duck eggs just peeped this morning. need quick answer.

[monster1]

i came home from work this morning to find that the six pekin eggs are peeped. they are barely cracked and i haven't seen any sign of movement for eight hours. the humidity was only 30% so i immediately sprayed down the eggs with mist and sprayed the inside of the bator and got the humidity up to 70% rather quickly. i put a humidifier in the room and now its a constant 70%. question is did i, or can i drowned the babies by misting the eggs that heavily or are they now stuck inside their shells? god, i hate this part!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

30 is way too low. I hope you got it to 70 humidity in time. Ducks are alot different than chickens they require a lot more humidity throughout incubation. It really needs to be higher than 70 if they are pipped. I think it is supposed to be more like 85%.....duck people correct me if I am wrong.....

 

[monster1]

yeah it's a 70+ right now. i hope i did catch it in time. last duck hatch was 100% so i did something right last time. i'll just continue to spray through the vents.

 

[ancona91]

Hello!!!!
During "lockdown" the humidity should be about 75% or so. Don't give up yet!!!! Just correct the humidity and see what happens. Over the past 8+ years I've hatched and raised hundreds of ducklings. Watch how much you spray the eggs.....is IS possible to drown the ducklings!!!! Please keep us informed!!!!! Good luck!!!!!!!
A Fellow Duck Lover,
Kathy

 

[monster1]

thanks for the info. i think that i drowned my first hatch of guinea eggs that way. the humidity was too low because i kept looking(yeah, i know) and compensated by spraying the heck out of the eggs. of course they soaked it right up. the eggs that never peeped had air cells that were full of water. i just looked through the crack in my lid of the bator (without opening the lid!) and noticed one of the eggs is starting to zip. the humidity is at 75%. i'll just keep spraying through the vent to keep the humidity at that every hour or so. when i noticed the humidity at 30% and the condition of the eggs, the shells were just cracked. no open holes, so i don't think the inside of the eggs dried out. i remember that happened with the guineas. as soon as they peeped, they got stuck in their shells because of the low humidity. this is my fourth hatch and have learned alot. my last hatch was 100% so i have a tough act to follow with this one. fingers crossed.