Help! Air cell’s too small but duckling’s still Alive trying to pip!

[BelovedBirds]

The eggs i incubated weren’t shipped - got them off of someone, and they lay flat rather than upright, rotating when the every two hours. If I rotate eggs by hand from now on, how often should I do this in terms of hours? And in terms of the season I don’t think the temperatures are are drastically different, it’s sunnier than last month but still relatively cold here.

Well I’m glad at least two eggs are still looking good, the air cell and the fact that they aren’t receding at all worry me though, I avoided topping the water tray to keep the humidity low and woke up to 20% and misted the eggs with a little bit of water and added a bit of water as well now, and the humidity is at 62% but the air cell didn’t reduce at all despite the drop in terms of humidity or lowered humidity in general.

Oh I didn’t realise that, so should I mist the eggs for the remaining days and during lockdown as well? Or mist them till day 24 and leave them in the incubator with topped water levels, not touching them at all? The humidity is at 62% without me topping the tray all the way. Might’ve only did about half.

I’m praying these two eggs make it and are either both girls or only one of them is a boy though so I can keep them both

Turn them by hand 3 or 5 times a day, 5 is better. Just space it out fairly evenly. I had turned my duck eggs the entire incubation and you kind of find a routine. Wake up, turn eggs, before lunch, turn eggs, afternoon turn them, dinner time turn them, bedtime turn them.
If you're busy with work or education, just turn 3 times, morning midday and nightime.

You can keep two boys, but they'd have to be kept separately to girls in a bachelor pen, or with enough girls for both of them.

With humidity, what day are you on now? The air cells really start to grow after day 20, before that its pretty slow in my experience. I would get the humidity higher than 20%, or you may accidently dry them out too much. Keep spraying if need be, that will help them to lose moisture.

 

[Croissant]

Turn them by hand 3 or 5 times a day, 5 is better. Just space it out fairly evenly. I had turned my duck eggs the entire incubation and you kind of find a routine. Wake up, turn eggs, before lunch, turn eggs, afternoon turn them, dinner time turn them, bedtime turn them.
If you're busy with work or education, just turn 3 times, morning midday and nightime.

You can keep two boys, but they'd have to be kept separately to girls in a bachelor pen, or with enough girls for both of them.

With humidity, what day are you on now? The air cells really start to grow after day 20, before that its pretty slow in my experience. I would get the humidity higher than 20%, or you may accidently dry them out too much. Keep spraying if need be, that will help them to lose moisture.

Alright I’ll do that instead for the remainder just in case the rotator doesn’t work properly. I’ll probably get too attached to them and end up getting girls for the both but so far i can’t seem to find anyone selling call ducklings or ducks and the ones I found are drakes so that’s a bit of an issue right now - whether I can find them girls or not. Worst case scenario, I might try again but this time properly calibrate the incubator with a glass thermometer (are they accurate by the way?) and hygrometer beforehand and rotate the eggs by hand and hopefully there’ll be more of a success and any extra drakes, they’ll go to my friend since she’s been keen on ducklings herself after seeing my lot lol.

The humidity is back up to 62%, did that as soon as I found it at 20 but before that it was around 50-55% throughout yesterday. If I try incubating again, do would the ideal humidity till lockdown on day 24 (two days before hatch day) be 45% after which I increase it to 65%?

 

[BelovedBirds]

Alright I’ll do that instead for the remainder just in case the rotator doesn’t work properly. I’ll probably get too attached to them and end up getting girls for the both but so far i can’t seem to find anyone selling call ducklings or ducks and the ones I found are drakes so that’s a bit of an issue right now - whether I can find them girls or not. Worst case scenario, I might try again but this time properly calibrate the incubator with a glass thermometer (are they accurate by the way?) and hygrometer beforehand and rotate the eggs by hand and hopefully there’ll be more of a success and any extra drakes, they’ll go to my friend since she’s been keen on ducklings herself after seeing my lot lol.

The humidity is back up to 62%, did that as soon as I found it at 20 but before that it was around 50-55% throughout yesterday. If I try incubating again, do would the ideal humidity till lockdown on day 24 (two days before hatch day) be 45% after which I increase it to 65%?

Just dont feel discouraged if both are drakes, as depending on your current set up, bachelor pens work well!
I kept my humidity at 50-55% until lockdown, then 65-70% and that worked well despite a staggered hatch.

What day are they currently on and what do their air cells currently look like?

 

[Croissant]

Just dont feel discouraged if both are drakes, as depending on your current set up, bachelor pens work well!
I kept my humidity at 50-55% until lockdown, then 65-70% and that worked well despite a staggered hatch.

What day are they currently on and what do their air cells currently look like?

I won’t feel discouraged at all, if anything, that’ll probably happen if none of them hatch at all!

They’re on way 22, well evening it’ll be 23, and the air cells are the size of 20p coins roughly so under 2cm for one and a less than that for the other.

Also, I’m quite confused at the moment, the incubator says 37.4, the thermometer on the hygrometer 38.6, and the glass thermometer I took out from my fish tank and washed properly before putting into the incubator shows 30… which one do I trust? Or would you say none of them are correct? I’m not sure if the hygrometer itself is even accurate at this point, it’s at 58% - got this one:

Humidity Meter, 2 Pack Indoor Thermometer Hygrometer Humidity Gauge Temperature and Humidity Monitor with Accurate Dual Sensors for Room, Reptiles, Plants, Greenhouse, Wine Cellar, Basement, Humidor https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08DJ6M...i_i_8HMABF5NQWV86Q3RMNDH?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[BelovedBirds]

I won’t feel discouraged at all, if anything, that’ll probably happen if none of them hatch at all!

They’re on way 22, well evening it’ll be 23, and the air cells are the size of 20p coins roughly so under 2cm for one and a less than that for the other.

Also, I’m quite confused at the moment, the incubator says 37.4, the thermometer on the hygrometer 38.6, and the glass thermometer I took out from my fish tank and washed properly before putting into the incubator shows 30… which one do I trust? Or would you say none of them are correct? I’m not sure if the hygrometer itself is even accurate at this point, it’s at 58% - got this one:

Humidity Meter, 2 Pack Indoor Thermometer Hygrometer Humidity Gauge Temperature and Humidity Monitor with Accurate Dual Sensors for Room, Reptiles, Plants, Greenhouse, Wine Cellar, Basement, Humidor https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08DJ6M...i_i_8HMABF5NQWV86Q3RMNDH?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

frustratingly none are probably accurate! I would guess that the hygrometer is closer. But really you need a calibrated one. Can you calibrate the fish tank glass therometer? Then test it in the incubator again, that will tell you how much it is exactly. Basically you do half ice half water, and test the temp after a minute or two. The therometer should read zero. If it reads 1.5, you know its 1.5 too high and can subtract it to know the actual temp. I *THINK* this is how people calibrate. @Kiki please could you confirm or correct if I got anything wrong/am missing?

 

[BelovedBirds]

I won’t feel discouraged at all, if anything, that’ll probably happen if none of them hatch at all!

They’re on way 22, well evening it’ll be 23, and the air cells are the size of 20p coins roughly so under 2cm for one and a less than that for the other.

Also, I’m quite confused at the moment, the incubator says 37.4, the thermometer on the hygrometer 38.6, and the glass thermometer I took out from my fish tank and washed properly before putting into the incubator shows 30… which one do I trust? Or would you say none of them are correct? I’m not sure if the hygrometer itself is even accurate at this point, it’s at 58% - got this one:

Humidity Meter, 2 Pack Indoor Thermometer Hygrometer Humidity Gauge Temperature and Humidity Monitor with Accurate Dual Sensors for Room, Reptiles, Plants, Greenhouse, Wine Cellar, Basement, Humidor https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08DJ6M...i_i_8HMABF5NQWV86Q3RMNDH?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I see the humidity issue now, okay. Keep spraying, every day, and keep the vent on the incubator open. Keep the humidity low, 20-30% is probably fine since they have no much to lose in such a short space of time. I ran mine dry for a day or two to get my last egg to lose some before hatch.

 

[WVduckchick]

I admit I’m a little lost here, and didn’t go back and read everything, I apologize.

Fish tank thermometers are usually the most accurate, but I’d still do the ice bath test on it.

I saw the pics, and it looks like 2 eggs still going?? Day 23?? I’d stop turning them and stop misting. Get the humidity around 60-70 and watch for draw down.

@Crossaint whereabouts are you located? Humidity for incubating can be very picky for different areas of the world. This article might be helpful for future hatches. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/incubation-humidity.73386/

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I have my drakes and my girls separated but they can all still see each other. When I’m out with them and can monitor I let them all be together.
I have 3 drakes and 4 girls
I turn my eggs 3-5 times per day. Uneven number is better as night is longer between turns so it’s not always the same side getting the longer wait.
Running a little dryer with humidity for the next few days may help to try and get the air cells a bit bigger.

 

[BelovedBirds]

I admit I’m a little lost here, and didn’t go back and read everything, I apologize.

Fish tank thermometers are usually the most accurate, but I’d still do the ice bath test on it.

I saw the pics, and it looks like 2 eggs still going?? Day 23?? I’d stop turning them and stop misting. Get the humidity around 60-70 and watch for draw down.

@Crossaint whereabouts are you located? Humidity for incubating can be very picky for different areas of the world. This article might be helpful for future hatches. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/incubation-humidity.73386/

I agree with you on accuracy, I was pretty sure fish tank thermometers are usually most accurate, but I misread it! I thought it said "39" somehow- and figured it was less than that--- My bad.
I reread and agree with you !

 

[Croissant]

frustratingly none are probably accurate! I would guess that the hygrometer is closer. But really you need a calibrated one. Can you calibrate the fish tank glass therometer? Then test it in the incubator again, that will tell you how much it is exactly. Basically you do half ice half water, and test the temp after a minute or two. The therometer should read zero. If it reads 1.5, you know its 1.5 too high and can subtract it to know the actual temp. I *THINK* this is how people calibrate. @Kiki please could you confirm or correct if I got anything wrong/am missing?

I never knew that was how you calibrate thermometers! I can give it a go

I admit I’m a little lost here, and didn’t go back and read everything, I apologize.

Fish tank thermometers are usually the most accurate, but I’d still do the ice bath test on it.

I saw the pics, and it looks like 2 eggs still going?? Day 23?? I’d stop turning them and stop misting. Get the humidity around 60-70 and watch for draw down.

@Crossaint whereabouts are you located? Humidity for incubating can be very picky for different areas of the world. This article might be helpful for future hatches. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/incubation-humidity.73386/

I’m in the UK - it’s not really a humid place. Should I boost humidity even though the air cells for both haven’t decreased much at all? I think for one egg there’s been a tiny decrease, just checked a moment ago.

If the glass thermometer is correct does that mean the temperature inside is actually 30C? Increased the temperature but it still doesn’t go above 30 in which case it’s really low, and the eggs are most likely delayed in development. What should I do?