First Time Hatcher. Is my duck embryo dead? So much conflicting information online!

[emmalea]

Hi,
I've had a black pacific duck egg incubating for 30 days (usually 28-30 day incubation period) and I think it may have died but this is the first time I have ever incubated an egg so I am rather unsure how long I leave the egg until I investigate. There is a lot of conflicting information online.

Up until about day 21 my duck was definitely alive as I saw plenty of movement and veins whilst candling. I put my egg into lockdown on day 25, and increased the humidity for hatching but there has been no movement. On day 29 i got worried and upon candling I have found that there has been no internal pip.

There is no blood ring, but there are limited veins and a black area (which I assume is the duck) which takes up about half the egg but this spot does not float/move around when I turn the egg which I was told was a sign of embryo death.
The egg has no rotten smell, but since I started spraying the egg early on the shell has started turning a slightly grey/bluish colour which has only got worse during lockdown.
There is no sound coming from the egg, nore does it move when I watch it sitting in the incubator.

How long do I wait before I investigate the egg? Everything I read online contradicts everything else and a lot of the main signs of a dead embryo my egg does not have.

 

[6BeachChicks]

I dont have ducks and I‘m not sure how to help you, but I know these people have ducks @Isaac 0 and @Miss Lydia can you help?
@emmalea I’m wishing you the best of luck.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'll leave this to pro hatchers since my Muscovy do all the work for me.

@WVduckchick
@shawluvsbirds
@FunnyfarmMidwest

 

[muddy75]

Did you check the accuracy of your guages? What humidity were you at for incubation and for lockdown???? If you are only 2 days past, i would watch it for 2 more days in case it’s in a cool spot. A candling picture may be helpful. To me, it sounds like you’re humidity may be too high I’m currently running my first duck hatch but have hatched many other birds. I keep my incubation humidity between 40 and 45 and only raise it to max of 65 at lockdown using a salt tested hygrometer. If a hygrometer is off and you raise humidity, it can be too high and drown the chick. If you are seeing condensation, your humidity is too high.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Agreed, I also wouldn't spray eggs because of too much humidity. Wait the recommended two more days in case your temps were low.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Hi,
I've had a black pacific duck egg incubating for 30 days (usually 28-30 day incubation period) and I think it may have died but this is the first time I have ever incubated an egg so I am rather unsure how long I leave the egg until I investigate. There is a lot of conflicting information online.

Up until about day 21 my duck was definitely alive as I saw plenty of movement and veins whilst candling. I put my egg into lockdown on day 25, and increased the humidity for hatching but there has been no movement. On day 29 i got worried and upon candling I have found that there has been no internal pip.

There is no blood ring, but there are limited veins and a black area (which I assume is the duck) which takes up about half the egg but this spot does not float/move around when I turn the egg which I was told was a sign of embryo death.
The egg has no rotten smell, but since I started spraying the egg early on the shell has started turning a slightly grey/bluish colour which has only got worse during lockdown.
There is no sound coming from the egg, nore does it move when I watch it sitting in the incubator.

How long do I wait before I investigate the egg? Everything I read online contradicts everything else and a lot of the main signs of a dead embryo my egg does not have.

Try to get a candling picture if you can so we can try and see what you are seeing.
At those late stages of incubation it does get very hard to tell what's going on inside the egg because the duck is taking up most of it.
Look for signs of any red veining right around the edges of the air cell that can indicate life.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

At this stage minimal veins is normal. I'm not saying that the egg is not dead since I haven't seen a candled picture of it, but when a duckling is fully developed and getting ready to hatch the veins will start to dry up so the duckling does not bleed out when hatching. Minimal movement is also not uncommon as there is no room left in the egg to move around. Here is a chart from the British Waterfowl Association that you can use for comparison.

https://www.waterfowl.org.uk/husbandry/incubation/

 

[Pierre duck drake]

Hi,
I've had a black pacific duck egg incubating for 30 days (usually 28-30 day incubation period) and I think it may have died but this is the first time I have ever incubated an egg so I am rather unsure how long I leave the egg until I investigate. There is a lot of conflicting information online.

Up until about day 21 my duck was definitely alive as I saw plenty of movement and veins whilst candling. I put my egg into lockdown on day 25, and increased the humidity for hatching but there has been no movement. On day 29 i got worried and upon candling I have found that there has been no internal pip.

There is no blood ring, but there are limited veins and a black area (which I assume is the duck) which takes up about half the egg but this spot does not float/move around when I turn the egg which I was told was a sign of embryo death.
The egg has no rotten smell, but since I started spraying the egg early on the shell has started turning a slightly grey/bluish colour which has only got worse during lockdown.
There is no sound coming from the egg, nore does it move when I watch it sitting in the incubator.

How long do I wait before I investigate the egg? Everything I read online contradicts everything else and a lot of the main signs of a dead embryo my egg does not have.

Did it end up hatching?