Ans:
1. be worried about bacterial infection - clean hands, wear exam gloves, clean drill bit with alcohol, etc..
2. the drill method is a drastic method and you should use it only if everything else fails. You use it to
take a -8% egg to -10%, not -10% to -13.5%. 3. use the drill method late in the incubation when you are certain
that the egg will not make it due to insufficient weight loss, say, Day 12 onwards. Using the drill too early will kill
the embryo due to vibration. The more developed the embryo, the more able to withstand the vibration.
Q 7. There is an apparent contradiction between what you stated in Q4 and Q6 in that in one, you advice us to intervene early, and in the other, to intervene late. Can you clarify?
Ans: Intervene early by doing one or more of the following:
i. adjust air vent
ii. adjust surface area of water used for humidity, if used, or remove all water
iii. tape up egg iv. move incubator to a dehumidified room For the "hole" method, avoid using it late, say Day 16 if
your egg is estimated to be at -8% on IP day. The spreadsheet will allow you to arrive at the estimated value days
or weeks ahead. If all other less invasive methods fail, intervene at Day 12 and let it lose weight gradually
until it crosses -10% on day 18 or 19. Use the spreadsheet to estimate the final weight loss at day 18 and
increase the number of holes or size of hole as required.
Q8. Help!, I punctured the membrane and the hole is also too big and the egg is losing too much weight.
Ans: Tape up the hole and then use a needle or pin and make a pin-hole or holes as the case maybe. Puncturing
the membrane does not mean that the embryo will die. When I was developing the hole method for my eggs, I routinely puncture the membrane. The hatching rate was still high. You only need to watch out for infection and too rapid loss of
weight. Taping up the hole and then using a pin or needle solves that. However I must emphasise that the hole
method should only be used as a last resort. It is invasive like surgery. If your atmospheric humidity is low, you really
do not have to resort to the hole method.
Q9. I read that you can reduce weight loss by using nail polish. What do you think?
Ans: I have found the taping method to be more flexible. I use the nail polish only for cracked eggs, eggs with fissures, or eggs with obvious weak spots in the shell. I will use the polish to cover the weak or cracked areas and still use the tape if the need arise.