I am used to losing infertile eggs during incubation, they turn moldy and rot away. But I wonder if anybody had something like this happening to them:

I got a healthy-looking six-egg clutch from a possible pied male and a possible pied female. The eggs candled pink and had visible veins. I put them in an incubator at 89 degrees. Little by little all the eggs have been dying. They have shriveled and hardened. The only way I can describe them is that they look like they "cooked", like when you boil a chicken egg. There are other clutches in the same incubator that are doing fine. There hasn't been any hot spike during the incubation. There is only ONE egg left and it looks the same as the others.

This same pair produced a six-egg clutch last yer WITH THE SAME results, but at that time I attributed it to high temps. Not this time. Could it be that this pair has some genetic defect or should I just think that it was a temp problem (even if the other eggs in the same incubator are dong OK?)

I am not planning on breeding them together next year. At least not breeding the female. I am giving her a break and will pair him with another possible het pied female I have, and will see what happens then.

Any comments?
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Sed et serpens erat callidior cunctis animantibus terrae quae fecerat Dominus Deus...

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