HATCHING EMERGENCY, 2 Have pipped but the eggs were not in Lockdown!

[TheMallardMan]

I received the eggs (Mallard Eggs) in the mail on October the 2nd, so they were not supposed to go into lockdown until later today. However, when I woke up (10 minutes ago) and checked on the eggs, I found that 2 had already piped. There wasn't holes or anything, put cracks in the shell. I haven't seen any beaks yet, and it's just on 2. They air at the time was around 40%-45% humidity. Will this shrink wrap the ducklings that had piped?! I'm so worried, they surprised me, they weren't supposed to do that until tomorrow

 

[TheMallardMan]

Please Help, this is my first ever hatch, i'm freaking out over here

 

[Ridgerunner]

Relax. That happens a lot. Raise the humidity now while I type some more.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Eggs, whether chicken or duck, don’t always hatch exactly when they are supposed to. There are a lot of different reasons they can be early or late, sometimes by a few days. Heredity, humidity, how and how long they were stored before incubation started, and just basic differences in the eggs like shell porosity. One really big factor can be incubation temperature. If it is a little warm they can be early; cool and they can be late.

I’ve hatched chickens and turkeys, not ducks, but the principles are pretty much the same. I’ve had eggs pipping when I went into lockdown. My incubator was running a little warm and they were really early. They hatched without shrink-wrapping. I adjusted the incubator temperature after that happened twice. I’ve had eggs hatch two full days early under a broody hen. I can’t adjust her temperature. Stuff happens.

It is possible low humidity can cause an egg to shrink-wrap. It is possible a piece of space junk could fall out of the sky and hit your house. It’s possible you could have an accident the next time you drive to the store. Many things are possible, just some are more likely than others. I would not panic over driving to the store because I might have an accident.

I have opened the incubator with some eggs pipped to deal with problems. I did shrink-wrap a chick once doing that. Twice I had eggs pipping at lockdown before I adjusted the incubation temperature. I only lost that one. All the others hatched fine.

I won’t lie, you may have a problem. You probably don’t. Just raise the humidity and see what happens.

 

[TheMallardMan]

Eggs, whether chicken or duck, don’t always hatch exactly when they are supposed to. There are a lot of different reasons they can be early or late, sometimes by a few days. Heredity, humidity, how and how long they were stored before incubation started, and just basic differences in the eggs like shell porosity. One really big factor can be incubation temperature. If it is a little warm they can be early; cool and they can be late.

I’ve hatched chickens and turkeys, not ducks, but the principles are pretty much the same. I’ve had eggs pipping when I went into lockdown. My incubator was running a little warm and they were really early. They hatched without shrink-wrapping. I adjusted the incubator temperature after that happened twice. I’ve had eggs hatch two full days early under a broody hen. I can’t adjust her temperature. Stuff happens.

It is possible low humidity can cause an egg to shrink-wrap. It is possible a piece of space junk could fall out of the sky and hit your house. It’s possible you could have an accident the next time you drive to the store. Many things are possible, just some are more likely than others. I would not panic over driving to the store because I might have an accident.

I have opened the incubator with some eggs pipped to deal with problems. I did shrink-wrap a chick once doing that. Twice I had eggs pipping at lockdown before I adjusted the incubation temperature. I only lost that one. All the others hatched fine.

I won’t lie, you may have a problem. You probably don’t. Just raise the humidity and see what happens.

Alright, thanks.

 

[alequeen]

Each of us have slight variations on how we look after our eggs and there is no magical combination to get perfect results. With ducks i put all my eggs into lock down at day 25 depending on the breed, Muscovy ducks go into lick down at day 31. Be patient and let nature do its thing. Everyone has to make mistakes and learn. Just don't feel bad if things don't go all accord to plan. Have some duck crumbs ready for approx day 2/3 when they want it but provide water at all times