Egg incubating fiasco - advice please! *New Pictures!*

[AdamD77]

Depends how you work it out - if you count the day they were laid as Day 1, they are due on the 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th and if you count the day after being laid as Day 1 then all a day later than those dates, but obviously they are late!

How are yours?

 

[1234duck]

The "Hatch Day" actually Doesn't have any thing to do with "The Date An Egg was laid. ~Julie~

 

[AdamD77]

It does for mine, they were incubated as they were laid! It's a staggered hatch

I went to check the eggs at around midnight and nothing. Went back at half past and #13 had cracked! We also saw quite a bit of movement of #14.

 

[FenDruadin]

Yay! Now get some sleep. I bet the first one to crack will be zipping out of there in the morning. And don't forget--make a record of when the second one pipped (made a crack) the first time. You'll find it seems like EVEN LONGER waiting for it to make any progress, and you don't want to lose track of how long it's been. Good luck to them, and try not to get up every few hours to check on them. Advice from someone who always gets up every few hours to check on babies when they're hatching.

 

[1234duck]

The Hatch Does Not Begin Until the Broodie hen starts sitting on the eggs all the time, which usually isn't until she has a full clutch of eggs or until the eggs are in the incubator. }}} The very 1st egg laid in my broodie ducks nest was on June 6th, & she lays 1 egg per day. The broodie Duck Didnt start sitting on the nest until June 10th in the late afternoon so what ever eggs were in there up to June 10 or June 11th the hatch day was July 7th or 8th. But the initial hatch went over anyways ~Julie~

 

[AdamD77]

We have a proper pip! And best bit, I watched it break through!

Now what I'd like to know is should I do humidity stuff like I was about to do or should I just leave everything how it is for now? It's gonna be torture trying to sleep

Yes I know, mine were incubating the two eggs, then they added another one or two the morning after and continued sitting etc.

 

[stargazingmommy]

woot! night shift on duty for duck watch

 

[AdamD77]

Well guys, at about twenty past nine this morning, some very loud peeping woke me up! I went to look and it had zipped and started trying to push! At around quarter to nine this morning, we were looking at this:

Say hello to our new arrival!

How long does he need to be left in there? I think I read 12 hours somewhere?
Should I move the shell? I think maybe he can't quite squeeze out completely cos the "nest" is so tightly packed... I'm probably worrying for nothing and should just leave him

Is he okay to stay in the heat or should I move him over slightly out of the direct heat. The thermometer still reads 30^C out of the direct beam of light...?

Thanks everyone for your advice! I may not have got this far without it!

 

[stargazingmommy]

i dont know but I'm so happy to see this. just makes my night!

 

[FenDruadin]

Yay yay yay!! I had a really good feeling about this and I'm so glad I was right.

The temp in your "incubator" is absolutely perfect for the duckling, and no need to move him yet. You can leave him in as long or as short as you like. My usual habit is to take the ducklings out when they are fully coordinated.

You'll have to use your judgment regarding whether he is stuck somewhere. I hatch eggs upright in a carton and it takes them a long time to work their way out of the shell, and they are stronger when they come out from all the exercise. So if he's just taking a while to get out of the shell I wouldn't worry too much. But I wouldn't let him struggle more than a couple hours. However, the trouble in removing him from the "incubator" too soon is that he will be very uncoordinated and if your brooder is not carefully temp-controlled, he could easily work his way into an area that is either too hot or too cold and not be able to get back again. On the other hand, you don't want him stuck somewhere and unable to move around for more than a couple hours either.

Just so you know, the "pip" occurs the first moment there is a crack on the outer shell, so you've had a pip for a long while now.

And congratulations!!! I'm so excited for you, and I think the other one is going to be just fine too. Good luck and keep us updated!