Duck eggs not hatching??

[Keah]

Hi,

So my pekin is sitting on eggs and day 28 of incubation was yesterday and now its 9pm the next day??. Am I being paranoid because I have never hatched duck eggs before. The duck is still tending to her eggs and is a very good mummy. How long do they take to hatch. Do they hatch exactly on day 28 or can they hatch a couple of days later??

Any information is helpful, thanks!

 

[Amiga]

From anything I have seen here on the forum, 28 days is a ballpark figure. Might be a day or three less, a day or three more…so many variables with incubation, I have read here that some folks candle the eggs to get an idea of how far along they are.

Now, with a broody, candling could be difficult - but sometimes one can find an opportunity when the broody takes her rare potty break.

Before you do, please go over the sticky on hatching waterfowl, and other candling images so you'll know what you are looking at and looking for, so you can be quick with the candling. You may only want to grab one as a representative.

I am not recommending candling at this point, by the way . . . just tossing the idea out there.

 

[Keah]

Hi,

Thanks...I just checked the nest this morning and I don't even think the mummy is on the nest anymore. She is in a medium enclosure and fenced off from my other ducks and she was just sitting outside of her nest but not on it?!?! I am alittle worried...do you think she is giving the babies space to hatch. I am worried they have died in their eggs. I will look up and candle what it looks like if they have died in the egg. Really hope the babies are okay

 

[GiantPekin4]

If they die in the egg it has a red ring around the inside, or that's how it works with chicken eggs. (at least, early on.) Could one of the eggs have fallen out and she's sitting on it?

 

[Amiga]

Some ducks give up before the job is done, so candling and then getting any that are still viable into some sort of incubator is what I would aim to do.

 

[Keah]

Hi,

No no eggs outside of the nest...I have quickly candled them and they look like this


(This is not my egg, just one off the internet but that is what they look like)

 

[Amiga]

@carcar80 @Kevin565 are you around and available? I am not a hatcher. Perhaps @Lacrystol is nearby.

Is this the "dip down" mentioned in the sticky?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/491013/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed

 

[Lacrystol]

What day are you on? That doesn't look like a sticky egg.

 

[Amiga]

Oh, we use one word for two different things. When I mentioned sticky, there is a list of stickies at the top of the Duck Forum. That's the sticky I was writing about.

 

[Lacrystol]

If they die in the egg it has a red ring around the inside, or that's how it works with chicken eggs. (at least, early on.) Could one of the eggs have fallen out and she's sitting on it?

Works that way with ducks but not on day 28. Day 28 and day 21 for chickens you are not going to see a red ring.

The older the egg the less likely.