Duck egg fertilization question

[Lionscop]

Whitey (19 week old white hybrid male) regularly mates with Nibbles (24 week old golden hybrid female) and Fluffy (19 week old white hybrid female). Both started laying recently. Just tried incubating two eggs laid very recently. Day 4 candling shows nothing aside from yoke. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

[Tlmcq]

If heat is to proper temp in incubator and you don't see a darker spot or vessels starting to form I would say they're not fertile. I usually wait til day 7to candle as eggs are very fragile during first 7 days. Ya really shouldn't be messing with em except to turn them til day 7. An infertile egg will be yellow(yolk) and pretty easy to see thru with no dark or red spot and no veins. Here is a pic

 

[mill-j]

I doubt they're fertile, However there's no harm in incubating several more days just to be sure.

I rarely candle eggs until day 12-14, but I am usually hatching hundreds at a time. It also makes a difference if they are white or brown, White eggs can be candled at any time while dark brown egg have to be incubated at least a week.

 

[lazy gardener]

You're likely not going to see anything at day 4. I suggest that you go to the learning center and read all of "hatching eggs 101". It's a long read, but IMO, should be required reading before any one is ever allowed to plug in an incubator. I've been hatching chicks every season for 4 years now, and every single season, I review that article! You can tell if an egg is fertile when you crack it open for your breakfast. Again, you need to know what you are looking for, and the difference between a fertile egg and an infertile one is very subtle.

Finally, your birds have just started laying. In order to ensure that your ducklings have the best possible start at life, I suggest that you wait a couple of months, until their eggs are larger before trying to hatch them. Are you in the northern hemisphere? If so, you're heading into winter. Do you really want to be brooding ducklings in the winter? If you're down south, it may be a non issue. However, if you're in snow country, such an undertaking would be brutal. While it can be done, there is no way that I would consider doing so here!!!

 

[mill-j]

Right, I wasn't really thinking. Ducks take 4 weeks instead of the 3 for chickens, so they develop a lot slower.