Incubating please help

[Lacrystol]

You're certainly a better one to give advice on this than I am. I've never tried this with only one incubator. I do a similar thing with eggs due on all different dates, but I shuffle them among incubators depending where they are in the incubation stage. I put them in one incubator as they're laid after I number them, then I move them to another incubator on day 23, which has a little lower temp and an RH of 68% until they hatch. Then I move them to a brooding incubator with a lower temp and humidity after they hatch while other eggs in incubator #2 are hatching. I think I could do this with only 2 incubators, but I'd find it tricky to do it with only one.

You go, girl

LOL, your funny, with one it's a different ball game, you can't lock them all down because the ones that aren't ready, will get sticky. and ONE THING FOR SURE, you want to avoid STICKY at any cost. They could shrink wrap but shrink wrapping is easier to cure then sticky..

 

[Lacrystol]

I just really can't agree with that. You can't force a duck to set on a nest, at least not in any way I've ever heard of. That might just result in making her angry or depressed. That's why a lot of us incubate, especially in cases we know the ducks to refuse to go broody or to not be reliable setters.

ONCE AGAIN, you make a EXCELLENT POINT.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

OK, the first bator, are you misting the eggs??


Second bator, if you don't have a fan, get that temp up to the same 101-102. Humidity at 60-65 use the second one as your lock down bator and yes, once those eggs dip, put them in and don't turn them.

An just one more addition to that. Candle before you lock them down and make a mark where they're likely to pip. Lay that side upward, and lay the eggs side by side touching if you have more than one in lockdown. The reason you do that is that you want them to have open space to pip, so you want that part at the very top to they can break the shell. If you turn it where the likely pip area is on the floor, many won't be able to break the shell because of the resistance from the floor. This really is very hard work for them, so you have to make it as easy as possible.

 

[casie]

Well I have been able to get them to hatching point but have had 2 die during hatch, one in my incubator and one I gave back to mom. I would really like to care for these as best I can but with out knowing when they were laid I'm at a loss they all appear to be moving and doing ok so far. I have 4 that look like the have dipped and I moved them to the incubator with low temp and high humidity. There were 2 that I could see a little bill moving around in them and 2 that I couldn't see movement in but had slipped off to one side. So at this point. I stop turning those right?

 

[casie]

Where they are likely to pip? Does this mean that air sack upward? I know they have slanted so where that slant is on the bottom and the air sac on top?

 

[JadeComputerGal]

Where they are likely to pip? Does this mean that air sack upward? I know they have slanted so where that slant is on the bottom and the air sac on top?

Yay! The likely pip is around the dip in the air cell. They don't always cooperate with that, but you want to lay them down with no turner with that part, the dipped part of the air cell up. The mark is really only for your own information, and I suppose it mostly makes a difference only if you're dealing with a lot of hatching eggs like some of us do. Many make an X where they think the pip will be, but I've found that problematic because I usually get pretty close to where they'll pip and find it hard to distinguish the pip from my X unless I open the incubator. I make a sort of wide blue circle around it, but whatever works for you will do.

LET US KNOW HOW THINGS ARE GOING!!!

 

[casie]

Most of my eggs make a nice oval air sac but one that I can see what look like the beak moving in looks kinda like 2 ovals, like thee is a point on opposite sides, should I worry about this or does this just mean the duck is getting close? It's hard to explain what I'm seeing. Like a v shape on both side so guess

 

[JadeComputerGal]

Most of my eggs make a nice oval air sac but one that I can see what look like the beak moving in looks kinda like 2 ovals, like thee is a point on opposite sides, should I worry about this or does this just mean the duck is getting close? It's hard to explain what I'm seeing. Like a v shape on both side so guess

That sounds like it might be a saddle shaped air cell, but those don't happen over the course of development as far as I've ever known, and they typically would happen only with shipped eggs. Are you sure what you're seeing isn't the bill poking into the air cell? That can look kind of like the same, except of course it will move around if it's the bill instead of a misshapen air cell. Do you have any idea how far along this one is? Is there any way you can post a pic of what you're seeing?

 

[casie]

So today I work up to a tiny hole in one of my eggs! And some very quite peeping! I think someone is trying to come out and see me, however it's not the egg I expected. I have had one for about 4 days that I can see the little beek and see it wiggling around but I don't see any blood vessels. When I moved the eggs over that was the only one that looked that way. I am a little worried about the other duck. Why dosnt it seem to pip?

 

[casie]

This morning I woke up to a pip I think a little x of broken shell, but no progress since this morning at 8 when I noticed it. If I talk to the egg it wiggles sometimes should I be seeing more progress?! I really don't want another dead duck on my hands : ( please help