Not a pip, no movement

[ninja]

Day 29. Indian Runner eggs.... The lone silkie egg I had with them hatched out yesterday morning just fine. I was hatching for the ducks so, humidity has been 50%-65% (did my best to keep up raised) and during lock down up to 75-80%. Next time, I am doing a dry hatch... I didn't read about that til I was already into it.

I did the float test and there is no sign of life.. I left them for about 45 seconds in still water. Guessing the would be long enough to see the water ripple. They were moving at lock down when I got rid of the eggs that didn't make it... Air cell looks ok? About 20% or so of the egg.

Do I break em open and look? Or wait longer? I am scared it's going to mess my head and heart up but I really want to see what they would have looked like And, what the heck happened.... My first duck hatch.

 

[ninja]

Carefully opened each on as I read about doing... they are all dead. Nobody broke through the air sac. They were all in the correct position. Was the membrane too thick to break through?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I would consider running the humidity a little lower for the first 25 days. Duck eggs can be incubated with the low humidity method the same as chicken eggs. Many duck hatchers I know, use the low humidity running about 30% up to lockdown and then raise it to 65% or higher. The key is monitoring the air cells. I can give you my humidity link and a graphic for how big the air cells should be at what point for duck eggs as the article is written for chicken hatching. The humidity link is: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity and a duck egg pictorial for air cell size is:

When you did the eggtopsies was there excess moisture in the egg?

 

[ninja]

Ohhhh yea. The air cell was between day 21 and 26. I didn't break the membrane around the chicks to see moisture because it freaked me out... Maybe next time I will have the nerve. My hands were sweating so badly.

Now at least I better understand the air cell. Unfortunately at their expense... I appreciate the info!!!!! I will try the next run at the Rh you suggested. And check air cells every week... I am sure you're right about the Rh being too high and they drowned before being able to pip. It makes sense with their development that I could see.

Thank you so much for the response!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Ohhhh yea. The air cell was between day 21 and 26. I didn't break the membrane around the chicks to see moisture because it freaked me out... Maybe next time I will have the nerve. My hands were sweating so badly.

Now at least I better understand the air cell. Unfortunately at their expense... I appreciate the info!!!!! I will try the next run at the Rh you suggested. And check air cells every week... I am sure you're right about the Rh being too high and they drowned before being able to pip. It makes sense with their development that I could see.

Thank you so much for the response!

You are welcome. Many people can't do the eggtopsies. It's understandable. It can be a great help though in the case of a compromise hatch because it can point you in the right direction, (or leave you with more questions.) I hope you have a much better hatch next time. Let us know how it goes.