Incubating duck eggs :)

[BirdyGirl7198]

Hey there! I am currently incubating Indian Runner and Muscovy duck eggs. There are only eight of them but only seven are still alive and growing. I expected some mortalities though as ALL of them have ruptured air cells I was then given a link to a thread started by Pete55 (thanks pete!) and I was given hope I am incubating them in a carton and I didn't turn them or move them at all for the first 48 hours. I am now keep them at a slight angle and turn them 5 times a day (every 3 hours starting at 9am). They are growing very well and one of them is already moving! They are only on day 5 but I have high hopes for them. If you could leave your experiences with carton incubation and incubating eggs with ruptured air cells that would be amazing!
The Indian Runners are due to hatch on July 31st. The Muscovies are due on August 7th.
If you are incubating some eggs right now feel free to leave a post about it.
Have a wonderful summer,
BirdyGirl7198

 

[BirdyGirl7198]

Anybody???

 

[RubberDuckee]

I wish I could help. I have only incubated once. However, I am curious about what the ruptured air cells look like... Are they grayish in color? How can you tell that they have been breached? Also, how does this sort of thing occur so early in the incubation process?

I had a couple of eggs later in the incubation stage (the final 3-4 days or so) that looked as though the air cell had been 'tainted' in some way. Instead of being a bright white, the air cell was a grayish color and the embryos stopped showing signs of life.

I am very curious about this topic, as I am new to ducks. I hope someone will be able to assist you with this situation, as I have not heard of it before and it doesn't sound like a good thing to have happening. I hope you have some babies hatch! I am sure you have hopes hanging on their arrival. Good luck to you and to your embryos, and I hope I will get to learn from what the experts respond!

 

[BirdyGirl7198]

Hey RubberDuckee! Thank you so much for leaving a reply I am not an expert on these things either. But a ruptured air cell will generally look like there is fluid moving around inside of it. It will also be oddly shaped and usually hang more to the sides rather then be at the blunt end of the egg.

They usually become detached or ruptured by rough handling during shipping. My eggs were only on the Greyhound bus for about 6 hours when they arrived. They were wonderfully packed and had a sign that said "Fragile-Live Embryos" on all sides. Unfortunately the couriers weren't very careful at all. 4 of the 12 eggs were damaged beyond repair (one of which was a double yolker). Then all eight of the remaining eggs had ruptured air cells.

I candled them last night and only 4 of the eggs are still viable I have high hopes for all of them, the two Indian Runners are the ones I am most hopeful for. They seem to be in better condition then the Muscovies.
One of the two viable Indian Runner duck eggs has a rather large dent in it. The inner membrane isn't punctured, thankfully. I repaired the egg with some Elmer's School Glue (because it isn't toxic) and some toilet paper. The embryo seems to be very healthy and is growing rapidly. They are all on day 7-8 of incubation so in about 20-27 days they should all be hatched
Thank you for your post,
BirdyGirl7198

 

[Cuckoomama]

I have just finished incubating duck eggs and had a few problems. A few of the eggs were not fertile (luck of the draw), two died in the shell, don't know why. I hatched out 7 Khaki Campbells, 3 Welsh Harlequins and a surprize duck that I thought was a Welsh Harlequin, turned out to be a Pekin Duck. Having trouble with my brand new inbubator . The thermostat now reaches 110F and won't shut off...hope I can get it replaced soon. I have eggs under 3 broody hens now and have just candled them. It lookas like they are not getting enough moisture, although I am spraying them in the morning and at night. The air cells look like they are all on one wall even though they are turned twice daily...will have to wait and see.

I am looking for a dozen or fewer even Welsh harlequin fertilized eggs...anyone have some to sell?

 

[Quackers08]

That's what my eggs air sacs are like!

 

[BirdyGirl7198]

With ruptured, abnormally placed, or loose air cells the best thing you can do for them is to try carton incubation. I tried this and so far it is working like a charm. I put them in the egg carton and didn't turn them or move them at all for the first 48 hours. I am now keeping them at a 45 degree angle and turning them every 3 hours starting at 9am. I turn them 5 times a day. Cuckoomama I suggest you turn them more often. If the egg is left on one side for long periods of time throughout the day then it gives the air cells time to slowly move into an undesirable position. You could also try to set them in an egg carton with the blunt end facing up. This will allow the air sac to move towards the top of the egg once again.

I am very sorry to hear about you bad hatch

Hopefully the next one will be better You could also try building your own incubator. I built mine and it works very well. I have already hatched some ducklings in it. I had TONS of infertile eggs with that batch though. I got 14 eggs and only 2 were actually fertile! Both of the fertile eggs hatched so that was nice. Now I'm just waiting on my new duckies

I hope I was able to provide some helpful information to you. And good luck with your ruptured air cell eggs Quackers08
Happy hatching everyone

 

[RubberDuckee]

Hey RubberDuckee! Thank you so much for leaving a reply I am not an expert on these things either. But a ruptured air cell will generally look like there is fluid moving around inside of it. It will also be oddly shaped and usually hang more to the sides rather then be at the blunt end of the egg.

They usually become detached or ruptured by rough handling during shipping. My eggs were only on the Greyhound bus for about 6 hours when they arrived. They were wonderfully packed and had a sign that said "Fragile-Live Embryos" on all sides. Unfortunately the couriers weren't very careful at all. 4 of the 12 eggs were damaged beyond repair (one of which was a double yolker). Then all eight of the remaining eggs had ruptured air cells.

I candled them last night and only 4 of the eggs are still viable I have high hopes for all of them, the two Indian Runners are the ones I am most hopeful for. They seem to be in better condition then the Muscovies.
One of the two viable Indian Runner duck eggs has a rather large dent in it. The inner membrane isn't punctured, thankfully. I repaired the egg with some Elmer's School Glue (because it isn't toxic) and some toilet paper. The embryo seems to be very healthy and is growing rapidly. They are all on day 7-8 of incubation so in about 20-27 days they should all be hatched
Thank you for your post,
BirdyGirl7198

Thanks for the info, BirdyGirl. That is so interesting, but in a sad way. I am so glad that didn't happen to me! I was such a nervous wreck when I incubated. I kept dreaming about the eggs over and over again.. bad dreams. I was a nut! I just wanted to sit and stare at the eggs all day in the incubator. I was a bit neurotic. Hehe! You are handling your embryo situation very well!

That is really too bad and it sounds as though the shipping employees were not very careful. I am sorry to hear! I hope the embryos flourish and make their ultimate rotation within the egg with ease and success!

Have you ever had any eggs where, within the final 3-4 days, the air cells changed from the bright white to a grayish color? If so, do you know what that is? That is what happened with a couple of my eggs... the grayish colored air cell.

Quackers08 - I hope your eggs do well too!

 

[BirdyGirl7198]

I have had pretty horrible luck with this clutch :/ But I am confident that all will go well I have been having loads of bad dreams about the eggs too. Just last night I had a dream that somebody had drenched all of the eggs in corn oil when they were just about to hatch You just gave me an awesome idea for a thread though so thank you
I understand completely! I do actually sit and stare at the eggs for hours on end. I must say I feel rather embarrassed about it But that's okay, I know I'm probably not the only one, so that's comforting. I am hoping for the best with these little guys too Thank you for your best wishes.

As for the air cells turning grey I don't know all that much about it. I know that it does sometimes happen if the embryo dies or (because it is so late into the incubation period) possibly an internal pip. With one of my Indian Runner duck eggs the egg was pretty small and the air cell was large. So he/she ended up internally pipping 48 hours before he/she externally pipped! Now that I think about it the air cell was oddly coloured. It look like a greyish/green colour. I don't really know, as I said this isn't my area of expertise

I hope all goes well!
Happy hatching