Candling during lockdown

[JessicaB721]

Good luck with your hatch.

Thank you!

 

[Ridgerunner]

What breed are your ducks? Most breeds take 28 days but at least one (Muscovy) takes 35 days. Hopefully yours are not cross breeds.

An easy way to check your counting whether you have the 21 days for chickens or 28 or 35 days for ducks is that the day of the week you set them is the day of the week the 21, 28, or 35 days are up. If they were set on a Friday then "hatch day" is a Friday. But that "hatch day" is just a target. For many different reasons it is not unusual for eggs to hatch a couple of days early or late whether in an incubator or under a broody. Many people on here have killed their chicks by thinking the "hatch day" was fixed in stone. It's not, patience can save chicks' or ducklings' lives.

I don't hatch ducks, just chickens and occasionally turkeys. Some of my hatches are totally over within 24 hours of the first chick hatching. Those are nice. I've had some that stretched over 48 hours from when the first egg hatched until the last. These are the ones that really drive you wild. In one specific hatch I had one egg hatch a couple of days early in the evening. It was the following evening before I even saw a pip just before I went to bed. When I woke up another 16 had hatched, the hatch was over. I'll admit, that was kind of nerve wracking.

I'm not a hands on hatcher. Unless I have a reason I don't open the incubator during lockdown. If I have a reason I'll take the risk and open the incubator but impatience is not a reason for me. An example where I have opened it was when an egg that had not hatched got cupped in a half egg from a chick that had hatched so it would have trouble pipping and zipping. Before you freak out and panic that almost never happens but I would consider that an emergency. In general, I find the less I interfere with a broody hen or in an incubator the less harm I do. I know I'm being snarky but I find that hands on hatchers are often the best experts on dealing with eggs that are having trouble hatching.

I don't know of any good way to see how the hatchling is doing before it external pips unless you do candle it. Before a chick hatches it has to do certain things. It has to position itself, dry up blood vessels external to it and absorb the blood, absorb the yolk, internal pip, and do some other things. Some eggs start parts of this before internal pip, these are the nice ones that hatch fairly quickly after external pip. Some do most if these things between external pip and zip, these can really worry you. If you try to help a chick before it is ready to hatch you can kill it. Maybe it hasn't absorbed the yolk. If it hasn't dried up the blood vessels it can bleed to death. I find it hard to know when a chick really needs help.

I also find it challenging to know when the hatch is really over. A chick can live for over 72 hours after hatch because it absorbed the yolk, that's why they can be mailed. I'm not in a huge hurry to take the chicks out of the incubator. While some hatches really drag out a few at a time I can generally tell when they are done, but I've been through a few. Some people argue that it's best to get the chick out as soon as it dries off. It might be best for that individual chick but I consider it best to not shrink wrap a chick. We all have our opinions on what "best" means. I have shrink wrapped a chick when I opened the incubator so I believe it can happen.

I hesitate to mention this because some people just can't wait and try this even before hatch day. But to make you feel better after you think the hatch is over you can do one last test, called a float test. If you put an egg that has not pipped in a calm bowl of water it should float. If the egg wiggles you know there is a live chick in it so put it back in the incubator. If it doesn't wiggle that egg will not hatch. Or you can candle. I consider this float test a last ditch emergency as you are throwing the eggs away. As long as the egg has not pipped you won't hurt a chick by floating it in water a short time. This late in the hatch you won't wash the bloom off of the egg to let bacteria inside the egg.

 

[JessicaB721]

I candle the eggs before I put them in lock down, air bubble up. If you have to open the incubator, spray some water so they dont shrink wrap... but I wouldn't recommend it. They hatch just fine.

I pretty much checked everyday for the last week up until the lockdown period! I guess I'm just anxious!!

 

[JessicaB721]

if the chick external pips the right end, you should give them 24 hours to zip.
if they pip the wrong end (small end)they may take up to 48hours.
The zip should be pretty quick, 15mins-1 hour in my experience. If they have trouble zipping, that's when you should step in.

Most likely they won't need your help.

After they pip externally, which usually shows up as a vague crack in the shell and not a hole, they will be verrrrrry quiet while they focus on absorbing the rest of the yolk. If you can see their beak, this yolk absorption process will be apparent in a yawning/chewing motion. When the chick is ready to zip, there will be visible movement, and if the chick is having trouble you will witness bursts of energy and chirping as it struggles to zip. This will be the optimum time to help the chick.

You can check on the egg and candle if you don't see an external pip. you can make a safety hole if the chick has internally pipped and is alive.

I highly recommend reading the assisted hatching thread a few times over, it has definitely helped me tremendously.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching.64660/

your anxiety is completely understandable, I was too with my first hatch

That is extremely awesome information! Thank you so much for taking the time to explain all of that!
And now I'm really curious about another egg that I saw a little hairline crack, or two, in this morning! My mama duck is sitting on 3 eggs at the moment and I've noticed movement in all of those! Well, sadly, I noticed this morning that one of the eggs were broken and smashed with a tiny, little feathered, curled up baby still attached in its sac. But! Her other two eggs that she is sitting on still have movement and it seems like they are quite the busy bodies in their eggs! I'm not sure when those eggs should be starting to hatch since I wasn't even sure they would end up full term, or whatever the word is you use for eggs! So I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the last 2 eggs she is sitting on will actually hatch! Especially since with what you mentioned about little cracks in the shell when they are close to hatching. ♥

 

[JessicaB721]

What breed are your ducks? Most breeds take 28 days but at least one (Muscovy) takes 35 days. Hopefully yours are not cross breeds.

An easy way to check your counting whether you have the 21 days for chickens or 28 or 35 days for ducks is that the day of the week you set them is the day of the week the 21, 28, or 35 days are up. If they were set on a Friday then "hatch day" is a Friday. But that "hatch day" is just a target. For many different reasons it is not unusual for eggs to hatch a couple of days early or late whether in an incubator or under a broody. Many people on here have killed their chicks by thinking the "hatch day" was fixed in stone. It's not, patience can save chicks' or ducklings' lives.

I don't hatch ducks, just chickens and occasionally turkeys. Some of my hatches are totally over within 24 hours of the first chick hatching. Those are nice. I've had some that stretched over 48 hours from when the first egg hatched until the last. These are the ones that really drive you wild. In one specific hatch I had one egg hatch a couple of days early in the evening. It was the following evening before I even saw a pip just before I went to bed. When I woke up another 16 had hatched, the hatch was over. I'll admit, that was kind of nerve wracking.

I'm not a hands on hatcher. Unless I have a reason I don't open the incubator during lockdown. If I have a reason I'll take the risk and open the incubator but impatience is not a reason for me. An example where I have opened it was when an egg that had not hatched got cupped in a half egg from a chick that had hatched so it would have trouble pipping and zipping. Before you freak out and panic that almost never happens but I would consider that an emergency. In general, I find the less I interfere with a broody hen or in an incubator the less harm I do. I know I'm being snarky but I find that hands on hatchers are often the best experts on dealing with eggs that are having trouble hatching.

I don't know of any good way to see how the hatchling is doing before it external pips unless you do candle it. Before a chick hatches it has to do certain things. It has to position itself, dry up blood vessels external to it and absorb the blood, absorb the yolk, internal pip, and do some other things. Some eggs start parts of this before internal pip, these are the nice ones that hatch fairly quickly after external pip. Some do most if these things between external pip and zip, these can really worry you. If you try to help a chick before it is ready to hatch you can kill it. Maybe it hasn't absorbed the yolk. If it hasn't dried up the blood vessels it can bleed to death. I find it hard to know when a chick really needs help.

I also find it challenging to know when the hatch is really over. A chick can live for over 72 hours after hatch because it absorbed the yolk, that's why they can be mailed. I'm not in a huge hurry to take the chicks out of the incubator. While some hatches really drag out a few at a time I can generally tell when they are done, but I've been through a few. Some people argue that it's best to get the chick out as soon as it dries off. It might be best for that individual chick but I consider it best to not shrink wrap a chick. We all have our opinions on what "best" means. I have shrink wrapped a chick when I opened the incubator so I believe it can happen.

I hesitate to mention this because some people just can't wait and try this even before hatch day. But to make you feel better after you think the hatch is over you can do one last test, called a float test. If you put an egg that has not pipped in a calm bowl of water it should float. If the egg wiggles you know there is a live chick in it so put it back in the incubator. If it doesn't wiggle that egg will not hatch. Or you can candle. I consider this float test a last ditch emergency as you are throwing the eggs away. As long as the egg has not pipped you won't hurt a chick by floating it in water a short time. This late in the hatch you won't wash the bloom off of the egg to let bacteria inside the egg.

That was extremely detailed and I appreciate that so much! And yes, I'm anxious and I'm worried and freaking out and check it constantly during the day and before I go to work, the second I get home from work, etc. But I'm also not going to do anything to harm the little baby! I just wasn't sure if I should see some movement going on in the egg that is in lockdown or what. It's literally been in the same position for 3 days now. So I was just a little worried. But after reading what you said and a few other people, I'm definitely feeling better. But I'm also anxious and excited because my mama duck is actually sitting on some of her eggs, and there were three of them that had movement going on whenever I candled them the last couple of weeks, and then again this morning. Well, sadly, one of them was smashed and I could see the curled up little baby duck, with its feathers, still inside the sac. So it was really sad to see that. But I did candle the other two and saw quite a bit of movement going on! So I'm really hoping that she will be able to hatch the last two eggs naturally, while I hatched this one in the incubator. Oh, and as far as what kind of ducks, they are Mallards. I actually do have a Muscovy, but she's a mean little thing and doesn't have a mate. So I know any eggs she lays will never be fertile. My male Mallard pretty much 6 sticks to my female Mallard , especially since the Muscovy is so mean and picks on both of them!

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

Update?

 

[JessicaB721]

Update?

Well, at the moment, it doesn't seem like there's any change. I'm at day 0 on my incubator. But I'm having trouble finding online what the proper temperature I should have it at right now and humidity is. I'm finding a lot of different settings. Do you have a suggestion for me as to what I should set my temperature at? It's at 99.5 at the moment, and right now my humidity is at 71.

 

[JessicaB721]

That is extremely awesome information! Thank you so much for taking the time to explain all of that!
And now I'm really curious about another egg that I saw a little hairline crack, or two, in this morning! My mama duck is sitting on 3 eggs at the moment and I've noticed movement in all of those! Well, sadly, I noticed this morning that one of the eggs were broken and smashed with a tiny, little feathered, curled up baby still attached in its sac. But! Her other two eggs that she is sitting on still have movement and it seems like they are quite the busy bodies in their eggs! I'm not sure when those eggs should be starting to hatch since I wasn't even sure they would end up full term, or whatever the word is you use for eggs! So I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the last 2 eggs she is sitting on will actually hatch! Especially since with what you mentioned about little cracks in the shell when they are close to hatching. ♥

So this is off topic (kind of) from my incubator egg, and about the last egg left that my momma duck was sitting on! I just got home from work and went downstairs to check on her and her eggs, to see that another one of her three eggs has been smashed open with the baby, obviously dead, still in the sac. I know this is a graphic picture, but I'm just curious if this could possibly be my female duck doing this to her own eggs, or could it be the male duck that I have in the pen with her? Should I separate them and put the last egg back under her? At the moment, I took the egg away so it does not end up getting smashed. But I cannot tell how far along it is compared to the one in my incubator, so I do not want to stick it in the incubator with the one that should be hatching soon. So now I'm just really upset and I don't want to take a chance of the last egg she has being smashed to pieces or not surviving because it is not staying warm enough. Do you have any suggestions for me? I'm so upset about this, even more so knowing that these baby ducks were so close to being beautiful little living creatures soon!

 

[JessicaB721]

So this is off topic (kind of) from my incubator egg, and about the last egg left that my momma duck was sitting on! I just got home from work and went downstairs to check on her and her eggs, to see that another one of her three eggs has been smashed open with the baby, obviously dead, still in the sac. I know this is a graphic picture, but I'm just curious if this could possibly be my female duck doing this to her own eggs, or could it be the male duck that I have in the pen with her? Should I separate them and put the last egg back under her? At the moment, I took the egg away so it does not end up getting smashed. But I cannot tell how far along it is compared to the one in my incubator, so I do not want to stick it in the incubator with the one that should be hatching soon. So now I'm just really upset and I don't want to take a chance of the last egg she has being smashed to pieces or not surviving because it is not staying warm enough. Do you have any suggestions for me? I'm so upset about this, even more so knowing that these baby ducks were so close to being beautiful little living creatures soon!

Also, just to note, my Muscovy is also nesting and sitting on some eggs that she laid. But they are not going to hatch, at all, because they were never fertilized. I would put the egg under her, but I'm afraid that she might end up smashing it since is it not one of her own. So I'm just really worried on what to do with this littlw guy/girl! I just looked up different ways to incubate an egg without an incubator or mother, and one was saying to put the egg in a shoebox, wrap a towel around it and put a desk lamp above it with a 40 watt light bulb in it for 12 to 16 hours a day. Do you think that would possibly work? And then do I keep it off for the other eight hours or so?

 

[yakitori]

Oh, you have ducks. Ducks take even longer to zip from pip