Duck egg suffocating!? Please, help!

[ChandlerDoe]

So, I recently got a duck egg, purely because I want a duck as a pet to love, and care for. I work from home so I have all the time in the world, have done TONS of research and think it would make a good companion. I made an incubator for my egg, its temp has stayed between 99-100 and the humidity 60-70%, no drafts, and I'm on my 26th day. I stopped turning yesterday and on the 24th day I candled him one last time and saw him moving. Well, I'm starting to get worried because I haven't heard any pipping and when I candled him on the 24th day, to me the air sack does not look NEARLY as big as it should be. I went as far as to download an mp3 of ducklings chirping to my phone to play next to the egg in the incubator to promote him chirping, but no dice. I'm prepared to with the UTMOST delicacy, chip a hole in the shell in his air sack so he doesn't suffocate, but I also don't want to kill him.. Please help, I've come too far to lose him now, I already love the little guy... Thank you! A picture of his candling on 24th day: http://imgur.com/CWqOkXy

 

[animartco]

Ducks hatch in 28 days, although if they are incubated colder it can take much longer. An old saw is,'when you think your ducks are about to hatch, go off on holiday.'

 

[casportpony]

If it's a Muscovy egg it will take ~35 days to hatch. This is a Muscovy egg picture:




-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Here is another picture of regular duck eggs:


-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

And one more:



-Kathy

 

[BellChell123]

I don't think he's ready to hatch yet. As other people have mentioned, they take 28 days to hatch, maybe longer.

Just so you're prepared, here's a link in case you think you might need to help. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching Just be warned that the very first two pictures are chicks that came out of the egg too early and died. I didn't read that part and got freaked out. ;-)

 

[casportpony]

I also like these:

• https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/mushy-chick-disease-yolk-sack-infection-omphalitis
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/363717/eggtopsy-what-happened-to-my-egg-graphic-pictures
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/607855/what-went-wrong-warning-eggtopsy-pictures
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/799140/eggtopsy-graphic

-Kathy

 

[ChandlerDoe]

Thanks everyone, can someone look at the picture I linked and tell me what you think of the air cell?

 

[casportpony]

Can you take more pictures of it? Like four more... Divide into quarters and show pictures of each quarter.

-Kathy

 

[BellChell123]

The air cell looks just fine, but keep in mind I'm no expert. Will you be sure to tell us when he/she hatches?