Duck incubation question

[FarmerGirl101]

I don’t have a picture right now. I may try to get some tomorrow if I have time.

okay

 

[DuckyBabies]

These are the eggs candled at day 8. I see no dark spots or veins but I have noticed a light spot on the fat end of some of the eggs. I’m not sure what it is, if anyone could explain I would appreciate it!

 

[WVduckchick]

Ah I’m sorry, none are fertile.

The light space on the fat end is the air cell. The chick will break into that space before it breaks the shell, to breathe it’s first breaths of air.

Also monitoring the air cell growth is a good way to gage your humidity during incubation. All bird eggs need to lose a certain amount of moisture for the bird to develop properly. Check out the red link in my signature line. It gives a little more detail.

 

[DuckyBabies]

Ah I’m sorry, none are fertile.

The light space on the fat end is the air cell. The chick will break into that space before it breaks the shell, to breathe it’s first breaths of air.

Also monitoring the air cell growth is a good way to gage your humidity during incubation. All bird eggs need to lose a certain amount of moisture for the bird to develop properly. Check out the red link in my signature line. It gives a little more detail.

Thank you for answering my question! Sadly, I had a feeling they wouldn’t be fertile. I watched my drake try to mate, and I think he has gotten nowhere. We have talked about either trying again in the spring or even getting eggs shipped.

 

[ANightPerson]

Have you read up on incubating duck eggs? Just for future reference:
-Duck eggs need a lot of ventilation compared to chicken eggs
-Duck eggs need to "breath" every day (Open up the incubator and just let them air out for about ten minutes. At room temperature, you don't want to freeze them.)
-Make sure you're turning them at least twice a day (this is an ABSOLUTE least)
-Talk to them! I always sing to my eggs and talk to them about my day in a very calm, low voice. I may sound batshit crazy, but they can hear you after a certain point, and it's just a way to comfort the eggs and to stimulate noise that a mother duck would make. I have no measured scientific evidence to back it up, but I believe it also helps their ears develop, and prevents stress-related embryonic issues. The ear bit has obvious reasoning, but I like to think that the low, gentle vibrations encourage their growth and help soothe them in times of stress. When I was hatching my now prized drake, Olga, he used to peep back at me through his shell whenever I spoke for about the last few days of incubation. In the week before, he'd always preposition himself toward me when I spoke (I could see him do it during candling.)
-When hatching, always sit the eggs touching each other in the hatcher. The movement of the others will help and encourage the remaining ones to hatch.
-Bacteria accumulates like crazy, especially with duck eggs. I always sterilize my incubator with a rubbing alcohol + water mix, wash the eggs with a special enzyme egg wash (it cleans them without stripping their bacteria-resistant coating,) and keep physical interactions to a minimum. When you candle, sterilize the flashlight, wash your hands, and try not to touch anything in between. However, if you've seen a broody hen, you've seen how nasty the nest is by the time that they hatch. Some people choose not to wash their supplies excessively, because the eggs are tough and it will limit the amount of natural bacterial exposure they'll be getting. I once had a hen that hatched every single one of her thirteen eggs in what was basically a nest BURIED in diarrhea. While both work, you can experiment and do what works for you.

Best of luck! I hope this was helpful. Don't forget, you still need to do some reading before you're set in stone.

 

[DuckyBabies]

Thank you so much! I read up before starting, but I can tell I needed to research further. I have a lot of time between now and spring to figure out what I am doing (hopefully).

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Thank you for answering my question! Sadly, I had a feeling they wouldn’t be fertile. I watched my drake try to mate, and I think he has gotten nowhere. We have talked about either trying again in the spring or even getting eggs shipped.

My first attempt at incubating my duck’s eggs resulted in all un-fertilized eggs too. The following spring I was able to hatch 5 ducklings followed by 6 more the next fall. Spring will be better and he will figure things out.

 

[WVduckchick]

Thank you for answering my question! Sadly, I had a feeling they wouldn’t be fertile. I watched my drake try to mate, and I think he has gotten nowhere. We have talked about either trying again in the spring or even getting eggs shipped.

Duck sex is not pretty.
As @cheezenkwackers said, the boys will get better at it. Because we all know they try and try and try till they get the job done, especially in the spring time!

And if I remember correctly, I believe ducks are the only birds where the female can “refuse” the males semen too. She can choose who she wants to accept fertilization from!