hello need advice please

[JOANNEBROWN]

Hi everyone im new here ,,,,,
bascially 10 days ago my kids were out walking and saw a duck killed by a stray dog...when they went over there were 8 duck eggs in a nest...they wrapped them in there sweaters and brought them home
i put them in front of a heater as i cant afford or borrow a incubator,,,
anyway i just left them wrapped up in a towel next to the heater and sprayed them everyday and turned then 3 times a day
apart from that i didnt do much with them..
i saw on google that if you candled them you could see if they were alive,,so i did and all but 1 is moving i can see the beaks and also a heartbeat!!!!
i have no idea how old they are but i did make a video with us candling them i really need to know how old they are
as they are in my bedroom,,,
temp is right and so is humidity we have no wildlife places near by and the RSPCA say they have no time to hatch eggs....
any advice peeps,,,we have veins heartbeats and lost of movement ???
many thanks Joanne

 

[ChickenCrazy8]

First

I haven't hatched any eggs before, but I hope someone can give you info!!!

 

[JOANNEBROWN]

its kinda frustrating because they seem so healthy no signs of mould or disease and they are moving around sooo much i dont wanna mess this up

 

[shicks0211]

it might help if you have like a styrofoam cooler or something that would keep the heat in better than a towel,but it seems like you're doing something right. do you have a thermometer you can see the temp...it needs to be 99.6 consistently. ..it takes 28 days to hatch. do you see alot of veins in there..or at this point is it hard to see because the duck takes up alot of space. when you candle the large end can you see the air sack?

 

[EJPedrazzi]

If they are moving then it seems they are close to hatching - maybe a couple days off. Keep them misted - not too much, just lightly moistened, keep the temp up, stop turning them as they probably should be in lockdown and good luck! Please keep us updated. Not much else you can do!

Also, you should post on this thread: there are some expert hatchers here who may have some other advice

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...own-as-hatch-day-is-today/37800#post_11183535

 

[JOANNEBROWN]

i have just checked them again they have not moved into the air sacs yet but they are moving so much and i can see feathers there are loads or very healthy looking veins and one even had hiccups lol....do you want me to send you a video with the movement on...3 are defo dead as they are not moving they wont stay warm and they are black inside

the just seem to small they are just wild mallard ducks,,, ill go and google how big they need to be

my sister who used to breed ducks said throw eggs away they wont hatch but they have survived this long so im sure they will live i have such a good feeling about this
temp must be right because they are still alive i will go see if i can find a polystyrene box,,,,but doesnt it seems better to leave them as they are if they are thriving????

 

[JOANNEBROWN]

here are the movements

 

[ChickenCrazy8]

How are the eggs doing???

 

[shicks0211]

it's hard to tell from the video, but i'd say that those eggs have 10 days or so left..how are they doing? are they still moving? and keep in mind, as they grow and take up more of the egg sometimes during the last few days you almost can't see movement until they pip so don't be too hasty if you think they stop moving to throw them out.