reassurance for a worryer

[trailhound]

I am on day 23 of my duck egg incubation. I just candled all the eggs to see what was going on. Two I think are dead, sad, but par for the course. Several I could see definite movement and feel good about, but most of them were just dark, except for the air sac, and maybe a little margin adjacent to the air sac. I am thinking/hoping that these eggs are fine and the ducklings are just so smushed in there right now it is hard to see anything if they are not in just the right position? This hatching stuff is a fretful business! Thanks for the advice/reassurance!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

They sound fine. The ones that didn't move may have just been asleep

 

[MuranoFarms]

they might be sleeping. You go into lockdown in 2 days? I wouldn't toss anything this close. Sometimes the egg is so full you just can't see anything.

I hatched 1 duck and the day of lockdown, I took it out of the incubator to candle one last time and it was pipped! I ran it right up to the hatcher and he was out by nighttime.

 

[trailhound]

Thanks y'all! It is a long time to wait just to screw up at the end, so now I am getting nervous, lol. I think I will candle the two eggs I think are dead again- I could see a much smaller embryo/shadow/dark spot than what was in the rest of the eggs at this point. One of them had a really dark spot close to the shell, which I am thinking is bacteria. If I can't see movement, i think I will pitch them so they don't cause problems for the others. I am sure they will all hatch way late since I am having a party on the due date so my friends can watch the hatching experience