Catastrophic error

[ducknovice]

Hello,

I am currently trying to hatch out my first set of eggs (with the help of my 4 and 7 year old who are heavily emotionally invested) to start our own little flock for our smallholding. I brooded ducks from day olds earlier this year but this is my first experience with incubating any eggs.

We started with 6 eggs, removed two after candling at day 7 and today is day 21. When I candled at day 18 before lock down I thought the air sacks looked small and couldn't see as much movement as before in chicks. There has been absolutely no rocking at all. We had a camera set up so have been able to check.

At 4am today, after some insomniac googling I decided that no rocking at all at this stage was bad (even if they were going to hatch late) and couldn't bear it any longer so decided to candle them. Egg sacks not big enough and no movement at all despite tapping them and candling 3 times each. Put them back in and told kids in morning I thought they hadn't made it but we'd candle them again together. Did them again twice, we each tapped and no movement, still veining, biggest air sack about a quarter of the egg. We all sadly agreed they had gone and decided to abandon excitedly watching four dead eggs and turn incubator off as it was so depressing.

I then, when children were out just now, decided to open one and see how far they had developed and, yes, you've guessed, it chick was very developed and still alive, though not for long as it clearly wasn't ready to hatch as lots of yolk still to be absorbed.

I feel absolutely awful about killing this chick through my incompetence. I have put the other three back in and got the incubator warm again. They were out of it for about an hour.

Does anyone think they might still hatch?

I've added a picture of the little one who I evicted too early. From looking at pictures it looks more like day 18 to me? Any thoughts on whether these ones might hatch in 2/3 days? The incubator is not the best (a borrowed one) and the temperature did sometimes fall on the lower side (only by .5 degree celcius) so wondering if they've just developed slowly?

Also wondering why they weren't moving in multiple candlings despite the one I opened definitely being alive (it moved, opened its beak etc)?

Thanks so much. Very guilty chick killer.

 

[User395221]

I don't have sufficient experiencing with hatching (and no experience with ducks at all) to proffer an opinion about their viability, but please don't feel too bad about it all. We've all made errors. I do hope that they might still make it, I hope so for all of your sakes. If they don't, best of luck for your next hatching experience.

 

[ducknovice]

I don't have sufficient experiencing with hatching (and no experience with ducks at all) to proffer an opinion about their viability, but please don't feel too bad about it all. We've all made errors. I do hope that they might still make it, I hope so for all of your sakes. If they don't, best of luck for your next hatching experience.

Thanks very much! These are chicks not ducklings by the way (mix of light sussex and silkie/bantams). We are already drowning in duck eggs!

 

[JaeG]

I know it's an awful experience but it's taught you a lot. You aren't the first and you won't be the last. I've dropped a parakeet egg that was due to hatch not that long ago. I felt sick, so I do sympathise. It could've landed in the soft straw, but no, it hit a stump of wood!

I don't know if that baby has a chance, hopefully someone else might have an idea. But there's no harm keeping on incubating the rest. The chicks run out of room to move as they get close to hatching. I always look for a good vein by the air cell. If you can see a vein they are still alive.

 

[ducknovice]

Thanks very much JaeG. The baby who is out has already died I'm afraid - but I don't think there's anything I could have done to get it on its feet with all that yolk still to absorb. The others are back in the incubator (hidden upstairs so as not to get kids hopes up again) and my plan is to just leave them alone for at least another 5 days. Be really interested to know if someone experienced could date the chick in terms of how far way it was from hatching.

 

[ducknovice]

And really sorry to hear about the parakeet. Poor thing and poor you - it's horrible!

 

[User395221]

The others are back in the incubator (hidden upstairs so as not to get kids hopes up again) and my plan is to just leave them alone for at least another 5 days.

My one lot of chicks were hatched by 2 of my girls. I know that they weren't always on top of all of the eggs, and I know they got up from time to time. It may depend on how cold the eggs got? I have no clue, but I do hope that things might still work out for the remaining eggs. (bear in mind that even if they aren't still alive, that might have happened before and not because of the mistake.) Fingers crossed.

 

[JaeG]

The chick looks to be at day 19 when they've almost absorbed their yolk (according to the development chart I found). So a few more days and hopefully your kids will be clucking over chicks! I've got my fingers crossed! I know what it's like sharing the experience with kids. It can be hard but it's a good learning experience.

I don't feel so bad about my dropped egg now. It was my girls first time and with the two she did hatch she didn't cope very well. At two weeks I finished rearing them as one was much smaller than the other. I thought it best to keep the chicks together but I still felt a bit mean taking them away from her. She's gone on to raise two beautiful clutches of babies with great success though.

 

[ducknovice]

The chick looks to be at day 19 when they've almost absorbed their yolk (according to the development chart I found). So a few more days and hopefully your kids will be clucking over chicks! I've got my fingers crossed! I know what it's like sharing the experience with kids. It can be hard but it's a good learning experience.

I don't feel so bad about my dropped egg now. It was my girls first time and with the two she did hatch she didn't cope very well. At two weeks I finished rearing them as one was much smaller than the other. I thought it best to keep the chicks together but I still felt a bit mean taking them away from her. She's gone on to raise two beautiful clutches of babies with great success though.

Thanks so much - fingers firmly crossed!

 

[tuesdaze]

@ducknovice I usually wait longer than 21 days, just in case. I candle the eggs and if I feel pretty certain all is lost, I then water candle the eggs. Even the tiniest wiggle indicates there is still hope. I don't ever attempt an eggtopsy without water candling to be sure there is absolutely no wiggling.
I do get impatient and water candle right after the end of Day 21 if I don't see or hear anything when I candle the eggs at the end of that day. If I get a wiggle, I carefully pat dry the eggs, without rubbing, and return them to the incubator.
Then I wait, even more impatiently than before.