First hatch anxiety

[lindseyr1980]

Earlier this year I tried hatching duck eggs. The 4 of 11 that made it through to lockdown, died before even pipping.

Second try- neighbor brought over fertile eggs. They weren't.

Third times a charm? Bought fertile eggs from mypetchicken.com. 3 of the 7 were fertile. Today was day 20 (or 21, I'm not sure what day to call day 1). Lots of rolling around. No peeps. No pips.

Wondering how long this process usually takes once they start rocking? Should I add water to the cup if it is low and they still haven't pipped?


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[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Sorry to hear you have not had good results on your first two attempts at hatching. Day 1 should be counted as 24 hours of incubation. So say you set on a Monday at 9am day 1 would be Tuesday at 9am day 2 would be Wednesday at 9am and so on. The rolling around is a good sign it means your chicks are getting ready and into position. You may here peeping soon which means they have internally pipped into the air sac. Once they have done that it could be upto 24 hours before they externally pip. When the oxygen becomes low in the air sac this kicks them into externally pipping to allow more oxygen into the egg. They can sit like this for upto 24 hours as they absorb the yolk and blood vessels. Once they are done they begin to zip and hatch. If they take less time all the better for you as you don't have to wait too long. All chicks are different I've had some externally pip zip and hatch in no time at all and others that have gone nearly 24 in between pips. It can take a long time and chicks need to be given time do their business and hatch.


Wishing you the very best of luck and I hope you have some lovely fuzzy butts soon.
Good luck

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Easy way to project hatching day is it should be the same day of the week that you set the eggs. If you set on a Sunday then 3 weeks later Sunday is day 21. Day 18 would be Sat., Fri., Thursday.

I expect peeping and pipping in two days of the first wiggle. If really rocking then one day.