Duck eggs, 14 days, pics & video: UPDATE DAY 25 video

[farmgirl2013]

Hi everyone! I fell into this poultry thing when someone left 6 cayuga ducks on our farm, unattended & uncared for. (3 females, 3 males) I've taken them over, and have been reading & reading. They're about a year & 3 months old, and it started with 2 females laying eggs in one nest. Then, all 3. I checked in under the "duck" area on here, and I tried to give them time to see if they would sit...but no luck after 30 eggs!

Sooo, I borrowed an incubator, and am on day 14 now. Incubator is a Farm Innovator with fan & egg turner. I've read it's just a version of an LG. 3 different thermometers & 2 hydrometers. Keeping it between 99 to 100.5F, and 40-55% humidity. I have not been misting...any solid advice on that is appreciated. (I've found mixed reviews.)

I didn't find out about weighing until well into it, so I'm going by egg sac size. Out of 30, 3 were infertile (opaque) at day 7. On day 11, I had another 2 dead. One had the ring of death & no movement. The other had a black dot, and no movement. Day 13, I found one more that did not have the veins growing into the bottom, and a black "blob" sitting at the top, not moving.

I'm at 24 eggs moving now!! Even 3 of these are from the ones I had in the fridge (upside down) & popped in (after getting to room temp) to "just see". I realize a lot can go wrong between now & day 28...but am thrilled we've come this far! I'll post some pics & video below. Egg sacs are larger than the marks on the eggs, about the size of a half dollar. Kinda checking in with everyone to see if we are as on track as we can be with my inexperience. I don't know what I'm seeing in the videos, any help is appreciated!

BTW, keeping an eye on everyone, and althought there are some "rapey" episodes...all 6 still seem to be doing well. No plucked feathers, limping, extended mating/fighting, etc. If some of these eggs are females...do people use them to reproduce with their "dads"??? How does that work exactly?

Anyway, here are some pics & video:

Day 11




Day 13 (the red dot is a marker)


Day 13, the one I culled as dead


Another view of that one


Video at day 11:

Video at day 13:

 

[ChucktheChick]

Hi everyone! I fell into this poultry thing when someone left 6 cayuga ducks on our farm, unattended & uncared for. (3 females, 3 males) I've taken them over, and have been reading & reading. They're about a year & 3 months old, and it started with 2 females laying eggs in one nest. Then, all 3. I checked in under the "duck" area on here, and I tried to give them time to see if they would sit...but no luck after 30 eggs! Sooo, I borrowed an incubator, and am on day 14 now. Incubator is a Farm Innovator with fan & egg turner. I've read it's just a version of an LG. 3 different thermometers & 2 hydrometers. Keeping it between 99 to 100.5F, and 40-55% humidity. I have not been misting...any solid advice on that is appreciated. (I've found mixed reviews.) I didn't find out about weighing until well into it, so I'm going by egg sac size. Out of 30, 3 were infertile (opaque) at day 7. On day 11, I had another 2 dead. One had the ring of death & no movement. The other had a black dot, and no movement. Day 13, I found one more that did not have the veins growing into the bottom, and a black "blob" sitting at the top, not moving. I'm at 24 eggs moving now!! Even 3 of these are from the ones I had in the fridge (upside down) & popped in (after getting to room temp) to "just see". I realize a lot can go wrong between now & day 28...but am thrilled we've come this far! I'll post some pics & video below. Egg sacs are larger than the marks on the eggs, about the size of a half dollar. Kinda checking in with everyone to see if we are as on track as we can be with my inexperience. I don't know what I'm seeing in the videos, any help is appreciated! BTW, keeping an eye on everyone, and althought there are some "rapey" episodes...all 6 still seem to be doing well. No plucked feathers, limping, extended mating/fighting, etc. If some of these eggs are females...do people use them to reproduce with their "dads"??? How does that work exactly? Anyway, here are some pics & video: Day 11 Day 13 (the red dot is a marker) Day 13, the one I culled as dead Another view of that one Video at day 11:

Video at day 13:

Great post!

 

[hillfloweranch]

I found that when you take them off the turner and get ready to hatch, make sure you increase the humidity to 70-80% . I added a little cup/dish of water and that seemed to work well. duck eggs require more humidity. I didn't do the "misting" thing either and not sure if that was good or bad. It was my first time incubating my pekin duck eggs and I found it difficult, but that is just my personal take on the process.

wish you the best of luck with your hatch...keep us posted on your progress.

 

[farmgirl2013]

Thanks Chuck & HillFlowerRanch! Any & all tips appreciated! Does the air sac size seem ok to you? What were the results of your hatch?

 

[farmgirl2013]

Just wanted to update eyeryone, here is a video of day 24 (last night), when I checked I was super surprised by the egg sac enlargment, chirping, and internal pipping as well as cracks in egg shell! We went into immediate lockdown after I filmed. I had 24 out of 30 with movement 2 nights ago. Tonight, I may have lost 6 out of those, as all the rest have larger air sacs & significant pipping. Fingers crossed I've locked down in time!