HELP WITH INCUBATION

[Duckfarmer8903]

Hi I have ducks hatching out of the eggs in the incubator I also have other eggs a couple of weeks behind will it affect them hurt them or kill them or is it safe?? And I've also opend the incubator about 6 times today will this hurt the hatching or affect the eggs the other eggs help me please in worried :/

 

[Melanie75]

They said don't open that bator u will lost the humidity and temperature and then can dry up the blood vessel inside the eggs and kill it

 

[Duckfarmer8903]

Humidity and temp stay steady hopefully they will be ok and my bottom half of my incubator was left with out heat for a couple of hours without me knowing I'm really worried and panicked I just want to cry haha hopefully they will be fine one is hatched that it I might get

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Hi I have ducks hatching out of the eggs in the incubator I also have other eggs a couple of weeks behind will it affect them hurt them or kill them or is it safe?? And I've also opend the incubator about 6 times today will this hurt the hatching or affect the eggs the other eggs help me please in worried

Hi!

First off let me address the staggered hatch. While some do manage to do ok with staggered hatches it's not something I would ever recommend unless the hatcher has a second bator for a hatcher. Reasons why: The biggest is the humidity. At lockdown you need a higher humidity for the birds to be able to hatch. When you have younger eggs in there and you have to raise the humidity for hatch, often the younger eggs are then put in an environment of too high humidity and are unable to loose enough moisture during this period. The second reason: the younger eggs still need to be turned. If you are using an automatic turner that should be taken out for the little ones hatching so they don't get caught up in it,which means you need to hand turn and that means having the bator open during hatch times for extended period of times.

I'm a hands ON hatcher. I frequently open my bator during hatch BUT I maintain humidity at least 75% and I am not leaving the bator open for extended amounts of time (as you would have to do for turning eggs). It is quick and I regain humidity easily. Opening the bator will not harm the younger eggs at all, and depending on your humidity levels hold a low risk to the hatchers. If you have no pippers then, no, you aren't hurting anything.

Many people don't believe in opening the bator after lockdown. Not all of us are like that. Those of us that do take precautions with our humidity. If you are opening your bator and you have insignificant humidity and you have eggs that are pipped, it holds a possibility of drying out the membranes around the bird making it hard or impossible for them to finish hatching. If you are going to open, make sure your humidity is high and you can regain the humidity quickly after opening and do not leave it open for extended period of times. The less humidity in the bator (if you have condensation you do have too much) the more you are opening and the longer it is open the higher the chance you are going to cause harm to any egg that is hatching.

As for partial heat loss for a couple hours, it really shouldn't affect them that much as long as they weren't in really cold temps.

Good luck on your hatch.

 

[iluvmybabiez]

I would avoid opening it so much, but don't worry I think your safe.

Also it won't affect the other eggs even if their behind, I've incubated like this many times with no issues.

Just make sure to keep a reasonable temperature in there, not sure about ducks but chicks need around 100°. Also be sure to keep some water in there.

 

[Duckfarmer8903]

Thanks so much I'm not too panicked I'll go put the humidity up one little duck is out and hatched

 

[Duckfarmer8903]

Thanks so much this is clamed me down I've put more water to bump up the humidity and I'm praying for the best one ducks so far hatched another 3 are starting to hatch

 

[iluvmybabiez]

Good luck! Don't sweat the small stuff, let nature take its course.

 

[Duckfarmer8903]

Hi I started helping my duck egg out as I was peeling the shell I noticed his yolk hadend absorbed so I stopped and left the eg you can see his leg will he hatch ok if I just leave him I've already lost one form that don't want to lose another HELP :/

 

[iluvmybabiez]

Make sure not to peel unless it's been over 24+ hrs. Also only peel a little bit of the hard shell, not the inner membrane or it can hurt the duck or worse possibly kill the duck. If his yolk sac isn't absorbed its probably to early...

Helping them out should be a very last resort, if the duck is weak and cannot get out and will die anyway if left in the egg, only then should you consoder helping him out.