Duck air cell too small!! Help Please!!

[ChickenPerson]

Okay I have stopped adding water to the incubator. On day 16 I candled and saw no growth. When would I see growth in the air sac?

 

[Pyxis]

What is the humidity percentage now in the incubator? We can't really help you without knowing this.

It's pretty important to figure this out because if they don't lose enough moisture, they will die before they hatch.

 

[2 many chickens]

Well the growth wouldn't happen that fast.
What is your humidity? You can't just not add water without knowing your humidity.. go pick up a hydrometer... you can get one at pets mart or pet Co in the reptile section.​

 

[ChickenPerson]

Would the no humidity affect the membrane in any way?

 

[Pyxis]

Would the no humidity affect the membrane in any way?

I'm not sure what you mean. Were you able to get a hygrometer so you can know what the humidity actually is?

 

[2 many chickens]

Would the no humidity affect the membrane in any way?

You can't have no humidty.. you need humidity.. you just need the correct humidity. As pyxis and I said, you need to go get a hydrometer.. your duck eggs are liable to not hatch at all if you don't start listening..

 

[PaulX]

At 20 days my duck eggs had the air cell size of 10 days eggs.
Panicked, in addition to going dry (adding absolutely no water), I also added silica gel to the incubator.

Now I'm at day 26, and 18 out of 24 have decent air cell size, just a tad smaller than the recommended 24-26 days size. I believe they should make it.

The outside air humidity these past 6 days has been around 55%, with temperature at 35 C 95 F during the day. When this air was heated in the incubator with the silica gel I obtained around 45% humidity.

For the 6 that still have worryingly small air cells I just made 1-2 small semi-holes on each. By semi-holes I mean I chipped away a bit of the shell, but not totally through that it'd make visible holes you can see through. I do this hoping it'd aid moisture loss, as these eggs haven't internally pipped yet.

For the ones that have internally pipped but still have a tad small air cell, I also made 1 tiny safety hole in each to ensure they have enough air to breath. I wouldn't make any more since that would risk the internal membrane drying and shrink-wrapping the ducklings.

Since going on lockdown I added as much water as my water tray would allow, and my incubator hygrometer now reads 70%

I told you both my outside air temperature and humidity because these can be known by opening google weather, and it can gives you clues as to what your incubator humidity might be if you have no hygrometer. When the air is heated, its capacity to hold water increases, thus giving you lower humidity than the initial air. Now since my outside temperature is very warm, it doesn't have to be heated much to bring it to incubator temperature, so I can assume that my incubator humidity will be just a bit lower than outside air humidity, assuming no water and no silica gel. For you, if you're in a 'proper' winter, you'd have a much harder time than me guessing your incubator humidity, but I believe you can find resources online that tell you your new humidity given the 3 parameters I just described.

That said, humidity isn't the only factor in egg moisture loss. How porous and how thick the egg shells are, how large the eggs are, and the air speed in you incubator all influences the moisture loss.

So, in your case, you obviously know you need lower humidity than before, so you obviously need less water. If you have been putting in A LOT OF water you might now decide to put in only just a little water. If you haven't been putting in much water, you might have better chance going completely dry now, then candle again in a few days to see how your air cells develop, then adjust again from there. You might need to add some form of desiccant like my silica gel as a desperate measure.

At lockdown, it's very difficult to have too much humidity, so you might as well fill all the water trays then and hope for the best.

Those are all I can advise you if you insist on going without hygrometer. It is doable without one, but for peace of mind, it helps to have one.

Good luck.

 

[ChickenPerson]

Thanks for all the help! Humidity is around 50%. Good or bad.I can't really explain why I added water. One air cell grew to almost the right size. Others not. Also i'm kinda mixed. The two pictures are what are mixing me up. Some videos show i'm good. The candling shows i'm fine. I'm on day 19. The air cell one shows i'm not fine. Which one is more accurate? Should I go dry again? Please help?!?!

 

[ChickenPerson]

Also at night its been chilly in the room. This weekend its supposed to snow. Anything I need to do? I'm incubating in winter because the only male died. So we wanted to carry on his genes.

 

[PaulX]

Humidity is around 50%. Good or bad.

50% at what temperature? I'm asking because, you see, 50% at 50 F for example would yield less than 10% humidity when warmed to 100 F according to this following chart.

The two pictures are what are mixing me up. Some videos show i'm good. The candling shows i'm fine. I'm on day 19. The air cell one shows i'm not fine. Which one is more accurate?

You should refer to the 'air cell' figure if you're checking for air cell. The candling one is for comparing the embryonic development only.

I think I should also point out to you that most air cell size guide figures I find on google images recommend bigger air cells than the one you quoted.