Candling fertile eggs and how to tell if one isn't going to make it/didn't make it?

[JadeComputerGal]

I made a O on the one side and X on the other, no other marks. I thought blood rings were suppose to be full circle? This one has breaks in it like the first one did at early development, that's where I'm puzzled. I've had a harder time actually seeing into that egg than the other for some reason. I'm not sure if it's that I'm not candling it properly or not. I've had a hard time finding pictures online but the ones I found of blood rings didn't match

The term "blood ring" is really a little misleading since a blood ring doesn't always form a full circle. I'm very sorry, but that really does look like a blood ring to me. I'd keep it just a few more days to see how it looks. You do have one egg, though, that looks like something that's going to give you a sweet little duckie!!!

 

[WVduckchick]

When the time nears to hatch I read I'm suppose to turn the egg so the air sack is at the top, is that so? Do I turn it pointing straight up or just angled up?


Thanks for the pics wvduckchick. It's been amazing to watch the eggs grow and change. I'm hoping egg 1 isn't dead (I guess if it is it died pretty early then). If so, I don't really know what happened, other than maybe it laid around longer or something (or maybe even the dogs got it before I did, but there weren't any punctures or anything). They are both in the same incubator. I'm thinking about asking the neighbor if I can collect another fertile one. They literally don't do anything with them and the female duck doesn't sit on them at all. Just lays them wherever and leaves them (I'm guessing maybe it's because there's no nest and the dogs run the yard, or maybe because she's still young, not sure though, you'd think she'd want to).

Pics of the parent ducks (or possible parents) would help us determine what kind of duck, so we can better predict what day they might hatch. About 3 days prior to the expected hatch day, you should stop turning them, and leave them on the same side until they hatch. The air cell will start to dip to one side. That's the side that you want facing upward for those last days. You also will need to increase humidity at that point. What has your temp and humidity been running so far?

 

[WVduckchick]

Also meant to say that staggered hatches are not fun, unless you have another incubator, I'd either wait and see what happens with these before you get more eggs, or put them in another incubator, or have another hatcher ready when lockdown time comes. The humidity differences necessary to hatch the ducklings for the last 3 days would be hard on the ones that are behind.

 

[chickmomma03]

I can make another incubator so no problems there I took a couple (not the best) pictures of the parent ducks. I'm sure they're the parents, the white one is a male (you can't see in the pic, but he has a curled feather on his tail, and I definitely saw his boy parts after he um, mounted her in the pool the other day, her feathers are pretty much gone from the back of her neck from all that), the brown with black flecking is the female.

 

[chickmomma03]

Also, I read 99.5 and 55% humidity.

 

[WVduckchick]

Ok so I can't tell what they are for sure, but not muscovies and not calls, so you should be looking at 28 days total. 99.5 is fine, even up to 100.5 if you don't have a fan in there, but lower is safer than too high! 55% is usually a little high, so you need to watch your air cells and see if they are growing enough. If the eggs dont lose enough moisture, the ducklings will grow too big and not be able to turn in the shell to hatch. Next time you candle, try to get a pic showing the air cell. Alot of factors come in on the proper humidity, so watching the air cells early is the best thing. Then you can adjust to correct.

Good luck by the way! I hadn't said that yet!!

 

[chickmomma03]

Are you talking about the air sack/pocket at the bottom? It looks pretty good (not too small not too big) from what I can tell. She bought them at the flea market I think, I can't remember, I'll ask her tomorrow when I talk to her. They were tiny little babies when she bought them, and they were SO cute!

 

[WVduckchick]

Yes, the pocket of air on the fat end. They usually break into it before the break the shell. Sometimes they will break through all at once, but the air cell gives them air to breathe once they pierce the inner membrane, before they are ready to crack the shell open. Its the white area in the egg pic I posted above with the S written on it. I assume you laid the eggs on their side? If you ever incubate them standing up, the air cell should point up.

 

[chickmomma03]

Here's a couple pictures, not sure if they're "great" quality or not for seeing the air sack. I'm still learning candling.

 

[chickmomma03]

yea, the eggs are laying on their side right now. I have been rotating them an odd number of times a day. The x and o really do help me keep track!