Are my ducklings dying in their shell?

[snickers81]

Hi everyone
I have 14 Indian runner duck eggs in a manual incubator (spread over 10 days) and I'm now on day 31 with no signs of hatching. Having candled them they appear to be alive but none have internally pipped and I'm almost at day 32 now.
I have sent the humidity up to around 80 for almost a week now and have been turning them 3 times a day up until 3 days before due date.
Could they be having difficulty breaking through the membrane to internally pip? If they are, what can I do? I know that if they pip I can help them out after a while if need be but if they don't even get to that stage I'm not sure what I can do.
Any help would be really appreciated - I'm getting really concerned now.

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

Ok.. first of all Welcome to the BYC!!

Next, tell me when you candle.. are you seeing movement? Because honestly at day 32.. I would think they didn't make it. Also what is your temp at and what are you hatching in?

 

[CailetTempest]

I seem to be in the same boat... have 8 muscovy eggs in the bator and they were set in on March 6th. I candled last week and lots of movement. My temp stays steady at 100 degrees. But my humidity is at 66 degrees. I think the babies should have hatched by now. this is my absolute first time incubating anything. I too am getting anxious thinking mine should have hatched by now and not sure what to look for even if i candled them to know if they are done or still going??? Help please!????

 

[snickers81]

Hi there.
Temperature is staying around 38 degrees constantly so I don't think it's the incubator. Is there any help I can give them to internally pip? If I could them that far then I think they may stand a chance. What do you think could be causing them to struggle getting into the air sack?
Thanks!

 

[duckyfromoz]

Snickers81 dd you calibrate the thermometer? It could be reading wrong. The most common issue that causes them to hatch late is low temp. If it was humidity alone- by now its unlikely they would still be moving as they would have run out of air if they were in fact developed enough to hatch.

 

[snickers81]

Thanks for your replies.

I am new to this and haven't calibrated the thermometer so not sure if that could be the problem.

I e-mailed the guy who sold me the incubator who has been really helpful. He's advised me to crack the overdue eggs to see if there are any live ducklings and to help chip away at the shell. I'm not looking forward to it but if by a miracle the ducklings are alive and can be saved then I will do. Any suggestions on how to do this - air sack end or duckling end?

Also, he told me that 38.3 degrees was too high, it should be 37 to 38 and the humidity of 80 is too high - it should be 60-70. Does anyone agree with this? It's just you read so many opposing posts on the net.

Thanks guys!

 

[snickers81]

I peeled the shell from the 32 day duckling but it died during the process. I don't think all was right as it hadn't absorbed the yolk sack and was covered with a green sludge inside the membrane - any ideas what this could be and what happened here? I don't know whether to go ahead and do the same with the other ducklings just in case it could save their lives?

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

I peeled the shell from the 32 day duckling but it died during the process. I don't think all was right as it hadn't absorbed the yolk sack and was covered with a green sludge inside the membrane - any ideas what this could be and what happened here? I don't know whether to go ahead and do the same with the other ducklings just in case it could save their lives?

I think your humidity might have been a little too high during incubation. At day 33 now, I would open the others. (IMO)

 

[nurse_turtle]

I always open unhatched eggs, but I almost always start at the air cell and make a tiny hole. I chip away at the hole until I'm able to look in with a flashlight. If I don't see any movement, I make the hole large enough for my finger to fit in and press gently on the chick. If it's alive it will definitely react. If it is alive, I place a couple layers of warm wet paper towels over it and place it back in the incubator.