HELP! Incubator quit day 26!

[Homesteadin]

Sorry ahead of time for any typos, I'm typing in a hurry...

I have 5 duck eggs that I put into lockdown on Sunday and in the middle of the night last night our incubator died. Going to try to find and fix the problem asap but what can we do for the eggs in the meantime and fascilitat a good hatching environment in case we can't get it fixed? Right now they are under a heat lamp at about 100 degrees. We live in Colorado so it's a dry climate; how can we maintain humidity for them? I thought of misting them with warm water but don't know how frequently I would need to do that. Would it work at all to put a slightly damp (with warm water) towel or cloth over them? In my mind this seems okay because in nature they get their moisture from mama sitting on them... but maybe it doesn't work the same way?

Any other ideas or suggestions?? Thank you so much! Really don't want to lose these babies!

 

[buff goose guy]

( u can helo the humidity by boiling so water and let the steam nto the room. better if u are near a bathroom turn water all the wy on hot let it steam and circulate through the room, but if not the paper towels should work , good job on the heat lamp

 

[Homesteadin]

( u can helo the humidity by boiling so water and let the steam nto the room. better if u are near a bathroom turn water all the wy on hot let it steam and circulate through the room, but if not the paper towels should work , good job on the heat lamp

Thank you.for the suggestion! I tried to come up with something while I was waiting for a response and this is what I threw together (yay for little kiddie play pots). The pot has water in it and that's a big tube of chapstick is elevating the plastic wrap. The three little cloths are damp with warm water. Does it look like too much humidity is accumulating? I don't have a hydrometer :-/

 

[buff goose guy]

it doesnt look bad just be sure as it condensates it doesnt basicly rain on the eggs, that looks like alot of water on the plastic wrap, other than that how are they doing any internal pips?

 

[Homesteadin]

Okay maybe I'll take out a one of those cloths or two. I had a couple air cells lose a lot of extra moisture inside yesterday for some reason - they have huge air cells now so I have been a little paranoid about those, but I know I need to be careful not to drown them. I am afraid to look for internal pips because I've had to mess with the eggs so much this morning to get things right, but when I checked on them first thing around 6:30am I saw a couple of them pushing up on the air cell membrane, possibly trying to pip!

 

[Homesteadin]

Oh and they were all still alive at that time, too

 

[buff goose guy]

ohh thats good, just keep them warm and the humidity up

 

[Homesteadin]

Okay. Are they going to need more room for hatching?

 

[buff goose guy]

yeah when mine hatch they roll around the whole incubator, are any moveing/ wobbeling the egg yet ? you can test it by talking to them

 

[Orca5094]

Wow, I would totally freak out if something like that happened to me! Looks like you're doing a pretty good job with what you have. My only concern is them getting some air. Is there a hole anywhere in your contraption for fresh air to get in? They do need air flow, especially during and after hatch of course. And they should be fine to hatch in there. Just remember, they would naturally be hatching in a crowded nest under a momma, so they don't actually need alot of space to hatch out normally. Rolling all around an incubator can even make it more difficult for them to get into (and stay in) proper hatching position.

Keep us updated! Good luck!