Help!1st hatch- rec'd duck eggs after mom abandoned nest on day 16!!

[rachel]

I have a few questions and would also like to realistically know my odds. I will preface this by saying this is my first hatch period, not just with ducks.

I have a hovabator 1588 with egg turner. I had planned to do some hatches in the fall but received an email from a person in town with khaki campbells had a duck sitting, but then abandoned the nest on day 16. She candled the eggs and found 4 viable ones and put them in a box with a moist washcloth under a brooder lamp. I picked up the eggs about 6 hours later. After a 30 minute drive I put them in the incubator which I had only turned on an hour before (I wasn't expecting to be doing any hatches). I bought a digital hygrometer which is now reading 65% but I'm not sure if that's accurate. (the thermometer part of it is reading 94.5 degrees and the other therm that came with the bator reads 101) I'm keeping a close eye on it and will open the vent if it stays at that humidity for a few hours. (I live in Phx, and the air is really dry in my house, so I'm afraid if I leave the vent unplugged it will dry out way too much)

I know that the humidity should be around 55% right now, I am not sure whether or not to trust the hygrometer. I am figuring on some temp fluctuations since the bator only had an hour to warm up before the eggs went in.

I don't know if the eggs got scrambled on the ride home, it was mostly freeway, so I'm hoping it wasn't too bad. I would love some advice, as I'd love these guys to hatch but I figure the odds aren't in my favor. Please help!

 

[homeandbarnbasics]

the 1588 is a great incubator, it's electronic thermostat is more accurate than most digital thermometers, so you can pretty much trust it. If you are not sure about the trustworthniess of your hygrometer, then just fill the C shaped channel in the bottom of the bator with water and leave the plug in the top in place. The bottom is "calibrated" if you will, to hold just the right amount of water with just the right amount of surface area to provide roughly 55% humidity.

As far as the condition of the eggs, only time will tell. Give them a few days of undisturbed incubation then candle them and see where you are at.

Good Luck!!!

 

[rachel]

After messing with the water and covering parts of it with foil, it looks like I finally got the humidity to stabilize around 55%. The temp has been pretty constant except for the three times I had to open the incubator to mess with the humidity stuff. Do you think these eggs are done for? They basically had 24 hours of mediocre care with widely varying temps and humidity. I was hoping that since they were pretty far along maybe they wouldn't be so sensitive to the fluctuations?
The dove I rescued and hand fed every 2 hours just flew away today, on the one hand I'm happy I could successfully raise him, but I'm sad that my little friend is gone. I just don't want to get my hopes up for these ducks if you guys think they aren't going to make it.

 

[chastity]

I found an abandon duck nest by my house. There were only two left we are taking hot rags to bring up there tepture. they are at 95 degrees is that good? I am only 11 years old and my friend is helping me can you give us some advise