Embryo looks too small at day 23 but red veins are still there

[Tosea]

The other night, I took in 10 wild duck eggs that are due to hatch in about 4 or 5 days (duck nest in our front yard--we've been monitoring daily). The mother was gone for over 24 hours and I stayed up until 4 am one night to be certain. I then took in 6 eggs and left 4 in case she returned, but no luck. So in the morning I took in the remaining 4. Candling shows life in 9 of the 10 eggs. In the 10th one I could see an embryo but it looks smaller that the others...but the egg is still a vibrant orange and I can see red blood vessels. Also, the egg doesn't smell bad. I've been doing hours of research on all of this! It went down to around 50 Fahrenheit when the eggs were still outside, so I was pretty excited when I saw life! I have them in a plant seedling tray with a seedling warmer underneath (buffered by towels). I'm also monitoring temperature and humidity according to research I've done. I plan to keep out of their sight, and hand them over to a wildlife center as soon as (if) they hatch. Any advice is welcome, as I am absolutely new to this! My main question is, what do I do about the one that looks like it's not developed enough? (it's about a third to half as big as the rest and there is no movement).

 

[dotknott]

Keep an eye on it, but don't toss it yet.

I'd give it 3 days before I make the final determination that it's no longer developing.

 

[Tosea]

Thanks for replying, dotknott. I will!

 

[Tosea]

Update! Of the 10 eggs that I rescued, 6 were viable. They all hatched and were healthy. They were delivered to a wild bird rehab center last week. Whew! That was a lot of work and stress!

 

[dotknott]

Congrats, and good job!

 

[Tosea]

Picture as of when I dropped them off at the wild bird rehab. (I had to do it before they all hatched, because it was 2 hours away (in Ottawa), and I was taking my brother to an appointment there that day. I phoned them a couple days later and they told me that they all survived. The 3rd one was half way out when we got there. (The pieces of egg carton were to keep them from rolling/moving around on the trip!) We were sweltering on the trip, because I had to keep the heat on in the car! lol Thank you, everybody, for the help from this thread and others!



First one hatched: