Duck egg lockdown and hatching help!!

[CharlieH]

Ok, so this is my first time hatching ducks in the incubator but have done chickens a few times with success so I know the incubator works.
I am waiting for one egg to hatch, I had two babies die on, or around due date before making any attempt to pip.
Now this little guy is on day 31!! He was slower than the others to develop but finally looks big enough. I know I should be on lockdown but I'm candling once a day just to check for movement, there is still loads.
I have the humidity at 80% temp at 37.3. It's a khaki cambell egg.
Any advice is so greatly appreciated!! I'm starting to lose hope as it's so late now. Thanks in advance

 

[Tlmcq]

The slightly lower temp will make it hatch late. Is this a still air incubator or does it have a fan? Your humidity is a bit high, but if you're opening the incubator you will get flucuations which can be very bad, especially if it does pip. Membrane can dry out very quickly with humidity drop. Also they can drown if humidity is too high as air sac will be full of moisture. I would keep it closer to 65% humidity and not open bator til hatch.

 

[CharlieH]

Thank you for getting back to me.
I was trying to keep the humidity higher so the membrane didn't dry, does it not work like that? And should I increase the temp or is it too late.
The incubator has a fan and I have two thermometers in there one near the top and one at the bottom, they both read within 0.2°
How long would you leave it before checking for life or problems again?

 

[Nyla]

First Off Welcome to BYC!!

What breed of duck are you incubating?

Now this little guy is on day 31!!

Mallard derived ducks only take 28 days to hatch. Thus lock down would be day 25. If your incubating Muscovy eggs, it will take 35 days of incubation and lock down on day 32. The best temp to go for would be 99.5 F and humidity around 55-60% then lock down goes to 65-70%.

I highly suggest candling the egg to see if there is any movement.

 

[CharlieH]

Khaki Campbell, so it's really late now!! On day 26 I stopped turning and increased the humidity, but had been candling once a day just to quickly check.
I have just lowered the humidity, to 80, but will obviously take time to get lower, I'll aim for more like 70.

 

[Nyla]

Candling once a day is way too much. You should try to candle as little as possible. I like to candle on days 7 , 20, and right before lock down.
When you candle, do you see any movement or you can put the egg to your ear and listen for peeps.

 

[CharlieH]

Only been candling often for the last 3-4 days to make sure it's still ok. Lots of movement, no chirping it tapping, no noticeable internal pip.

 

[Nyla]

Whats your temp at? Also is the duckling in the proper place in the egg? (Big end not pointy end)


Also where did you get these eggs from?

 

[CharlieH]

Temp is 37.3 c, yep he is at the big end.

 

[Nyla]

That temp would be 99.14 F. I recommend bumping the temp to 99.5 F -100 F