Dead Egg stuck to others... help!

Ok, just to recap - I had a clutch that was all stuck together by the time I found it. I put it as a whole in vermiculite, and the top egg seemed to be going bad (denting, and windowing). I was told this was normal though, yet now the egg has bluish "mold" on it, and it smells like a hot dead mouse... I know you all know that smell by now.

My question is, how do I get this egg out of there when it's stuck to the others? Or do I just leave it? I've tried gently peeling it off the others, but it's really on there (it's almost a month into incubation).

Hi,


My first instinct would be to leave it so as not to risk damaging the other good eggs.

But wait for better opinions than mine on this one.


dr del

just leave it there--it won't cause any negative effects on the good eggs. i had 2 nasty rotting eggs in with my clutch last year that went bad right at the beginning. they were absolutely terrible stinking mush piles by the end of the incubation but the other eggs all hatched out nice healthy babies. :)

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Originally Posted by mlededee

just leave it there--it won't cause any negative effects on the good eggs. i had 2 nasty rotting eggs in with my clutch last year that went bad right at the beginning. they were absolutely terrible stinking mush piles by the end of the incubation but the other eggs all hatched out nice healthy babies. :)

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Yum, I can't wait til these things hatch then! Delicious.

I'm opening that box outside when the time comes. Gawd... that smell already... I wish I could do something about it. If I cut it open and scooped out the insides, then only left the edges that are touching other eggs... would that work? Or would that be just a hassle?

i don't really know if that would help or not--i just let mine be so as not to disturb the good eggs at all. you'd have to have the good eggs out of the incubator for a fair amount of time in order to do that too and i'm not sure you really want to do that. maybe just hold your nose whenever you have to open the box!

Leave it. You are likely to do more damage with the temperature swings while you root around in the egg box.

:bleh: Someone sprayed Desenex athletes foot spray on theirs but since yours are dead and rotten.....I DON'T envy U the job of "gutting" the eggs to get rid of the contents. Ick!

Had a same problem, peeled it off before any ill effects could spread to the other, it's a slow, tedious job of removing them.... good luck with your decision!

Isn't this a great hobby! Best of luck.

Another problem: if you cut open the deaders, the contents could spill all over your good eggs.. deaders are NAS-TEE inside..

leave the bad egg, if the other eggs are good the problem should not spread. It just isn't worth the risks of removing it if it is in the middle of a cluster... It will stop stinking before long.

can you soften up the "glue" between the eggs by misting them?

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Originally Posted by CntrlF8

can you soften up the "glue" between the eggs by misting them?

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Not a good idea.

Almost every clutch that I've ever incubated has been stuck together ... I never seperate eggs ... even when one goes bad ... eggs that are healthy and meant to live survive ... eggs that aren't supposed to make it don't.

As far as the smell goes ... if you're using sealed egg boxes and your incubation medium is set up correctly, there is no need to open the box until right before hatching ... and by then, the bad egg will be dried up and the smell will be gone.

-adam

I think that is a bout the most succinct answer to a question on here that I have ever read. And that advice couldn't come from a better source.

Allof the above is read as "you need to spread around reputation before giving it to this member again."

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

Another problem: if you cut open the deaders, the contents could spill all over your good eggs.. deaders are NAS-TEE inside..

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Jeff and I were discussing this very subject this morning and that was exactly what I told him.

:gj:

I wuold also fear rupturing one of the good eggs if you got a blade anywhere near enough to them, in trying to cut off the bad egg.

Thanks for all the good advice... I just hope it doesn't spread.

I am going the maternal incubation route & have one not lookin' too good.....& it is in my bedroom....there is a slightly funky smell in there & I hope it don't get any worse, Mila don't seem to mind, she likes to rest her head on it. I'm not sure if it's dead, so I wouldn't dream of messing with it - even if I knew it was dead I will just stand back :P
The rest of em look wonderful!!

~Shari

Actually I HAVE had bad eggs rot and kill good eggs, most of the time it will be OK but sometimes the toxins are too much for the good eggs immune system to fight off, especially if there are several rotten eggs in the clutch. If you can SAFELY remove the bad egg then do so. Otherwise leave it alone.

Mark

I've chosen to just ignore it and hope for the best. The bluish look in the windows is on the inside, there isn't any mold or anything on it. It's severly dented and hard, and the egg turned a beige/off white color. The other eggs seem to be doing ok for now.