Embryos/Ducklings Dying late in incubation

[basiljowii]

Ive already made a similar post to this and tried the feedback I got from there with unfortunately no success. We've been trying to hatch a duckling for nearly 3 months now and haven't managed to hatch one. The Ducklings/Embryos develop well and always look healthy inside of the egg. Yet, when the Embryos get to around about day 26-27 they all seem to die. We've tried not touching the eggs, Low humidity, High humidity, Cooling the eggs, and even poking a small hole in the egg on the evening of day 26 or when the duckling tries to pip yet they still die. Recently, we had a duckling that was trying to pip and it looked perfectly fine whilst he was trying to internally pip, healthy air pocket, lots of movement etc and then by day 27 he had died - after he had died we had removed him from the egg to see if there was anything externally wrong with him and there wasn't. He was a fully-formed beautiful duckling that mysteriously died for some reason. We've also tried incubating someone else's flocks egg and they died even sooner in incubation. Can anyone help? Is there a reason for this or is it just bad luck? and is there anything I could do to save the embryos?

Humidity: 55% Usually - 70% In lockdown
Temp: 35.7ºc Usually - 37ºc In lockdown
We candle the eggs twice throughout incubation once to see if they're fertile and a second time just before they go into lockdown.
They're call ducks if that matters too.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I'm sorry you are having such a hard time with your duck hatches. Try posting on the Ducks forum to see if members there can offer you advice.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/ducks.42/

 

[Oob Child]

Ive already made a similar post to this and tried the feedback I got from there with unfortunately no success. We've been trying to hatch a duckling for nearly 3 months now and haven't managed to hatch one. The Ducklings/Embryos develop well and always look healthy inside of the egg. Yet, when the Embryos get to around about day 26-27 they all seem to die. We've tried not touching the eggs, Low humidity, High humidity, Cooling the eggs, and even poking a small hole in the egg on the evening of day 26 or when the duckling tries to pip yet they still die. Recently, we had a duckling that was trying to pip and it looked perfectly fine whilst he was trying to internally pip, healthy air pocket, lots of movement etc and then by day 27 he had died - after he had died we had removed him from the egg to see if there was anything externally wrong with him and there wasn't. He was a fully-formed beautiful duckling that mysteriously died for some reason. We've also tried incubating someone else's flocks egg and they died even sooner in incubation. Can anyone help? Is there a reason for this or is it just bad luck? and is there anything I could do to save the embryos?

Humidity: 55% Usually - 70% In lockdown

Temp: 35.7ºc Usually - 37ºc In lockdown
We candle the eggs twice throughout incubation once to see if they're fertile and a second time just before they go into lockdown.
They're call ducks if that matters too.

Have you tried a different incubator?

 

[HeritageFan]

It’s late, so I apologize for not looking up the conversion for Celsius to Fahrenheit
But
I’ve had reasonable success with my Welsh harlequin duck- and turkey - eggs this year, in a HovaBator incubator and a second HovaBator for hatching.
(Vertical) auto turner, forced air heat, and a humidikit to maintain proper humidity. 99.5* F for incubating, around 45% humidity- 99* and about 65% humidity for hatching is what has worked best for us so far.
We are not at all pros, but. Are trying hard to learn.

Proper temps and humidity verified w a separate thermometer and hygrometer.

To get help.
First.
Temps usually need to drop by 1/2-1* when humidity cranks up for lockdown...
But am I understanding your post that you are turning up the heat at that point?

Do you have a way to verify temps and humidity apart from what your bator readouts are?

What incubator(s) are you using?

We can help- but we need more detailed info-

 

[HeritageFan]

Also. How old are your ducks?
Older ducks lay eggs with more porous shells, and are harder to hatch.
It isn’t impossible, but it is a factor that may come into play to solve this puzzle-

 

[basiljowii]

It’s late, so I apologize for not looking up the conversion for Celsius to Fahrenheit
But
I’ve had reasonable success with my Welsh harlequin duck- and turkey - eggs this year, in a HovaBator incubator and a second HovaBator for hatching.
(Vertical) auto turner, forced air heat, and a humidikit to maintain proper humidity. 99.5* F for incubating, around 45% humidity- 99* and about 65% humidity for hatching is what has worked best for us so far.
We are not at all pros, but. Are trying hard to learn.

Proper temps and humidity verified w a separate thermometer and hygrometer.

To get help.
First.
Temps usually need to drop by 1/2-1* when humidity cranks up for lockdown...
But am I understanding your post that you are turning up the heat at that point?

Do you have a way to verify temps and humidity apart from what your bator readouts are?

What incubator(s) are you using?

We can help- but we need more detailed info-

I can't remember the exact name. and also I meant to put 35 not 37

 

[basiljowii]

Also. How old are your ducks?
Older ducks lay eggs with more porous shells, and are harder to hatch.
It isn’t impossible, but it is a factor that may come into play to solve this puzzle-

They're just over a year old

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

It’s hard to say exactly why but we can try to help
I run 37.5 for incubation and hatching
I never turn my heat down
If I’m reading correctly you are to low for incubation at 37
Humidity I run 40-45 through till lockdown then up 70-75 for hatching
I cool and mist my eggs from day 10 to lockdown daily
I candle everyday and has never affected my hatching
I use a calibrated hygrometer and thermometer inside as no bstor csm be fully trusted
I like to hand turn my eggs but do use the turners when the schools use my set up
I never wash my eggs but I also don’t incubate dirty eggs
Running lower
temps like you did would cause delays in hatching by days
Do you know for sure the eggs all died or called it on a certain day without checking all eggs ? Did you ever notice any bruising on the eggs outside the air cell end ?
Did you open the vents at lockdown ?
I myself never close my vents through the whole processes

 

[Blue is my chicken]

Temperature for hatching duck eggs is 37.5'C humidity at 55%
In lockdown temp 37.5'C and humidity at 65%
Call ducks ussally hatch on the 26th day so lock down the incubator on day 23 and Call ducks are very hard to hatch due to their short necks and small beaks you usually need to help them hatch
The image is of my Call duck egg incubation calendar

The hole in the air sack is a good idea but do it on the night before day 23 (lock down) i hatched call ducks earlier this year and out of 19 eggs 1 lived a lot made it full term and died ether before or after they hatched, we ended up buying 2 friends for the one that hatched which was a challenge in itself it took us ages to find her some friends

I wish you good luck