Duckling Hatching/Question Please

[Patchesnposies]

12 days ago we had our first duckling hatch. We are new to incubating and honestly, the duck eggs are our learning tools. This little duckling was a total surprise, we found him in the incubator and had no clue he was hatching.

The next batch of eggs is due to hatch on the 25th, or so we thought. When I went in to turn the eggs just now, one of them had a piece of shell missing, though the membrane was not broken. The chip was on the large end. I could see movement behind the membrane and thought I could hear the faintest of sound of peeping.

Is this normal? What happens now? Any advice for a newbie to this?

Thanks in advance to anyone who cares to help/advise me!

Deb

 

[vfem]

What kinds of ducks are these? When did you put them in the bator? I don't think you want to move the one with the movement in it anymore.

 

[Patchesnposies]

No I won't be moving them anymore. I was going to stop turning them after tomorrow because, as I said, they weren't due to begin hatching until the 25th of October. This is way early don't you think? Does this mean temps are too high?

Does this sound like the way they begin to hatch? Or might we have somehow accidentally (can't imagine this happening without our knowing) bumped it and a piece came off? In that case, would the intact membrane help it survive if it doesn't hatch for a few more days?

These eggs are from a collaborative nest, could be one of any of these: Cayuga cross (crested), Rouen cross (crested), Swedish cross (crested), and our one drake who is a Pekin.

Forgot to say that we put them in the incubator on Spet. 26th.

Thanks!

Deb

 

[feathersgalore]

Had one of the ducks started sitting? Either that or your incubator is too hot.

 

[Patchesnposies]

Feathersgalore,

My first thought was the incubator is too hot. Our incubator is still air and the temps stayed between 100-101 at the top of the eggs. The humidity was always between 60% and 70%.

But my dh reminded me that he collected these duck eggs for a week and they sat stored in a large can during that time, it was about half filled. Then he decided on the spur of the moment to try and incubate them.

Do you suppose that this egg could have been on the bottom and thus been warmer and started to grow while in there? So far he is still peeping and we see movement.

We also realized that our math was off.....if you count up from Sept. 26th that makes hatch day TOMORROW. Duh!

I tell my husband all the time that he may have a PhD in physics but his math skills leave a lot to be desired! LOL

I am hoping that we have a few more babies over the next day or two,

Deb

 

[feathersgalore]

If the eggs were stored in a warm environment that could have sped up the hatching. Hears hoping for a big hatch!