Duck eggs! DAY 12!! I AM SO EXCITED!

[ducklover101202]

Hi! I have 3 duck eggs in a home-made still air incubator. Temp is staying between 100 and 102 and I am so excited. I do have some questions though:

1) I have 2 thermometers in the incubator. One is a digital one so it has batteries and the other one is not digital and no batteries. They were both saying the right temp but now there temps are not that far apart but not the same. The compass-like thermometer said 100 when the digital one said 101.2. I am SO CONFUSED! And I don't know which one to believe. Also I have 2 things for humidity. One is on the wall though and the other is on the digital one too and the digital thermometer/hydrometer is on the floor next to the eggs. the humidity says 63% and the one on the wall is always between 40 something % to 50 something%.

2) When I turned the eggs, the egg rolled a little. Can that kill or harm the embryo? It didn't roll across the incubator but it rolled just a little.

3) When I candled the duck eggs day 9 there were veins but I didn't see the embryo. There was no blood ring or any sign of a dead embryo though and the egg was red colored. Could the embryo have been under the yolk? Today day 12 I am gonna candle one of them again to see if there is any development.

Please answer these questions!!!!

 

[ducklover101202]

I HOPE THEY HATCH! Any tips to get them to survive the whole incubation?? It would be so cool if they hatched because I am gonna be able to keep them. Last year I did chicken eggs. TOTAL FAIL! So this year I did duck eggs in a better incubator but I don't want to fail again. Any tips?

 

[miniwhipkey]

I think you are doing a great job. The best you can. No, I don't think it hurts them if you roll them. Your humity may be a little high. But you might want to calabrate your hydrometer.

 

[duckyfromoz]

I sometimes have an go for a bit of a roll in the incubator... Unless they rolled fast and hit the side and crack- it wont harm them...

I hand turn all my ducks eggs- and spray them with a fine mist every three days during incubation.
By day 9 of incubation the embryo should be fairly clear- but it depends on where it is in the egg - the fact that you saw veins indicated the little ones are in there somewhere alive still.

It may be better to take the average between the two readings- 101.2 is a little high...

 

[ducklover101202]

Thanks! Also should i reduce the temp. a little for the last 3 days? I know about increasing the humidity but do I have to reduce the temp? I have heard you have to do that for duck eggs.

 

[duckyfromoz]

I usually lower the temp to 99 for the last three days. They are in an incubator with a fan for the first 25 days- then into the hatcher- ( still air ) to try and stop them drying out as they are hatching.