Duck egg help

[Seminolegirl]

Hi there, my name is Ashley. I am a veterinary nurse in Florida. On wedsday a duck egg was brought in my hospital because of a tragic situation with a duck. I wanted to give the only egg the best chance possibly. Apparently the female duck had a mate, and this egg was a product of them. I have been incubating the lone egg, keeping the humidity at s proper level. But today is day 4 since the egg was laid. Can anyone tell me what they think is going on with it? Is it too early to see veins? Or is the duck not alive? I don't see a specific blood ring, but the larger spot has grown a lot in the last day or so. Any advice is much appreciated!

 

[Pyxis]

Day 4 might be a little too early to see anything yet. Have you had it in the incubator for 4 days, or is that just the age of the egg? What temperature are you keeping the incubator at, and is it still air or forced air?

 

[Seminolegirl]

That's the age of the egg. And since I've had it it's been in the incubated. And it's still air.

 

[Pyxis]

So today would be the fifth day? What temperature are you keeping the incubator at?

 

[Seminolegirl]

So today would be the fifth day? What temperature are you keeping the incubator at?

The egg was laid last Wednesday, and the temp is about 96.

 

[Pyxis]

The egg was laid last Wednesday, and the temp is about 96.

96 is much too low, in a still air the temperature needs to be 101.5 degrees measured at the top of the egg. The date it was laid doesn't matter, what matters is what day you put it in the incubator. Did you put it into the incubator on Wednesday? What brand incubator are you using?

 

[Seminolegirl]

I think it must be an old home made incubator that one of my employees fgave me, there's a little thermometer inside but I don't know how accurate it is. Unfortunately, it was all very short notice and I took what I could get to help the egg so the egg didn't get left by itself with no parents

 

[Pyxis]

You really need to know the temperature if there's any chance of this egg hatching. If you don't know if the thermometer is accurate, then you need to calibrate it or run out and buy one that's accurate to check it against. A lot of medical human thermometers will say on them that they are accurate to within .2 or .5 degrees. Get one of those, then check the temperature of the incubator.

If you did put the egg in on Wednesday and it really has been at 96 degrees for five days now, then the egg is probably no longer any good. But you haven't said if you put the egg in on Wednesday or whether that was just the day the egg was laid, so I'm still not sure if it has been incubating for five days or not. I'm thinking you meant you did put it in the incubator on Wednesday since you said it's been in the incubator since you got it, which you said was on Wednesday? I really hope it develops for you, but things aren't looking good right now.

There is of course also the chance that the egg just wasn't fertile to begin with. Not all eggs are, even if the female had access to a male.

 

[Pyxis]

Another thing I forgot to ask, is this egg from a domestic duck, or from a wild mallard? If it was from a wild duck, then it is actually illegal for you to have that egg or be trying to hatch it, and if it does hatch it would be illegal for you to have the duckling.

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]