Duck egg pipped, not due until Friday!! What to do??

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Okay, today is lockdown for my 12 Magpie eggs. I went to check on them and one was already pipped! I haven't even gotten them switched over to the hatcher yet!! I will be putting them into lockdown in my 1588 Genesis Hova-Bator, do I just fill both of the trays up with water? I remember last time I hatched out ducks that I put 4 jars of water in there to help with the humidity. I do not have anything to measure humidity with so I do not know what it's at. Can anyone give me any advice?? Thanks sooooo much!!

~ Aspen

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Without being ale to read humidity you are flying blind. Do the best you can to raise the humidity and put them in lockdown. I would suggest visiting home depot for hydrometer though, calibrating it, and then using it to know what the humidity really is.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

We live two hours from any town. We are out in the boonies.

~ Aspen

 

[GoingQuackers]

You definitely need something to check the humidity with. I used a cheap one from a local hardware/farm store during my March hatch & it worked great. Also remember that a container of water with more surface area will keep your humidity up better than a jar of water. Jars don't tend to have much surface area at the opening. Think Rubbermaid container lids or something like that. My last hatch pipped early too. I sorta freaked because I wasn't ready, but it went well. I have 9 little mallards running around that are now 5 weeks old!

Good luck with your hatch...may your nerves not get too frazzled!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Humm, just the only problem I see with that is they will jump into the water, being ducks. : / Maybe if I cover them wire wire of something? Could I put sponges or something in a bowl of water to get the humidity up?

~ Aspen

 

[wyoangel]

SPONGE! It's what I have to do with my hermit crabs so they don't drown! Just make sure it is a fresh one....not one from your sink!

 

[GoingQuackers]

Definitely cover with wire. My 'bator has an area with a tiny built-in reservoir that is covered by wire mesh. Instead of using the reservoir, I used the Rubbermaid lid and since it was under the wire mesh, the babies couldn't get into it post-hatch. Sometimes ducklings are quite rambunctious post-hatch when they're still dragging around half of their shell stuck to their butts!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

The bottom of my incubator is covered with wire, but I didn't think the two troughs of water in the plastic container in the bottom would be enough, since ducks are supposed to have a higher humidity.



~ Aspen

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Will a casserole pan work, or is that too big??

~ Aspen

 

[GoingQuackers]

I am pretty dumb about incubator models, so I looked yours up online. The pics I saw had a humidity readout on the little display thingy...does yours have that? If the casserole dish fits safely under the mesh, I say why not. I had to work very hard to stabilize the humidity in my glorified styrofoam cooler and still had shrink-wrap issues close to the end of the hatch. I've also read that you'll know the humidity is good when the window gets "sweaty."