first time incubating

[chickenlittle84]

I guess I'm just at a loss for words because 26 days is so unusual for chickens.  But like I said, its not impossible.  If I remember right, if a male Muscovy mates with a mallard-derived female, its the female that controls the incubation time, so they would be 28-day'ers.    
If keeping your humidity up is not a problem, I think I'd float test them again, since you say the shells are hard to see through.  But if your humidity is tough to deal with, then I think I would just wait.  I'm not a very patient person though, so its really up to you.     

That's interesting. I wonder if any of the smaller eggs will turn out to be ducks. They were all living and laying in the same areas and the lady selling them did a lot of " I think this might be ameraucana, take whatever kind you like" didnt seem to know what she was talking about....and we didn't really no the difference or care so I switched them around to get a bit of variety in eggshell color and more of the ones I knew were freshly picked from the coop. I guess we'll just have to wait and see......but the suspense is killing me! I'm not a very patient person either. Definitely going with day olds next time. Lol

 

[WVduckchick]

That's interesting. I wonder if any of the smaller eggs will turn out to be ducks. They were all living and laying in the same areas and the lady selling them did a lot of " I think this might be ameraucana, take whatever kind you like" didnt seem to know what she was talking about....and we didn't really no the difference or care so I switched them around to get a bit of variety in eggshell color and more of the ones I knew were freshly picked from the coop. I guess we'll just have to wait and see......but the suspense is killing me! I'm not a very patient person either. Definitely going with day olds next time. Lol

The duck eggs that I hatched were quite a bit smaller than a whole dozen of "mixed flock" eggs that my sister in law gave me! And they are large Swedish ducks. So duck eggs are not always bigger than chickens. So now this has gotten really interesting! LOL The good news is, if they are duck eggs, that would explain a lot!! Not to mention that ducks will usually lay eggs wherever they happen to be when the urge strikes.
And day olds are easier... but not nearly as much fun, right?

 

[chickenlittle84]

The duck eggs that I hatched were quite a bit smaller than a whole dozen of "mixed flock" eggs that my sister in law gave me!  And they are large Swedish ducks.  So duck eggs are not always bigger than chickens.  So now this has gotten really interesting! LOL  The good news is, if they are duck eggs, that would explain a lot!!   Not to mention that ducks will usually lay eggs wherever they happen to be when the urge strikes.   
And day olds are easier... but not nearly as much fun, right? 

The Muscovy duck egg is almost double the size of all the rest that I'd say range from a small-large grocery store egg. I decided to candle 3 eggs. 2 were completely dark with a very straight air cell line. The third was the small pink one. Very easy to see through and a lot of movement going on, air cell line was curving up and down with a triangular point sticking into it. I took pics but can't get them to download on my computer to show everyone. Omg so excited, I think I might of saw an internal pip!

 

[chickenlittle84]

Couldn't resist candling the rest. I found another with an internal pip but without any movement. Do you think it died?

 

[WVduckchick]

Sounds like you did see internal pips. Usually after they internally pip, you can hear them chirping. Have you heard anything yet? Sing to them, talk to them, play chirping noises to them if you can. Movement can be harder to see since they are so packed in there.

 

[chickenlittle84]

Sounds like you did see internal pips. Usually after they internally pip, you can hear them chirping. Have you heard anything yet? Sing to them, talk to them, play chirping noises to them if you can. Movement can be harder to see since they are so packed in there.

I definitely hear chirping but I can't tell if its coming from the incubator or outside my window. Lol. How long after an internal pip will it be before he breaks the shell. I'm on the edge of my seat and can't take my attention off of the incubator!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Couldn't resist candling the rest. I found another with an internal pip but without any movement. Do you think it died?

Hold it up to your ear and tap the air cell end. They ALMOST always tap back if they are alive.

 

[chickenlittle84]

Hold it up to your ear and tap the air cell end. They ALMOST always tap back if they are alive.

I actually tapped them both while candling, one moved around ALOT, the other not at all

 

[chickenlittle84]

I actually tapped them both while candling, one moved around ALOT, the other not at all

I tapped again just now in the incubator, might of heard a chirp and definitely saw a wobble in the one but nothing when I tapped the other. Couldn't hear either of them when I tapped by my ear but the wiggly one sounded like he was tapping when I put him back.

 

[chickenlittle84]

I went out for a few hours and came back. Still no external pips. I candled again and the chick that was moving alot earlier is barely moving now