Detached Air Cells in Shipped Eggs

The air cell is located on the top of the egg, which is the rounder/big end; it is what a chick first breaks into before cracking the hard outside shell during hatching. When an egg is very fresh, the air cell is small but as the egg is exposed to air (or incubated) the cell grows larger. This is why it's important to ship fresh eggs as smaller air cells move less during shipment. Even when the freshest eggs are sent, movement during shipping can result in detached air cells, which you can check for by candling your eggs upon arrival. A detached air cell will move around the egg instead of staying in place at the top. You may also notice little bubbles in the egg.

If you have some eggs with detached air cells, don't panic! We recommend allowing the eggs to rest at room temperature in a carton with the pointy end down (big end with air cell up) for 24 hours. Then place into your incubator in the same position and begin incubation. Additionally, it may be beneficial to not turn the eggs for another 24 hours. This allows the air cell plenty of time to attempt to re-attach to the egg. When you candle your eggs at 7 days, you should be able to tell if the air cell was able to re-attach or not. Sometimes the cell will attach to one side of the egg instead of directly at the top, if the egg has a chick developing, you should continue incubation normally. When locking down these eggs for hatching, do one last candling and be sure the air cell is on top so the chick has the best chance of pipping correctly.