Duck eggs soon to hatch?

[Laurenfinn6]

So a little background on my situation... we live on a lake and a female Muscovy duck decided to lay eggs in the flower bed of our front yard. We noticed her 1st egg around January 10th. (This was clearly not when she started setting). Unfortunately an animal attacked momma duck in the night and we were heartbroken to find her the next morning. This happened February 16th. I now have 16 eggs in a homemade incubator. I’m assuming the ducks should be hatching within this week? I’m worried when I’m candling the duck eggs that they may be dead. There isn’t any movement in most of them. They don’t smell and seem bad. However a couple look like I can see the air sac outline on the shell? I will admit the humidity and temp hasn’t been perfect all of the time since having them. (I’ve had them since February 16. Can someone advise what I can do to ensure these eggs hatch?

 

[Jpat]

So, when you start seeing bills and movement inside the aircell thats your internal pip, they just broke through the inner membrane. They will internaly pip then can rest a good 8-12 hours

Next you will see them break a small air hole in the shell and thats your external pip and the first time they breath fresh air, they can rest another 8-12 hours

When they are ready they will start breaking the hole bigger and that is the "Zipping" they can zip a bit and rest, and you can expect another several hours before they are out

Once they are out they need several hours to dry and fluff up before they are ready for the brooder

In my opinion the first pip is the critical stage. if they dont pip in time they can suffocate, but it takes a substantial amount of time. So keep track of when your internal pip happens, keep us updated.

If your unsure if the duckling has internaly piped or not put your ear up to it and listen for peeps. I whistle at mine and they respond sometimes

And dont expect every egg to go through the stages at the same time

And helping a hatch makes weak ducklings, so if your worried post on here and someone should be on to help!
Me- @Jpat
or @Miss Lydia
or @DuckyDonna
or @WVduckchick
Or @casportpony
or @MGG
Someone should be around

Best of luck!

 

[WVduckchick]

So sorry you lost your hen, but great job rescuing the eggs. I’m on my phone, but most of the egg pics look pretty good, so I think you will have some babies soon!

You’ve received a lot of good help already, I’ll just add a couple things I haven’t seen mentioned. Muscovies take longer than mallard derives ducks. Muscovies take about 35 days to hatch. I didn’t calculate your days (sorry) so just keep that in mind.

Around 2-4 days before they hatch, the air cell will “draw down” as the duckling gets into final hatching position. That’s when you know it’s getting close. The air cell will change shape. Shortly after that, they should internally pip. So watch for the draw down, especially since you don’t know the exact incubation dates.
Here’s what it looks like, from one day to the next. See how the shape of the air cells changed. That’s the duckling scooting further into the fat end of the egg to pip into the air cell. Best of luck!!!

 

[Jpat]

So a little background on my situation... we live on a lake and a female Muscovy duck decided to lay eggs in the flower bed of our front yard. We noticed her 1st egg around January 10th. (This was clearly not when she started setting). Unfortunately an animal attacked momma duck in the night and we were heartbroken to find her the next morning. This happened February 16th. I now have 16 eggs in a homemade incubator. I’m assuming the ducks should be hatching within this week? I’m worried when I’m candling the duck eggs that they may be dead. There isn’t any movement in most of them. They don’t smell and seem bad. However a couple look like I can see the air sac outline on the shell? I will admit the humidity and temp hasn’t been perfect all of the time since having them. (I’ve had them since February 16. Can someone advise what I can do to ensure these eggs hatch?

How long was she sitting on them and when did you put them in the incubator?

Can you get a picture of a couple eggs while they are candled?
Muscovy take 35 days to hatch,
Have you hatched birds before?

i cant find a muscovy candling chart so imagine this one spread over 35 days instead of 28

 

[DuckyDonna]

So sorry about momma duck! Can you take a picture of the eggs while you're candling them?

 

[Laurenfinn6]

Any Pips?

No not yet not externally anyways.

 

[Laurenfinn6]

So sorry you lost your hen, but great job rescuing the eggs. I’m on my phone, but most of the egg pics look pretty good, so I think you will have some babies soon!

You’ve received a lot of good help already, I’ll just add a couple things I haven’t seen mentioned. Muscovies take longer than mallard derives ducks. Muscovies take about 35 days to hatch. I didn’t calculate your days (sorry) so just keep that in mind.

Around 2-4 days before they hatch, the air cell will “draw down” as the duckling gets into final hatching position. That’s when you know it’s getting close. The air cell will change shape. Shortly after that, they should internally pip. So watch for the draw down, especially since you don’t know the exact incubation dates.
Here’s what it looks like, from one day to the next. See how the shape of the air cells changed. That’s the duckling scooting further into the fat end of the egg to pip into the air cell. Best of luck!!!
View attachment 2031955View attachment 2031956

Great pictures!!! Much appreciated because now I know what to look for! I will candle tonight in hopes to see some progress. Thank you very much

 

[Laurenfinn6]

Just be patient, they'll get there. Once they externally pip they cold take several days to hatch, ducks are very slow. How is the incubator doing?

The incubator is awesome! Love not having to hover over my homemade one to adjust temperatures. Such a great recommendation thank you!

 

[MGG]

That's great!

 

[Laurenfinn6]

They should be fine. It could only be harmful if they pipped a big major vein and bled out/drowned in it. That would usually turn the whole egg tinted. Were they alive at last candling? The only other thing that could be is rotting, which is basically impossible since they would have had to have been dead from the first few days of incubation until now