Duck egg Day 29 and still no internal pipping

[KingNoodle]

Hi everyone,
Twenty nine days ago i found a duck egg next to my pool and decided to try and incubate it. Unfortunately I don't have an incubator and had to improvise. At first i was unable to get materials to make a homemade incubator so for around 2-3 days it was in a sock inside a box in my snakes enclosure under the heat. The temperature was about 33c (91.4f) but i had some significant drops to about 25c (77f) but they were only for about 10 min before they got back up. After this i made a an incubator in a cardboard box will a halogen bulb. With this I was able to get temperature to hover between 36c (96.8f) and 38c (100.4f). I did have a hiccup about day 21 where we had a power cut for a few hours and we had to keep it warm by the fire but apart from that its been pretty good. Humidity was kept at around 45% from about day 5 and now at day 29 it is about 60% and had been since day 26. Development has looked fine and by day 25 the duck took up almost all the space in the egg, however, the air sac was a little small.
On day 28 around 11 am the egg started to shake every 30ish mins, i know this is a good thing however it is now the morning on the 29th day and I can't see that it has internally pipped. It is still shaking about every 35min at the moment. I have been using a torch (without moving it) to try and see shadowy movements and in the last day the air sac has quickly grown to what would be a good size.
Do you think that it may just be late because of its odd start or should i be worried?
Is their anything i can do to make it easier, i know i shouldn't be trying to help it out, but is there anything to make it so it can get out eaiser?
Also, is this amount of growth in the air sac normal or may it be a sign of shrink wrapping or it being about to break the membrane?
As you can tell this is my first time hatching an egg and would really appreciate advice from others.
Thanks

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Varied temperature will cause delayed development. As for the air cell typically it won't get huge until right before you get an external pip. I would definitely give it more time and stop candling at this point.

 

[KingNoodle]

Varied temperature will cause delayed development. As for the air cell typically it won't get huge until right before you get an external pip. I would definitely give it more time and stop candling at this point.

Okay, thank you for your help. Hopefully that is the case

 

[KingNoodle]

Hello,
Just a query, is there any way to tell is the duckling has become shrink wrapped or the membrane has become sticky?
Also, is the only way to know if it has internally pipped to hear it? I have not candled it since yesterday but was not sure how else to tell.
Any help is greatly appreciated

 

[Yardmom]

To tell if it is internally pipped candle to see a shadow in the air cell. You may even see breath movements. The shrink wrap issues would be after it externally pips. Good luck.

 

[KingNoodle]

To tell if it is internally pipped candle to see a shadow in the air cell. You may even see breath movements. The shrink wrap issues would be after it externally pips. Good luck.

I just did this and can see a shadow in the air sac. I didn't see movement, but it did make a little peep! I am very happy now i know its made it into the air sac. Thanks for the help

 

[Kabindramagar]

I just did this and can see a shadow in the air sac. I didn't see movement, but it did make a little peep! I am very happy now i know its made it into the air sac. Thanks for the help

Hello
Did yours hatch??
Im at end of day 28, no internal pip yet
But alive when checked

 

[KingNoodle]

Hello
Did yours hatch??
Im at end of day 28, no internal pip yet
But alive when checked

I'm so sorry for the late reply and i realise this is most likely useless now but yes they did. They hatched on day 32 so very late but they hatched well in the end. Unfortunately, they passed away a few days later.
I hope everything went okay for you in the end

 

[Kabindramagar]

I'm so sorry for the late reply and i realise this is most likely useless now but yes they did. They hatched on day 32 so very late but they hatched well in the end. Unfortunately, they passed away a few days later.
I hope everything went okay for you in the end

Thanks for your reply.
Mine didn't hatch
I waited till day 35. There were movements in the egg
Cracked it open on day 36 & were all dead. They hadn't absorbed their yolk sack even at day 35 when they were supposed to hatch at day 28 not sure what went wrong.

Have kept another 7 eggs yesterday in incubator and hope all goes well this time

 

[BelovedBirds]

Thanks for your reply.
Mine didn't hatch
I waited till day 35. There were movements in the egg
Cracked it open on day 36 & were all dead. They hadn't absorbed their yolk sack even at day 35 when they were supposed to hatch at day 28 not sure what went wrong.

Have kept another 7 eggs yesterday in incubator and hope all goes well this time

What is the temperature and humidity? Do you have a calibrated thermometer or reliable thermometer? Incubators are often inaccruate with temp readings.