ducks late hatching, please help!

[mandarin1]

I bought some mandarin duck eggs and had them shipped. When I received them they all had intact air cells, no cracks, nothing. I let them settle for a day before putting them into the incubater and my humidity and temperature have been consistent (day 1-25 temp at 99.5 and humidity at 55-60% according to three thermometers and hygrometers that were calibrated) I hand turned them 5 times a day and then 3 days ago put them on lockdown (temp. 98.5 and humidity around 75%). Today is day 29 and they still have not pipped and from what I can tell have not internally pipped, but still see movement in a couple of the eggs and hard to see movement in the others. When I candled them to see if they were still alive they look more like a candled egg on day 21 or 22, I can still see distinct veins and a somewhat small air cell, my questions are if it is normal for them to be late, if it has anything to do with the fact that they were shipped and maybe this is why they are late, should I start turning them and lower humidity so they get a larger air cell, let them be for a couple more days or should I try to put a small hole in the air cell to assist hatching? This is my first time incubating and we spent quite a bit of money on the eggs and I hate for them to die, so any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Orca5094]

Sometimes shipped eggs are a little late. Also, if the air cells are still small I'd definitely lower the humidity to try to get those to grow a bit. Have you been misting the eggs once a day with water during incubation? That also helps draw some of the moisture out of the eggs and will help the air cells grow (though it sounds counter intuitive). You might want to post in the ornamental waterfowl section as well since these are Mandarins, though. They might have more expertise to offer you. It's good that they are still alive and moving, though! I just had a duckling hatch out at day 32 who was completely normal in every way, just later than her hatch mates for whatever reason. Good luck!

 

[mandarin1]

Thank you for your advise, I will definitely post in the waterfowl section and I appreciate your response! I will try to lower the humidity and see what happens.