Hatching Mallards

[Dishuin]

I am a teacher hatching Mallards. It’s been 30 days and still no cracks. At what point do I start to worry. Do I need to candle them again? They seem to have been progressing pretty good until now.

 

[chickens really]

Have you locked down the incubator? What's the humidity and temperature in the incubator?
Possibly you miscounted the days and today is only day 29?

 

[Dishuin]

So the incubator I have doesn’t show me the humidity, I have just been keeping the cloth wet inside. This is the first time I have done this and I probably did something wrong. I have had the incubator locked down since Sunday night because the 28th day was Wednesday.

 

[MGG]

You could try to candle a few. The temp might have been on the cool side a bit.

 

[Dishuin]

If it was cool does that mean they won’t hatch or just take longer? I candled but I Can’t really tell.

 

[MGG]

Usually just take a few extra days

 

[MGG]

It depends on how cool though

 

[MGG]

When you candled was there any movement inside?

 

[Pyxis]

What date did you set the eggs?

Mallards are actually classed as a bantam duck and usually hatch even earlier than normal ducks, at around day 26 or day 27.

Sounds like the humidity wasn't monitored at all, which is likely to be a problem. What temperature have you been incubating at? And is the incubator still air (no fan) or forced air (fan)?

I would give them a couple more days, but with them already being four days late, there's not a lot of hope

If you intend to try again, you might want to read this article, which gives a rundown on how to incubate:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-beginners-guide-to-incubation.73350/

 

[MGG]

Any progress on your mallards, @Dishuin ?