Hatching muscovy eggs HELP

[Tracy Locke]

Hi, I have 7 Muscovy eggs that are at day 28 and I think the air sack is way too small. They have been between 55-60% consistently and I cool and most them every day. Should I decrease the humidity slowly or go as dry as possible until hatch day?

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Can you post a pic of the air cells? If they're only about a week out from hatch, I'd try to get the humidity down now - the humidity sounds a bit high to me. Have you already read this article on incubating Muscovy?

 

[Tracy Locke]

Not sure how well you can see these. I dropped the humidity, quit adding water, and the humidity has been in the 35-45% range since yesterday and I have been cooling and misting them to try and increase the air pocket that way. How low is too low for humidity? None have pipped yet but today is day 30.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I agree that at least from the angle of the photos, the air cells do look small for day 30. If they were my eggs, I'd take the humidity lower - like 20% or less (I've gone as low as 10% the week before hatch on goose eggs that didn't lose enough moisture) - to try to increase the air cell size. Misting and cooling will hopefully help move some of that moisture out, too.

Internal pipping should happen in a couple of days - when the air cells draw down, they can suddenly go from looking too small to much larger, so keep an eye on them and adjust the humidity if needed. Obvious active veins in the photos, always good to see. Best of luck with your hatch!

 

[Tracy Locke]

Thank you, I will certainly try to drop it further. I do live in Florida so humidity abounds lol

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Thank you, I will certainly try to drop it further. I do live in Florida so humidity abounds lol

You probably already know to do this, but humidity should be raised (I aim for about 70%) when you see the first external pip. Will be rooting for your ducklings!