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Day 29 khaki campbell eggs - Help!

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amosygal

amosygal

In the Brooder
8 Years
Jul 21, 2011
88
3
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I bought 20 shipped khaki campbell duck eggs. They seem to have been handled very roughly + x-rayed or so. only 9 remained for lock down, but except one, all the others didn't occupy the whole egg when candled on day 25. one hatched yesturday, but I see no pips on the others. I candled them again, and although some development has been shown, only one occupy the whole egg. That one has his bill in the air-sac. I was wounduring if I should make a small hole in it to help him. I don't think the temperature was too low during the incubation period, so I don't know why they are hatching late (if at all).
Thanks a lot!
 
if you've been candling them on day 29 then there is a good chance they are shrink wrapped...
what has the lockdown humidity been and how long did you have the incubator open when you candled them the last time?

if they are shrink wrapped they will need some help hatching out of those eggs
 
Humidity was 80% and I just opened the incubator for a second each time, it didn't drop bellow 70%.
 
I thought it wasn't so bad to open the incubator if there are no pips, am I right?
 
Quote:
well.. unless the humidity in your home is also at 70% each egg was exposed to lower humidity while you candled it... for duck eggs it doesn't seem to take much to cause them to shrink wrap..

if you are really nervous about it you can make an observation hole in the air cell of the egg you believe has internally pipped to check the status of the duckling.. however be warned .. if you do you will need to make sure that egg is wrapped in a wet paper towel to preserve the moisture in the membrane.. if the duckling has shrink wrapped you will have to make the decision to assist the hatch or let it die.. if it hasnt shrink wrapped the observation hole will need to be covered with the wet paper towel and the egg will need to go back into the incubator.. then you will have to keep your fingers crossed that it will be ok

if the membrane is just dry but not thick and leathery you will need to moisten it carefully (not getting any water in the nostrils of the duckling) and keep a close eye on it through the window of your incubator to make sure it hatches ok..

also the more you open the incubator to help this egg means each of the other eggs could very well run into problems and also need to be assisted

some people do not want the hassle or have the belief that nature should take it's course.. so assisting a hatch is a very personal decision .. after all they are YOUR eggs.. so it's up to you to decide what to do
 
Quote:
the drop in humidity is what causes the damage.. I have been hatching out eggs long enough that I know what to be on the lookout for .. and so have a lot of the other members here

when the humidity drops the egg doesn't reabsorb moisture.. so the membrane will thicken and become too tough for the chick to hatch out.. when that happens the chick becomes weaker and weaker.. worse case scenario is when the membrane dries so much it wraps the chick and binds it so it cant even move.. either one can be a death sentence for a chick if you don't intervene

that's why they call it "lock down" meaning the incubator really shouldn't be opened until you have enough experience with hatches to know how to get the humidity back up fast (like when you need to remove chicks so there will be more room in the incubator).. when you candle an egg that is supposed to be in lockdown the egg itself is exposed to too low of humidity at a critical time.. granted it's worse when there has been an external pip.. but even without a pip it's easy to cause the membrane to dry out too much
 
When my neighbor's dog killed my khaki hen I put every egg from her nest in the bator. I had never done duck eggs before, and as a chicken hatcher, I was used to candling....so by the time it came time, only 1 made it
 
if you are really nervous about it you can make an observation hole in the air cell of the egg you believe has internally pipped to check the status of the duckling.. however be warned .. if you do you will need to make sure that egg is wrapped in a wet paper towel to preserve the moisture in the membrane.. if the duckling has shrink wrapped you will have to make the decision to assist the hatch or let it die.. if it hasnt shrink wrapped the observation hole will need to be covered with the wet paper towel and the egg will need to go back into the incubator.. then you will have to keep your fingers crossed that it will be ok

Thanks for your advice, I think I'll just leave the incubator closed and not cause any further damage.​
 
No external pip yet (didn't open the incubator of course), should I make the whole?
 

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