eggs of course.
 
The thing with athletes foot powder is that it is unnecessary. The healthy eggs have their own fungicide. The healthy eggs are not harmed by the fungus. Adding chemicals that are not needed is foolish.
 
I am bummed to tell you guys that yet another one of my eggs has turned bad. I woke up today and it was green and black on some spots. also, it has begun to cave in on itself. I am now down to 7 good eggs left. Three of the good ones have discoloration on them as well. I am positive that this is happening because the humidity is too high. In an attempt to staunch the loss of any more eggs, I have raised the temperature from 82 or so to about 84, and I have uncovered the egg tub in the incubator. I am really hoping that some water evaporates and that no more eggs go bad. If any of you have any other ideas about how I can lower the humidity without disturbing the remaining eggs, please let me know. Thanks.
 
Too bad they are going bad. If your humidity is 90% that's right on target. Matter of fact most people keep it higher than that. What are they in as far as substrate-moss, vermiculite, perlite? Maybe the substrate is too wet? If you mark the eggs with an 'X' on the top, using a pencil, you can gently and safely move them if need be.
 
Perhaps I will do that. They are ein Hatchrite Bedding, but I fear that it is too wet. I am going to mark them, move them, and wring out the bedding. As long as I do not rotate the eggs, this should be safe, right?
 
Yes. Just like you said, mark them and don't rotate them and they should be fine. I've never personally used hatchrite, but I didn't think you were supposed to wet it. I'm pretty sure it's one that you just open and use. Maybe I'm wrong.
 
Rich,
Becky is right in what she is telling you. 90% humidity isn’t the problem. 82* is a good temperature.

Most people use sphagnum moss or perlite or vermiculite as a substrate. You haven’t said what you have. As a rule of thumb you should be able to squeeze a ball of the substrate into a ball but not squeeze water out. So that would be moist but not wet. If that is about where you’re at now you should be good.

If your substrate is really wet and you are sure that is the problem, do like Becky said and mark the top of each egg so they won’t get accidentally turned over. Move them to a new container with dryer substrate. I wouldn’t do this unless I was really certain that they were in a bad place to begin with.

Sometimes you’ll get a dead egg that gets all moldy in a cluster of eggs and the mold will grow over onto some of the good eggs. Usually it won’t cover the good eggs and it doesn’t really hurt the good eggs. If your eggs are caving in (often a sign of dehydration) and really covered in mold, then they were dead. Maybe they were not fertile to begin with, maybe they died somewhere along the way. It isn’t a spreading pandemic. If you’re remaining eggs are viable they will be fine. If they are dead or dying, they will mold.

Maybe not what you want to hear, but I believe it is the truth.
 
OK. I removed the eggs. I was VERY careful not to turn or jostle them in any way. I then took the substrate, I squeezed it out one handful at a time. Very little water came out of it, but it was a bit on the cool side. I replaced the eggs in the center of the substrate. Instead of them being all separated, I put them in a group. I am not sure if this matters or not, but they were separate before. I also returned them to the substrate and I made sure that they are not just sitting on it, but rather, they are buried about 1/2 way deep in the Hatch Rite. I am also turning the heat up again, as I see that the thermometer inside the Incubator reads only 80 degrees fahrenheit and I am hoping to get it up to about 84 or so. I really hope that this works.

In hind sight, I do not think there is anything I could have been doing differently. I think that I have to see this whole process as a learning experience. I am hoping that I am able to hatch out at least a few of the 12 eggs that my girl laid. I will certainly know better technique in the future and I do not think I will make it as humid as I did this time.

Rich
 
Put your thermometer in the substrate right along side the eggs. Set the incubator so it is 82* where the eggs are at. Then leave it alone. All the heating cooling wetting and drying that is going on will be more of a problem than being a little too wet or too warm.
 
Sure hope every thing works out alright for you. Corn eggs are pretty hardy and typically if they are good from the beginning they do fine. But some times things happen for no apparent reason. It's good to see that you aren't going to be discouraged.

Fingers are crossed for you and I hope you get at least a few babies out of it. :)
 
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