My eggs are all dead! 😢

[New duck mommy 2021]

Could there be some sort of a bacteria or disease in the flock or in their genes that would make them die at the same time? I did NOT wash the eggs. I’m thinking that if something within the egg grows to a certain size, it then takes over and kills the embryo. It could have happened more slowly than I thought… I’m not good at candling. Some of the embryos definitely looked stronger than others, and some of them looked proportionately, smaller or larger all along. The largest egg looked dead but had slight movement in the morning upon recandling, but then appeared dead for sure in the evening. I am still incubating them until they smell because the breeder tells me it’s possible I just don’t see movement. I see a blood ring in one of them now though.

I had the govee meter in the incubator all night, and from the readout and checking where it was this morning, you can see when it passes by the vent! I had gone to sleep and left the incubator at 99.5. Dead eggs inside anyways! I’ll include the graph. It’s interesting, and I wonder if most people know this is a normal thing that takes place within the incubator. It’s also interesting that it takes so long for the temperature to read correctly on the meter after opening the lid. I believe this incubator is exactly right on.

Thank you so much for helping me. I feel so much better, because I now truly believe I had nothing to do with killing those babies.

I hope that anybody that reads this realizes that they need to not be afraid to ask the breeder so many questions before purchasing their eggs, whether it’s Chickens, Geese, ducks, or any other type of animal! And it doesn’t hurt to ask for at least 3 references. This particular breeder will not give me a single one and I had to go to the Facebook group to message everyone that had asked for her eggs. No references is a big clue not to purchase from them!
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Good morning
Yes a bacteria could kill them off like that
We’re the eggs clean like they had been washed by the seller ?
My eggs are clean but my girls lay in dog crates as nest boxes and I clean my pen daily and get every single poo out
I don’t deep litter method either
When I did get shipped eggs a few weeks back they came filthy dirty and I was disgusted but apparently it’s normal for eggs to get dirty or poo on them and my ducks are the not so normal ones ( I raise little divas )
Or the birds themselves that are laying are not really healthy that could cause this issue too
The fluctuating isn’t bad and I don’t think that can kill the babies
I hand turn my eggs and cool them 10 mins once a day so I’m in my bator a lot before lock down and don’t loose any
I usually get 90-100% hatch rates with my eggs that includes buyers and schools I provide everything to incubate ( eggs , bator and calibrated hygrometer/thermometer )
I encourage the schools to candle daily so the kids can watch the changes
It’s not affected the hatch rates
So those up down cools aren’t the reason
I don’t think it’s your bator
I really think it’s the eggs themselves had issues

 

[Iain Utah]

One other tip if you incubate again. I personally dry incubate (usually around 15% humidity) fresh goose eggs to insure enough moisture loss.

 

[bhaugh]

Consistent egg loss from different eggs is usually an incubator problem. I experienced close to 100 egg loss last year and scrapped my incubator for a new one this year. The old incubator was an Rcom incubator. I probably wouldn’t have bought the same one but I got a screaming deal from AI brooders after much back and forth as to what was wrong.
This may sound mean and it isn’t meant to be but you have to toughen up if you’re going to hatch birds. Lots of failures but also lots of knowledge while you tune in to your experience.

 

[bhaugh]

I say don’t give up. You will have times when things won’t go well like right now, but then you’ll have other times when you will be so thankful you hatched your own. Incubating is like cooking You have to cook a few scorched meals before you get it right and once you have gotten it right, you are off to the races. I usually recommend hatching the first few times from mixed breed birds, because they seem to hatch better than purebred birds. When I set eggs it’s a bunch to cover losses of the ones that don’t hatch. Right now I’m raising coturnix quail who don’t set as a rule so if don’t hatch them , I’m out of luck. Go on CL and see what people have for mix breeds and try again. Post that you’re new to incubating and see someone will give you a deal. If I had some I’d send them to you but shipped are a problem unto themselves. Consider a different incubator. I used a styrofoam hovabator for years and I still have it. Forced air with wafer that I just rebuilt.

 

[JRies]

It’s not mean - That’s exactly why I’m not going to do it anymore!

I never put any eggs in this incubator besides the ones from this breeder, so I will never know if it is the breeder or the incubator. Having contacted others that purchased her eggs, it is a theme that many are early quitters, or need assistance to hatch, but most of her eggs are simply infertile.

One thing I noticed about the incubator after using the Govee thermometer/hygrometer, is that the incubator fluctuates a lot, but it was less than my friends fluctuations and she just hatched her goose eggs with no problems. For me, the Govee read between 98.2 and 99.7, but the hourly averages were much closer to 99.1 (which goose incubation guides say is more desirable for geese). I also have no way of knowing if the Govee readings are correct! They read lower than both of my incubators, so which ones are correct?? I think incubating eggs really sucks.

Im sorry for your loss. It dose not always go right. Went to bed with 5 largely piped and ready to hatch. Realized my puppy (who wines when the babies chirp) hadn't woke me up. At 1am table top incubator that group was in surged in heat to 101. 3 made it but it took a few days to get them healthy Sometimes life just sends us curves my geese hatching there own have had to deal with loss to. Hang in there.

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

Thanks for everyone’s help with this. It has meant the world to me! I deleted a lot of my posts on this thread as they related to a bad incubator. I was informed that it is a wonderful incubator even though the temperature fluctuations are extreme. Thank you to all of the people who make such a difference in the lives of bird parents! Especially the geese parents. You are truly amazing.