Are they dead? Trouble candling eggs

[agregg15]

Hi everyone, I have 2 mallard eggs that have been in the incubator for 13 days the first one has one half that is completely dark, but I can't really see blood vessels. I'm thinking that it was an early death, but the shell is so dark it's hard to tell. The second one has a dark blob (I'm pretty sure it's not a bacterial issue) that looks like it could be an embryo, but again no blood vessels. Are there any other ways to tell if an egg is dead? I'm using a strong maglite to candle them, but they shells are fairly dark and I can't tell. I'll try to post pictures soon.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Sorry to say, but those are dead :/ if you see no veining, this early, then their gone...

 

[agregg15]

Yeah, I had that feeling. I just don't want to throw eggs into the woods to find out they were alive

so I just need another opinion. I think that the first one is an early death because it's dark on one half. I'm really bad at hatching

. This is the second round that didn't hatch. Oh well my ducks are giving me 6 eggs a day and there are enough drakes (plus it's their mating season) so I'll just keep working at it. Practice makes perfect.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Did you ever see veining in the begining?

My welsh sarted laying, but the drake isnt breeding them, so i am not getting any fertile eggs from them. I am getting fertile rouen eggs though gonna be setting 6 next week

Sorry about your mallard eggs

 

[agregg15]

I thought I saw faint veining in the very beginning, but after that I was really busy so I never got to check. I just put in 3 khaki and 2 WH eggs a little while ago. I hope I get better luck this time Tomorrow morning I'll put a mallard egg in.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Are these pure breds? or is it a mixed flock?

I had3 ancona eggs in from my pair, and one made it all the way to lockdown.... died after it hatched though... bummer...

 

[agregg15]

They're most likely a mix because all of the ducks except for the calls are in together.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Oh. Do you plan on seperating to breeding? and hatching pure breds? Do you have a khaki drake?

 

[Baylor]

Do you see movement? Sometimes veining is very hard to see after the 2nd week. I would look at the movement of the egg. If there is no movement then chances are they are not viable any longer.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They're most likely a mix because all of the ducks except for the calls are in together.

Why not wait and see if one of the ducks would brood some eggs then you'd probably get a good hatch.