Day 29 one duck hatched day 26--still see movement in eggs but no pipping!

[seberger22]

So I'm incubating duck eggs in my classroom, and one duck hatched on day 26 (Tuesday) in the evening. On Thursday morning (day 28), I removed the duckling from the incubator to the brooder and put in more water and some sponges as I did so to try to prevent to much drop in humidity.
Since I keep my incubator in my classroom and don't have access to it over the weekend, I was considering chucking the remaining eggs before I went home today because I didn't want to come back on Monday to a nasty smell or eggspolsion. But I quickly took three eggs out this morning (there are 7 left) to candle them to make sure I wasn't throwing out viable eggs. In two of the eggs I saw definite movement. I didn't see evidence of internal pips. I quickly put them back in the incubator and added some more water.
I tried to post on the incubating forum but no one responded about what I should do. Now I'm home for the weekend (with the lone duckling), and I'm not sure if I should've done something before leaving today. There is a slight chance I could get access to the building this weekend, but only for a short period of time. I'm wondering if the live ducks still in the eggs would need assistance hatching, but I'm not sure there is a way for me to do that given my limited access to the incubator.
Since no one responded before I left for the weekend, I just added warm water (the warmest I could get it from the tap, which was fairly warm) and spritzed the eggs with it too. Not sure if I should've done that, but I felt so helpless especially since the humidity tends to drop a bit over the weekend. The humidity the last few days has been around 80%
Does anyone have any suggestions? Is it possible the late eggs could still hatch? Why is it taking so long when one hatched a couple of days early?
I really hope the remaining ducks aren't shrinkwrapped

 

[Lil Drake40]

@WVduckchick

 

[seberger22]

I also forgot to ask in the first post...
What should I do if the duckling that hatched early is the only one that hatches? Will another flock accept it?

 

[WVduckchick]

Wow, tough situation, but I probably would have left them incubating also.

What breed are the ducks? Just wondering if mixed breeds, or a variety of breeds may explain the varied hatching days. Also could be the incubator, the position of the incubator in your classroom, the age of the eggs at set, several possibilities. So if any of those things vary, then your hatch days could easily vary.

I wouldn't normally recommend moving eggs about to hatch, but IF you could get back in the building, could you bring them home? I would have a few suggestions on how to do it, if it's a possibility.

 

[seberger22]

Wow, tough situation, but I probably would have left them incubating also.

What breed are the ducks? Just wondering if mixed breeds, or a variety of breeds may explain the varied hatching days. Also could be the incubator, the position of the incubator in your classroom, the age of the eggs at set, several possibilities. So if any of those things vary, then your hatch days could easily vary.

I wouldn't normally recommend moving eggs about to hatch, but IF you could get back in the building, could you bring them home? I would have a few suggestions on how to do it, if it's a possibility.

I had that thought too, although it would make me very nervous to transport them at this time! It is a possibility though...could you tell me your ideas and I'll see how feasible it is?
I'm not sure what the breed of the ducks are :/

 

[WVduckchick]

Depending on the length of the drive, and if it were me, I'd pack them in some foam, very carefully and securely. Keep them laying in their current position. And do it as gently as possible.

But before considering that, how did the air cells look when you left? You said no internal pips, but were the air cells drawn down? If not, it's quite possible that they could pip over the weekend, and not even hatch until late Sunday or even Monday.

 

[seberger22]

Depending on the length of the drive, and if it were me, I'd pack them in some foam, very carefully and securely. Keep them laying in their current position. And do it as gently as possible.

But before considering that, how did the air cells look when you left? You said no internal pips, but were the air cells drawn down? If not, it's quite possible that they could pip over the weekend, and not even hatch until late Sunday or even Monday.

It's a 15 minute drive.
By drawn down, do you mean one side is lower than the other? They have been like that since I candled them on day 25 before lockdown :/

 

[WVduckchick]

Not just the normal tilt, but when they get into position, the air cell shifts more.
Like this:

 

[seberger22]

Not just the normal tilt, but when they get into position, the air cell shifts more.
Like this:
View attachment 1413480

Hm...I'm not sure I really remember, but I don't really think they looked like that.

 

[Tannerpauldean]

I just hatched out 14 ducks myself. Duck #1 hatched on day 27 1/2, and it wasn't until day 29 that I got another one. All in all, I was still hatching ducks until day 31. If you see movement, or hear any noises coming from the incubator, I would suggest leaving it as-is. The first one out may have just been an early achiever.