I've heard of dyed in the wool, but dyed in the egg?
The orignal purpose for coloring chick embryos was to provide a practical method of identifying chicks from different groupings so as to watch their movements after they left the clutch. The dye will be on their birth down, and only lasts a few weeks until their true feathers grow in.
Equipment Needed
Sterile towels
Sterile Distilled Water
1 syringe , sterile
1 No. 20 gauge needle, sterile
1 No. 3 dental drill or dremel drill, sterile
Betadine
Paraffin Wax
Sterile Gloves
Food coloring, sterilized by bringing to boil for 20 minutes and then cooled
White Leghorn Fertile Eggs (16 days incubated) White chicks show color much better than yellow.
Procedure
1. Wipe all eggs with betadine, and let dry.
2. Assemble Equipment on a sterile towel. Then don sterile gloves. Once you have put on your gloves DO NOT touch ANYTHING but the prepared eggs and the sterile items you are using.
3. At a spot about ½ inch from the small end of the egg, dab an area about 1 inch in diameter with betadine, again. Dip the tip of the dental drill in betadine. Rotate the drill between your fingers while gently pressing the tip against the shell in the center of the daubed area. Rotate only until you make a hole in the shell.
4. Assemble the syringe and needle. Be sure they do not become contaminated by contact with foreign objects. Dip the needle in the betadine, and withdraw 0.5 cc of dye.
5. Insert only the tip of the needle in the hole and through the shell membranes. To prevent overflow, gently and slowly inject the dye.
6. Remove the needle, seal the hole with paraffin, and return the egg to the incubator.
7. Clean the syringe and needle by flushing them with sterile distilled water EVERY TIME you inject a new egg.
And there's more!
