Black spot growing on duck egg in incubator hatching time

[Scornwell]

Hello there: my duck eggs are due to hatch today . Two have pipped and are starting to zip but there are a couple that have these black spots that are growing. I am so worried. They have not pipped. Does anyone know what this means. The black spots are on the outside of the shell not inside. I have not opened or candled since lockdown. I have been looking all over this awesome site for similar issues. Please let me know if you know anything about this. Do they need help? Are they dead?I will post a picture. Thank you so much if you have any advice!

 

[Aphrael]

Ok, that pic is really small and my eyes aren't working so good right now. Do the eggs kinda look like they have become "bruised" in spots? If so, I have hatched ducks twice now, and have had it happen both times. The first time, the baby died in the shell, but the second time it hatched and is perfectly fine. I'm not sure what causes this to happen, but I have a guess from my own observations. I think it maybe is a kind of "bruise". Both times it happened on mine, I found blood on the inside of the shell in a corresponding location to the dark spot outside - Like they had nicked a vein when trying to position or something.

Anyway, don't give up on your little guy yet. It could still hatch out just fine and be perfectly healthy. Good luck!

ETA: Sorry I JUST now saw this was posted 2 days ago. Are they hatched yet? How did it go?

 

[HumbleHen207]

I have come to refer to these spots as the black spots of death... Sounds terrible but every time I see one on an egg, it fails to hatch. My guess is they are signs of blood or fluid build up under the shell. They may have tried pipping at the wrong spot and broke a vein, or maybe even broke their yolk sack somehow.

 

[Aphrael]

It isn't yolk sac breakage, unless more than one thing can cause them to appear. I've had it happen twice (once in each of my duck hatches). The first one died in shell, but it was fully formed with the yolk sac still intact and partially absorbed. When I eggtopsied, however, there was a lot of blood in the shell, especially around the "bruise". The second one hatched and was perfectly fine. No broken yolk sac, but there was blood staining the inside area of the shell where the bruise showed through to the outside. So, yeah, I also believe it is signs of bleeding inside. Like they maybe nicked a vein when turning or moving. But I can say from experience that it doesn't always result in death. I think it just depends on how bad they made it bleed and how strong they are.

 

[Scornwell]

Thank you everyone who replied. I am still at a loss, some of the eggs with black spots hatched and some didn't. Today and yesterday the second batch of eggs hatched, and so far we have 12 baby cutie ducklings...oh boy! Way more than I thought.

 

[Aphrael]

Congrats! Glad you got a better hatch than you expected. That is always a nice surprise.

 

[HumbleHen207]

I have this happen to a lot of my ducks, it is very frustrating. I am wondering if there is anyway to prevent these "bruises", or anything specific that triggers them. Happy that you had a good outcome with your hatch!

 

[Aphrael]

I have this happen to a lot of my ducks, it is very frustrating. I am wondering if there is anyway to prevent these "bruises", or anything specific that triggers them. Happy that you had a good outcome with your hatch!

I'm of the opinion (just from my own observations) that it may be a sign of blood collecting inside the shell at that area. Like as if they have scratched a vessel in the membrane while trying to kick themselves into position for hatch. I have no idea if this is actually the case, it just seems to make sense to me.

 

[HumbleHen207]

I have found my eggs roll a lot in my incubator, wondering if securing the eggs better during lockdown would reduce the amount of re-positioning they need to do. Maybe i'll do some experimenting next spring...

 

[Aphrael]

I have found my eggs roll a lot in my incubator, wondering if securing the eggs better during lockdown would reduce the amount of re-positioning they need to do. Maybe i'll do some experimenting next spring...

Look forward to hearing how your experiment goes. I've hatched ducks in the incubator and under a broody hen and had the bruises appear both ways.