Duckling pipped last night..Now, nothing

[petchickenlover]

Last night one of my ducklings pipped and was peeping away, this morning - nothing. no rocking, no peeping...nothing. Something felt off so I candled it (i know, bad) and I can see his beak in the air cell..but there's no movement, nothing when i tap the egg. I'm thinking it's dead, should I open it and see or should i give it more time?

Also, one of my other eggs has a giant aircell. It goes nearly all the way down to the other end of the egg...is this normal? I incubated with a hovabator 1602n at 101F and about 60% humidity.

 

[yo burrill]

Even for ducks I think your humidity was a little high. But I haven't incubated Ducks... If it is not moving in the air sack odds are it died. Even when resting they will usually move around. I lost one of my eggs just a couple days ago. Just before hatch. When I opened it the yolk was gone already. It didnt have enough food to make it through to hatch. I have found with mine very often the first chick doesnt make it....

 

[petchickenlover]

Even for ducks I think your humidity was a little high. But I haven't incubated Ducks... If it is not moving in the air sack odds are it died. Even when resting they will usually move around. I lost one of my eggs just a couple days ago. Just before hatch. When I opened it the yolk was gone already. It didnt have enough food to make it through to hatch. I have found with mine very often the first chick doesnt make it....

Thank you for replying. I found a lot of numbers at what to incubate them at, some said 50% and some said 80% so i just went with 60. This is my first hatch so i wasn't expecting too much.

 

[petchickenlover]

I just opened the egg. poor little fella didn't make it. It didn't seem like he was in the egg quite right though, one of his legs was sitting on top of his head. I didn't look too closely, he could have been deformed though. I just hope my other two eggs make it.

 

[yo burrill]

How do you have the eggs sitting in the bator are they on their side or upright? I put mine upright with the small end down so the air sack is on the top. Some I have to candle to find out which end is which. I have never had a chick in the wrong position. I had talked to a few that incubate alot of different eggs and they have said they use the same settings for everything. 40-50% humidity and 99.5 temp for a bator with a fan. Getting them through the first week and a half is the crucial part. I have had the best luck with leaving my chick eggs under a broody for that time then putting them in the bator for last half. I had all but the one hatch out of ten eggs this time.
My snake gets the ones that dont make it through hatch. At least they dont die in vain.

 

[petchickenlover]

How do you have the eggs sitting in the bator are they on their side or upright? I put mine upright with the small end down so the air sack is on the top. Some I have to candle to find out which end is which. I have never had a chick in the wrong position. I had talked to a few that incubate alot of different eggs and they have said they use the same settings for everything. 40-50% humidity and 99.5 temp for a bator with a fan. Getting them through the first week and a half is the crucial part. I have had the best luck with leaving my chick eggs under a broody for that time then putting them in the bator for last half. I had all but the one hatch out of ten eggs this time.
My snake gets the ones that dont make it through hatch. At least they dont die in vain.

they were upright with the small end down. since I didn't look too closely i think he must have been deformed, i can see no other way that he could have been in that position.

 

[JulieNKC]

Actually, that's normal. They are all twisted up in the egg, and one foot is usually over their head. Sometimes they just don't hatch though. I usually incubate duck eggs tilted more on their side than chickens, and lay them flat on their sides for hatching.

 

[yo burrill]

I have had a few of my chicken eggs die like that usually they have used up all their yolk sac too soon and didnt have enough energy to get them through hatch. Even of you help them out they very often dont make it. Often it is the first chick to hatch.