Cold Eggs - Duck taken.

[LauMin]

My duck had been sitting for over three weeks. I checked on her and the eggs last night, fine. This morning I went to see her and she’s gone and her eggs were cold.

I’ve collected her 8 eggs and immediately put them into an incubator.

Worst case 12 hours without her on them but might be less (14 degrees C at night here). Do they have any hope?

Really looking for any advice. Should I candle tonight or just leave alone?
I’m not sure on exact dates so should I go into lockdown temp and humidity?

Thank you

 

[SilverBirds]

Do you have an incubator? Candle them to see if they are alive still. If she's been sitting for three weeks, hatch date should be close. What breed is she?

 

[LauMin]

Thank you for replying.
Yes. Have an incubator. I’ve only incubated twice before - a year or so ago.
She was a runner duck.

So candle to check air sac? I remember candling just before lockdown and finding it impossible to see anything other than an air sac. But I am complete novice.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

12 hours won't kill the eggs, but will delay the incubation timeline by 12 hours + the time it takes to bring eggs up to temperature. Keep the temperature at 99.5 since the eggs have been cold for a bit. For humidity I don't let it go over 50% for lockdown. You would be safe keeping the humidity 40-50% if it is close to lockdown time, but I wouldn't go too high with it..

 

[SilverBirds]

Thank you for replying.
Yes. Have an incubator. I’ve only incubated twice before - a year or so ago.
She was a runner duck.

So candle to check air sac? I remember candling just before lockdown and finding it impossible to see anything other than an air sac. But I am complete novice.

You're looking for how full the egg is, if you can see veining, movement, and checking the air sac. You'll also get a good idea of how far along they are. If you could post pictures when you candle, that'd be great.

 

[LauMin]

I’m amazed! I figured the cold would have been too much. Ok, so now pressure is on not to mess this up!!!
When she was sitting on her nest I remember thinking how good it was going to be to have ducklings without the panic of having to incubate!
Thank you so much, I will candle tonight and post some photos.

Really appreciate your help

 

[LauMin]

Ok.. these are fairly useless. Sorry. I need another pair of hands and a proper egg torch.

7/8 have got veins. Some more obvious. I couldn’t see movement but I was trying to go fairly fast. Air sacs vary a lot but I couldn’t see any internal pips.

Egg 7 looked totally different, undeveloped. I’ve removed it. I’ve attached a photo.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Ok.. these are fairly useless. Sorry. I need another pair of hands and a proper egg torch.

7/8 have got veins. Some more obvious. I couldn’t see movement but I was trying to go fairly fast. Air sacs vary a lot but I couldn’t see any internal pips.

Egg 7 looked totally different, undeveloped. I’ve removed it. I’ve attached a photo.

I agree 7 was dead. The rest look good and I would say probably about a week left to go.

 

[LauMin]

Ok. Thank you so much. Really appreciate.

I keep looking through the side of the incubator to try and see rocking. Please just rock eggs!!

 

[SilverBirds]

They are getting very close to hatch date. Keep an eye on the veining, air sac size, and be on the look out for internal pips.