Can't figure out duck eggs...

[Chamelle]

Hello all you hatchers!

I'm still only an incubatorer. That's a new word I just made up. Like it?

I've got 21 Silver Appleyard eggs in my homemade 'bator. I'm on day 6 and have already candled twice. <sigh> I know, I know.

9 eggs have beautiful vein development and embryos I can see, right up against the shell. I can see their tiny hearts beating away.

3 eggs I think are goners. They look murky. Definitely not clear, like they did before I set them, but no veins, a wobbly yolk and just .... meh.

9 other eggs I just can't tell. I am just going to leave them to candle again on day 10, but I'm wondering if what I'm seeing is just a different development pattern than the 'good' eggs.

The ones I'm wondering about have what looks like a single healthy well defined vein that curves in to sight then disappears. I really don't know if that's a blood ring or if the embryos just are across the top of the yolk, and not up against the side. Any ideas?

I've looked at several sites that have some GREAT candling pics, and haven't seen anything that looks like mine.

Man, I wish I could get a movie of one of those little hearts beating.



Cham

 

[MissPrissy]

This early in development when you candle them you see a spiderweb look to the veins. If your light is bright enough you will even be able to see the veins are red, the yolk is yellowish dark and the floating whites and dark eye spot of the embryo.

The less you handle them the better off they tend to be. Close it up and wait a few days before candling again.

Good luck with them. I am excite about mine. I have never hatched duck eggs!

 

[championny]

You know, candling is a great way, but I wouldn't solely base that off whats a good or bad egg. I had an egg that I was tossing because it looked like nothing. When I opened it up, there was a chick inside (it died but developed). So I would be more cautious to be sure you don't toss a good egg!

At least until you get the hang of it!

 

[swiftfoot]

wow mp set me know i have only hatched chicken and quail eggs what is the difference

 

[MissPrissy]

Bigger eggs. Higher humidity. 28 - 35 days. Nerve wracking!!

But not as bad as the geese I hatched - or so I am told -

 

[Chamelle]

Oh, I'm not tossing anything yet! I'm way too inexperienced to judge well this early on. These babies will stay in the incubator until it is completely obvious.

I took a few pictures last night, I'm going to load them up and see if there if any of them actually turned out.

Nerve wracking? Geesh! I had no idea.

I keep thinking of the way dads used to have to hang out in the waiting room when mom was giving birth. Totally stressed, completely powerless, and only able to worry and pace.

I know when hatch day is getting close it will be so much worse.