Air sac help?!

[LuckyDuckies18]

What I do to correct air cells is lower humidity
Do you have a calibrated hygrometer inside the bator ? Or are you using the bator itself to tell you humidity ?
If you have a calibrated one and it’s reading 45 I would go to 35-40

The incubator itself. All our other hatches have gone great & the teals are on target so I’m guessing it’s the eggs. I’m going to set the other incubator up & move the teals before I drop the humidity. Thanks

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

The incubator itself. All our other hatches have gone great & the teals are on target so I’m guessing it’s the eggs. I’m going to set the other incubator up & move the teals before I drop the humidity. Thanks

I would calibrate a hygrometer in the future as these bators are rarely accurate
As the other poster said it can be the shell thickness that is making the difference and these ones just need a lower humidity
Good idea to move the ones that look on par
I don’t do set day of 25 to lockdown
You can just watch the eggs and go by them
With a smaller air cell they may need an extra day or two in lower humidity
Signs it’s lockdown is egg rocking
Shadowing along air cell and air cell dipping forward quickly
You can stop turning the eggs when you see that and once the air cell dips forward up your humidity for hatching
You will not hurt the hatch or eggs to candle and check them until you see an external pip but once you stop turning and babies are getting into position I candle in place
I don’t lift the egg up so I don’t confuse them
I never go by day 25 I go by my eggs themselves when I hatch st home
I get 90-100 % hatch rates

 

[LuckyDuckies18]

I would calibrate a hygrometer in the future as these bators are rarely accurate
As the other poster said it can be the shell thickness that is making the difference and these ones just need a lower humidity
Good idea to move the ones that look on par
I don’t do set day of 25 to lockdown
You can just watch the eggs and go by them
With a smaller air cell they may need an extra day or two in lower humidity
Signs it’s lockdown is egg rocking
Shadowing along air cell and air cell dipping forward quickly
You can stop turning the eggs when you see that and once the air cell dips forward up your humidity for hatching
You will not hurt the hatch or eggs to candle and check them until you see an external pip but once you stop turning and babies are getting into position I candle in place
I don’t lift the egg up so I don’t confuse them
I never go by day 25 I go by my eggs themselves when I hatch st home
I get 90-100 % hatch rates

Great, thank you. I will order one as we have another lot going in after these. I have a thermometer in there so I’m not sure why I never thought about double checking the humidity! Fingers crossed I can get the air sacs bigger before they are ready! I will update hopefully with babies!

 

[Corbdee]

The way I understand it is airsac size grows as water evaporates through the shell. Different ducks and even the same duck at different times of the laying season have shells that vary in thickness and porosity. So, some lose water faster or slower than another. My thinking would be to reduce humidity but Corbdee may have other better advice.

X2. You would be amazed by how different the thickness of my mallard's eggs are from my runners. Something that could be affecting it though is whether your incubator is consistent. Sometimes incubators will be the right temps/humidity in one section but then way off in another. Having 1+ calibrated thermometer/hygrometers helps you see what median you can make to balance it out.

 

[LuckyDuckies18]

X2. You would be amazed by how different the thickness of my mallard's eggs are from my runners. Something that could be affecting it though is whether your incubator is consistent. Sometimes incubators will be the right temps/humidity in one section but then way off in another. Having 1+ calibrated thermometer/hygrometers helps you see what median you can make to balance it out.

Thanks, I’ve put the teal eggs in a different incubator and lowered the humidity to 35% for the wood ducks. It’s managed to drop down to 40% since last night but the weather is very humid at the minute so I think it will struggle to go any lower. Just crossing my fingers now

 

[LuckyDuckies18]

Unfortunately 1 out of 9 hasn’t made it but was always behind everyone else. Humidity has finally come down to 35%. They definitely don’t look as ready the teals who are shadowing the air cell & will be going into lockdown today. Time to get the brooder ready!

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Unfortunately 1 out of 9 hasn’t made it but was always behind everyone else. Humidity has finally come down to 35%. They definitely don’t look as ready the teals who are shadowing the air cell & will be going into lockdown today. Time to get the brooder ready!

Sorry the one didn’t make it. Are the two incubators near each other? I would be sure they are not. They can hear through the shell. If they hear peeping, it seems to speed hatching whether they are ready or not. Just my experience anyway.

 

[LuckyDuckies18]

Sorry the one didn’t make it. Are the two incubators near each other? I would be sure they are not. They can hear through the shell. If they hear peeping, it seems to speed hatching whether they are ready or not. Just my experience anyway.

No I have them in separate rooms, we have small children so I keep them where they can’t be touched! Would you recommend still misting the wood ducks at this stage?

 

[cheezenkwackers]

No I have them in separate rooms, we have small children so I keep them where they can’t be touched! Would you recommend still misting the wood ducks at this stage?

I incubate dry and don’t mist because I live in the south and the air is humid. So, I wouldn’t. I think too high of humidity is worse than too low. I have had 100% hatches the last three times I have hatched ducklings this way.

 

[LuckyDuckies18]

I incubate dry and don’t mist because I live in the south and the air is humid. So, I wouldn’t. I think too high of humidity is worse than too low. I have had 100% hatches the last three times I have hatched ducklings this way.

Update - all wood ducks have now hatched around 4-5 days later than expected. Out of the 8 that started to hatch 7 made it. 5 are running riot in the brooder with the teal. We have one that was in the wrong position & pipped through the side of the egg. It has successfully hatched this morning but seems to be having balance/neck issues so only time will tell now. Thank you all for your advice