6 Indian Runner Duck Eggs in Janoel 12 - Day 28 and no Pips

[SharonxH]

Hi there,

I am on Day 28 with my 6 eggs, and see and hear nothing yet. We miscalculated by a day so the eggs went into lockdown a day later than they should have (Day 26) - so we didn't candle them as I didn't want to disturb them. Prior to that, all were moving and seemed to be growing fine on candling.

We didn't get our humidity right until Day 27 - it was a real struggle to raise it to between 75-80% until we add 4 sponges. Now all is well, but I'm worried that all the opening and closing of the incubator and low humidity might have killed them all off. I haven't even marked off the egg sacks, because we were a day late in our calculations - apart from one, which is a day behind the others - and that one has its air sack at the narrow end!

When should we expect to see external pips - I would have thought today?

Would love some support as it's such a stressful time - and I am praying my 9-year-old daughter isn't disappointed by an unsuccessful hatch.

Many thanks in advance!

 

[JaeG]

Unless they are externally pipped there's no harm in opening the incubator. I would have a quick candle of a few, keeping the egg in the same position as it is laying in the incubator as you do this.

 

[SharonxH]

Thank you - I have one that has externally pipped. I have candled them as you suggest already and there was plenty of movement and peeping - but it's now been well over 24 hours and no external pipping from any of the others, so I'm a bit concerned and wondering if I should make a safety hole - or will this cause more harm in terms of decrease in humidity?

 

[JaeG]

I did make safety holes for my Muscovy ducklings as the first to internally pip stopped peeping, so I did all of them for my own piece of mind. If you notice a decrease in peeping I would. Ducklings do try your patience.

 

[SharonxH]

I did make safety holes for my Muscovy ducklings as the first to internally pip stopped peeping, so I did all of them for my own piece of mind. If you notice a decrease in peeping I would. Ducklings do try your patience.

Mine were peeping this afternoon, but had stopped tonight, so just added safety holes to all but one that I don't think has internally pipped and the one that's externally pipped. Only way we could do it in the end was with an actual drill and a tiny drill bit - a 1mm hole - hope the noise doesn't kill them off! It really is incredibly stressful and we are now on day 29 for Indian Runners that usually hatch by Day 28.5.

So what was the outcome for your Muscovy ducklings or are you still going through the process?

 

[JaeG]

The shells are incredibly hard.

Our Muscovy hatched 6 months ago. All 5 that made it to lockdown hatched, only one with help. He pipped internally but that's as far as he got. I don't know why, but I broke him out once I was sure he'd have absorbed the yolk and he was perfectly perfect. Unfortunately he turned into a people aggressive drake, so we got brave and ate him.

Let me know how the hatching goes. Runners are so cute.

 

[SharonxH]

Wow, what a story! We are on Day 30 (Indian Runners incubation time is 28.5 days.) We made safety holes last night and by this morning, a second had externally pipped. The first one externally pipped about 2.5 days ago and no progress still. I hear peeping but not sure from which egg. All were alive last night. One hasn't even internally pipped yet, but we made a safety hole for that one this morning. How do you know when you can safely break them out - that they've absorbed the yolk? I worry about keep opening the lid, as I don't want them shrink wrapped - maybe that's the issue - I don't know - but the only way to check on them is through candling. Love your thoughts!

 

[Trisseh]

Tons of reasons for them to be tardy - slightly low or uneven temps (hot or cold spots, definitely a problem in the janoel 12, older eggs, a specific bloodline (some do take longer than others) and some are just late! Ducks are extremely tedious when hatching, and you definitely don’t want to do too much when they’re not ready. I try not to put safety holes in unless they’ve been internally pipped for over 24 hours, or they’re becoming sluggish when I candle, because sometimes you can actually delay hatching even more. They’re triggered to externally hatch by the lack of oxygen/increase in carbon dioxide in the egg, so it slows them down if they don’t have to, because they’re getting air through a hole we’ve made.

At this point, they’ve got air, and you can hear some peeping. You just have to wait. and wait. Haha. I have never had a chick or duckling shrink wrapped and I open my incubator (same one you have) allllll the time throughout a hatch. The key is to pull out the egg you’re checking and close the lid again, so you don’t lose too much heat or humidity in there. Or if you’re concerned, wait until one has hatched and cranked up the humidity before opening it to check on other eggs.

I had a magpie egg that took 3 days from first sign of internal pip to even start zipping. I gave that one a safety hole because it was the only one I had received and I really wanted it to hatch.

if you haven’t already (I assume you have but I’ll link it anyways) take a read through the assisted hatching guide. (Link below)
It’s much better to wait than intervene too soon and wind up with unabsorbed yolk or an open navel. I’ve never had success keeping a duck in the egg if they’ve had an unabsorbed yolk, so better to not run into that problem in the first place.

Guide to Assisted Hatching

 

[JaeG]

This is also an excellent thread to read through - all the information is in the first post. It's in the Goose forum but applies to any incubated eggs.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed.491013/

It explains how you can candle and see a void when the yolk is absorbed and that's how I judged when to step in.

 

[SharonxH]

Tons of reasons for them to be tardy - slightly low or uneven temps (hot or cold spots, definitely a problem in the janoel 12, older eggs, a specific bloodline (some do take longer than others) and some are just late! Ducks are extremely tedious when hatching, and you definitely don’t want to do too much when they’re not ready. I try not to put safety holes in unless they’ve been internally pipped for over 24 hours, or they’re becoming sluggish when I candle, because sometimes you can actually delay hatching even more. They’re triggered to externally hatch by the lack of oxygen/increase in carbon dioxide in the egg, so it slows them down if they don’t have to, because they’re getting air through a hole we’ve made.

At this point, they’ve got air, and you can hear some peeping. You just have to wait. and wait. Haha. I have never had a chick or duckling shrink wrapped and I open my incubator (same one you have) allllll the time throughout a hatch. The key is to pull out the egg you’re checking and close the lid again, so you don’t lose too much heat or humidity in there. Or if you’re concerned, wait until one has hatched and cranked up the humidity before opening it to check on other eggs.

I had a magpie egg that took 3 days from first sign of internal pip to even start zipping. I gave that one a safety hole because it was the only one I had received and I really wanted it to hatch.

if you haven’t already (I assume you have but I’ll link it anyways) take a read through the assisted hatching guide. (Link below)
It’s much better to wait than intervene too soon and wind up with unabsorbed yolk or an open navel. I’ve never had success keeping a duck in the egg if they’ve had an unabsorbed yolk, so better to not run into that problem in the first place.

Guide to Assisted Hatching
Thank you for all the information. I only added a hole after they had internally pipped with no external pip for over 24 hours. But there was an occasion where I left the incubator open and candled each one in situ - in retrospect, not smart, and I am now worried that they may be stuck in their eggs due to sticky chick or shrink wrap :-(

Thank you for the link to the guide - I have read that one already multiple times and it's my go-to. I hadn't focused on the assisted hatching part though, so thank you - have read that again. Really helpful to know it's okay to remove one egg at a time to inspect without the others coming to any harm. I spray the eggs in the incubator each time I open the lid.

Will keep you posted on progress!
Thanks so much.