Not a successful hatch (Muscovy) Has this ever happened to y’all?

[Aty439318]

Hello BYC family!

My young Muscovy hen decided to start laying around five months of age (I was surprised). She went broody with about 17 eggs, which I removed a few because she was not able to lay on all of them. Later on, I had to remove about 6 more because there was no development. The remaining ones were all dark and at some point you could see the ducklings move so I assumed they were alive. Yesterday, one of the ducklings hatched early in the morning. However, none of the other hatched. I was really surprised because Muscovies are usually pretty good at sucesfully hatching all of their eggs. I was curious so I cracked the eggs and in all of them the ducklings were deceased, but fully developed and it looked like they were about to hatch. What could have happened? I did noticed she left the nest a couple times a day for extended periods of time. Temperatures here are usually around the 80s-90s during the day and now that we are entering the “fall months” temps are getting chillier at night, around the low 70s more or less… I don’t know if maybe this played any part on what happened. Has this ever happened to any of y’all?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

One of my hens was sitting on a nest of 5 eggs. All died before hatching. I initially thought she wasn't bathing enough and the ducklings got shrink wrapped. These eggs also were up in a wooden nest box without much bedding. I now think it's best that eggs are on the ground as they seem to hold moisture more. Shape of the nest also seems to contribute to a successful hatch. My hens clutch were probably doomed from the start. Now I know better.

Not sure if it was the similar with your hen. Sometimes they hatch a big batch and sometimes they have problems.