First time incubating duck eggs HELP !!

[Kristy82]

Hey guys thanks for the add
Just wanting to get some advice from you all ... i have 12 duck eggs on day 29 in the incubator... temp is 37.5 and humidity around 60 - 70 % ... i have not seen any movement or any pipping as of yet although i heard some peeping lastnight .... im a worried first time duck mummy ! They have been in lock down since day 25 and candled and were all alive at the time ! I did a quick candle this morning and the smell of rotting eggs hit me in the nose straight away ... i took out the ones i knew were definitely dead ! Temp has been a solid 37.5 and humidity around 60% all through the last 28 days !
Breed is a mix of pekin , karki Campbell & Indian runner .... Any advice would be appreciated ! Im worried the ones that are still alive are going to die also and
Thanks guys

 

[Pyxis]

!

Your temperature, are you getting that from a built in display or have you checked it with an outside thermometer that you have calibrated and know to be accurate? And what date did you set the eggs?

Humidity sounds like it was a bit high throughout incubation - 30 to 40 percent may have been better, did the air cells look like they grew the correct amount?

 

[sourland]

Perhaps these ladies can help @Ravynscroft or @WVduckchick .

 

[Kristy82]

The temp is from a built in display and i set the eggs 15 th of September im pretty sure

 

[Pyxis]

Okay, so if they were set on the 15th today is actually the 28th day, so if they're starting to hatch they are right on time I would double check the temp with a separate thermometer just to be sure since those built in displays are not always accurate.

 

[Kristy82]

Ok great thank you very much
Do you have any idea why i may have lost so many ?

 

[lulu_lulu]

I set my incubator to 37 C - 37.5 C and humidity around 75 - 80 (i cant get it down somehow) and last week all my egg hatched with 6 of them is muscovy DUCK. They all pip at around 12 to 24 hours after I stop turning them.

though I am still new at this but maybe this can help

 

[Pyxis]

Ok great thank you very much
Do you have any idea why i may have lost so many ?

My guess from what you've said so far would be the humidity being too high throughout the first 25 days - I think you said it was 60% the whole time? That would be much too high for me and eggs would quit before hatching. Have you monitored the air cells to make sure the eggs were losing enough moisture?

 

[Kristy82]

I cant seem to get my humidity higher than 69 % i have filled all chambers and also have 2 wet flannels and 2 small containers with water in there ... there is lots of condensation on the lid so im not sure if thats enough

 

[Pyxis]

69% is plenty, and if you're trusting a built in humidity gauge that may not be accurate anyway, so it could be higher than you think it is.