hatching egg
Posted by David Smith on April 20, 2006
Q: can a bird egg rotate clockwise to hatch, even if it's head is under right wing? It seems to me that it would be almost impossible for a bird embryo to hatch clockwish because of the head position. Can you help me?
A: Oh my, I need to do a bit of research to give you an answer. I'll get back to you ASAP.
John Wiessinger ( April 21, 2006)
A: Boy, you made me work on this one!! I spoke with someone at Cornell University's Poultry Science to get some answers.
According to my source, birds do not rotate within the egg under their own power but only turn in the egg when the egg is turned by the mother/father or by hand. Also, although the head is turned back toward its body, its bill is not "under" the wing.
So it seems that clockwise or counterclockwise motion within the egg is not an issue for hatching success. However my source did say that if a chick does end up with its head away from the blunt end of the egg (where the air cell is located, it will not survive.
I sure learned a lot. Thanks for your questions and I hope this helps.
John Wiessinger ( April 25, 2006)