first time incubating

[WVduckchick]

I went out for a few hours and came back. Still no external pips. I candled again and the chick that was moving alot earlier is barely moving now

Sorry I didn't see this last night. Any change now??

 

[chickenlittle84]

No change so I decided to open a view hole. The one that wasn't moving has his beak through the membrane but its not moving at all. Pretty sure he's dead the other one doesn't have its beak in the air cell but the membrane is formed against his body. Don't see any movement

 

[chickenlittle84]

Both eggs are definitely dead. I opened them after hours of no movement. The one that's beak had pipped internally had a broken yolk. I could see the yellow on the membrane and it was everywhere inside when I started to peel membrane back from around the beak area. The other one had an almost completely absorbed yolk, no bleeding whatsoever so no idea why he died. I candled all eggs again and see no movement just shadow of chicks in pointy end of egg and haziness between them and the air cell. The duck that's due next Sunday is fully alive and kicking. Now I'm worried that maybe none of them are going to hatch even though they were all alive and well before and I'll still have to incubate the duck for another week or so to possibly the same result

 

[WVduckchick]

Sorry to hear that. Sometimes its just hard to tell what went wrong. Most likely a humidity issue, but its hard to guess for sure. Hopefully the duck does better.

 

[chickenlittle84]

I'm now on day 35 or 36 with the Muscovy duck egg. I candled and can see movement, and pretty clearly see some blood vessels still so he may not be ready. Could even see his little feet kicking around in there, the egg is so transparent compared to the chickens. I feel like I'm right back to where I was 2 weeks ago,on the edge of my seat waiting and hoping.

 

[WVduckchick]

I'm now on day 35 or 36 with the Muscovy duck egg. I candled and can see movement, and pretty clearly see some blood vessels still so he may not be ready. Could even see his little feet kicking around in there, the egg is so transparent compared to the chickens. I feel like I'm right back to where I was 2 weeks ago,on the edge of my seat waiting and hoping.

Still alive and kicking is a great sign! How have your temps and humidity been these last several days? And those final blood vessels can recede quickly, once that baby is ready to pop out, so I'm sending some good vibes your way!

 

[chickenlittle84]

Sorry to hear that. Sometimes its just hard to tell what went wrong. Most likely a humidity issue, but its hard to guess for sure. Hopefully the duck does better.

Still alive and kicking is a great sign! How have your temps and humidity been these last several days? And those final blood vessels can recede quickly, once that baby is ready to pop out, so I'm sending some good vibes your way!

Thanks! Temps have been pretty good and steady, only a bit of a spike yesterday to about 102°. I hadn't been monitoring humidity from the beginning so I decided not to bother after the chicken eggs all died. Was really not expecting the duck to survive. My boyfriend got us 8 baby chickens, and 3 Muscovy ducklings to replace them and cheer me up. He wanted to turn off the incubator and toss the egg but I wouldn't let him since I still saw ALOT of movement in it and want to give him a chance. Is there anything I can do to help? I've done lots of reading and some ( not all) reccomend misting the egg and turning until first internal pip is seen through candling. Should I still be turning and candling at this point? I saw the blood vessels have gotten significantly thinner from last night to this morning. Maybe its almost time!

 

[chickenlittle84]

This pic is from when I candled the egg this morning. Not a great pic but you can see the blood vessels in the space between duckling and air cell. Should there even be a space there at this point? Or should he be filling more of the egg?

 

[chickenlittle84]

 

[WVduckchick]

Second pic looks better, good and full. I've never hatched muscovies. Just regular ducks and chickens. Usually that clearish looking area will end up causing the chick to be sticky. Most say it comes from too high humidity. From what I can see (on my phone lol) the air cell looks decent. Have you added water throughout the process? The humidity should definitely be higher for the hatching process than it was thru the rest, so if you haven't been using any water, I'd add some now. You don't want enough to cause condensation on the walls, but enough to make the air moist.

So now you have week-old chicks and muscovies? I hope this guy comes out for you!

I'm picking up eggs this afternoon to start a new hatch. I guess I'm ready for the torture again lol