Ducklings didn’t pip air cell

[Jmcandrew]

Hi!

I was hatching runner duck eggs and following the breeders guide to hatching themselves. I had them at 50-55% humidity for the first 25 days and 70-75% for lockdown. I had 3 ducklings hatch on day 27. Day 28 rolls around and no others had pulled. I ended up pulling them and saw no movement in any of the eggs. Gave them to day 29 and ended up breaking them open after candling again. All 18 babies were fully developed. All but 1 didn’t even pop into the air cell. The other pipped into the air cell then died. So sad!

What would cause so many babies to died before even pipping into their air cell?

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Were these shipped eggs?

 

[Jmcandrew]

Yes, they were

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Were the air cells damaged? Shipping stress often causes severe damage to the eggs, regardless of how they may look to the naked eye. I have more than a few batches of shipped eggs with damaged air cells that appeared to develop, went into lockdown, and failed to hatch.

Based on what you've said, my guess as to the cause is shipping damage from which the developing embryos could not recover.

 

[Jmcandrew]

Were the air cells damaged? Shipping stress often causes severe damage to the eggs, regardless of how they may look to the naked eye. I have more than a few batches of shipped eggs with damaged air cells that appeared to develop, went into lockdown, and failed to hatch.

Based on what you've said, my guess as to the cause is shipping damage from which the developing embryos could not recover.

No damage that I could see when I inspected them before they went in. They were very well packaged as well. What type of damage to the air cells are you looking for? I did not see anything out of the ordinary.

What temps and humidity percentages do you use for hatching ducklings?

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Saddling and rolling air cells are typical signs of shipping stress, and can happen even when there's great packaging. Candling the eggs after receipt will reveal these issues, as well as hairline cracks that can't be seen by the naked eye.

I live in an area that's pretty humid much of the year, so I tend to do dry incubations - usually around 30% - for duck eggs, and temps in my forced air incubators are around 99.5F. I monitor air cell development during incubation and adjust the humidity level as needed.