First-Timer

[littlecollier]

Holy moly! Candled for the first time in several days and they were moving like crazy! I didn’t think I’d see movement this soon (14 days or so?)

I am so excited!

Our brooder plate arrived today in the mail and I’m firing her up to see how it works.

Two weeks and counting!

 

[WVduckchick]

Oh heck yea, this is the best time to see good movement! It will slow down as the egg gets more full next week.

 

[littlecollier]

Totally blew my mind and surprised me! I had no idea these little critters were so active already! So amazing!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I love to candle and watch the growth. I even talk to mine and they are always under a mama duck lol

 

[littlecollier]

I tried to take pictures or video the last time I candled, but it's just too dark for my iPhone camera!

I'm slightly worried about the youngest of the three eggs - It is very active, but it appears to have two dark areas (where the other two have just one dark "blob"). My boyfriend said it looked like twins in the egg, and I'm sure hoping he's wrong (since I imagine they eventually wouldn't survive).

Are my (our?) eyes playing tricks on us or could this be a possibility?

As for the older of the three eggs, I saw a lot less movement than the last time I candled, but I'm wondering if that's just because their mass is taking up more room in the egg.

Crossing fingers and toes that all is well and we'll end up with three healthy ducklings in the next week to ten days.

 

[littlecollier]

So I’ve been having a hard time regulating temp and RH lately. @WVduckchick Maybe you can give me some pointers or reassurance?

The temp keeps dipping down under 99.5 (usually somewhere in the 98.0-99.0 range and I try to correct as soon as I notice). I’m worried about it spiking and accidentally cooking the eggs so I’m wondering if erring on the side of too cool is okay? I’ve read horror stories about the high temps in cheaper model incubators being the end of unhatched ducklings.

My RH is never consistent, it seems like when I add water it jumps up to about 70% and then over the course of being at work or asleep it gets down to 25-30%. Is this going to totally throw things off for the little ones or will it be okay since the overall average is about what it needs to be? (Wishful thinking)

Basically, I’m worried all these little problems are going to add up to a no-succes hatch and we are getting so close ... My nerves are totally kicking into overdrive!

My super-mellow boyfriend keeps telling me to relax and go with the flow, but I don’t want to accidentally sabotage all of our hard work and waiting!

 

[littlecollier]

Well, I’m a little worried. Two of the three eggs aren’t showing movement anymore and I’m not sure what I’m looking at ... the photos below are the “backside” of the egg - The “front” is dark and won’t show up in a photo.

I hope they’re still alive as we only have a week left until they’re due. I don’t know what might have gone awry.

The youngest egg (last photo) still has lots of movement and visible veins, so I’m hoping it’s okay.

I hope I haven’t lost the other two ... @WVduckchick @Miss Lydia

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am thinking the 2 are gone but lets see what @Pyxis or @WVduckchick or @Ravynscroft say about it.

 

[Pyxis]

The second egg has quit based on what I can see The first egg looks like the chorio-allantoic membrane never developed properly and didn't spread across the whole egg, which does lead to late quitters. I think the veins are disintegrating so that one too probably quit.

The last egg looks alive and well, though.

 

[littlecollier]

So sad to hear but thankful to have my suspicions confirmed. I’m going to try to source ducklings locally so that if the last one makes it, it won’t be alone.

Thank you @Miss Lydia and @Pyxis

Especially sad since the mom of these eggs was killed by a dog the day we set them.

Hopefully the last one will survive! Crossing fingers, toes, legs and eyes.