Amazing biological fact: Chicks can "cheep" whilst still inside the egg!!.....I was advised to listen to eggs to hear the tapping as they try to emerge. This one was making tiny cheeping noises!.....How does that work then?...How can they have air in their lungs before hatching?....Are the shells gas permeable?
judith
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 22789 Location: Montgomeryshire
Posted: Wed Jun 15, 05 5:25 pm Post subject:
There is an air space inside the shell. The walls of the shell are permeable to air - which is why the air space gets bigger as the egg gets older, and why old eggs float when you put them in water.
If any of the eggs aren't cheeping by now, watch out. They might be exploders .
! I have a few which are not cheeping. I'll candle them tonight. Are exploders a problem?
judith
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 22789 Location: Montgomeryshire
Posted: Wed Jun 15, 05 5:45 pm Post subject:
It means that the contents have addled. The pressure builds up inside the egg and it is likely to explode at the slightest tap - spraying rotten egg over a surprisingly large area. Not what you want to happen when you have guests arriving in half an hour, which is what happened to me last year!
alison Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 29 Oct 2004 Posts: 12918 Location: North Devon
And their eyes!...At least, it saves me having to wash my blood off the walls! 
Amazing biological fact: Chicks can "cheep" whilst still inside the egg!!.....I was advised to listen to eggs to hear the tapping as they try to emerge. This one was making tiny cheeping noises!.....How does that work then?...How can they have air in their lungs before hatching?....Are the shells gas permeable? 
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