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

[BelovedBirds]

Oh ok that makes sense! It was touching the bottom earlier so maybe that was the issue, I’ll elevate it and see if there’s a difference while waiting for the water to ice!

Something I noticed was that the only the two eggs on the top right developed but when I moved them to keep them away from the foul egg, the other ones that ended up at in that place were a bit cold to the touch, they weren’t warm, is that because they were dead?

Aww such cuties! Congratulations! What incubator did you use, hygrometer and thermometer? If I plan to hatch anymore I’m considering buying a new incubator that works better given this one still causes issues after calibrating everything but I’m not sure which one would be good. An automatically rotating one would’ve been ideal so on days where I’m home late there’s no issue but in that case which one has a more reliable rotator? (how do i calibrate an incubator btw and a humidity meter? Or is it not possible to calibrate a whole incubator and will I have to use the external meters to find the right temperature and water volume I’ll need to add before putting in eggs)

it's possible that the incubator has cool spots.
But sometimes the eggs do go a little cooler when they've passed- it would be necessary to candle them looking for veins and movement to determine whether theyre okay or not.
Generally its not necessary or possible to calibrate the entire incubator. Just separate thermometer. It is possible to calibrate a hygrometer too, I'm not too sure how that's done. I think it uses salt?

 

[Croissant]

it's possible that the incubator has cool spots.
But sometimes the eggs do go a little cooler when they've passed- it would be necessary to candle them looking for veins and movement to determine whether theyre okay or not.
Generally its not necessary or possible to calibrate the entire incubator. Just separate thermometer. It is possible to calibrate a hygrometer too, I'm not too sure how that's done. I think it uses salt?

I found a video on it but it takes 24 hours so it probably won’t be possible - especially since it means removing the meter and I’ve been using that to keep an eye on the humidity.

Oh and both the incubator and the glass thermometer are still showing the same temperature, so does that mean the incubator might actually be accurate?

 

[BelovedBirds]

I found a video on it but it takes 24 hours so it probably won’t be possible - especially since it means removing the meter and I’ve been using that to keep an eye on the humidity.

Oh and both the incubator and the glass thermometer are still showing the same temperature, so does that mean the incubator might actually be accurate?

did you calibrate the glass thermometer?

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Humidity is at 44%, should I dry run the incubator and spritz the egg every day in order to get the air cell to catch up during the last few days? Or go ahead and top up the water, or wait till I’ve calibrated the thermometer before adjusting humidity as well?

If it was me I would run around 30-35 % till lockdown. Your lockdown may be a day or two later. Just keep watch on the eggs for shadowing , air cell drop of there is lots of liquid still you could do the lockdown stuff but leave humidity low for another day
Once you see the air cell drop or shadowing along the air cell up it so it’s good for hatch
If they have smaller air cells they will probably external pip much earlier but still take the same regular time to hatch
A lady who bought my eggs a month ago ran really high humidity through days 1-25( 80-85 %) then 90-95% at lockdown
Her little ones had small air cells and external pipped really early but took 48-56 hours to actual hatch

 

[WVduckchick]

Oh ok that makes sense! It was touching the bottom earlier so maybe that was the issue, I’ll elevate it and see if there’s a difference while waiting for the water to ice!

Something I noticed was that the only the two eggs on the top right developed but when I moved them to keep them away from the foul egg, the other ones that ended up at in that place were a bit cold to the touch, they weren’t warm, is that because they were dead?

Aww such cuties! Congratulations! What incubator did you use, hygrometer and thermometer? If I plan to hatch anymore I’m considering buying a new incubator that works better given this one still causes issues after calibrating everything but I’m not sure which one would be good. An automatically rotating one would’ve been ideal so on days where I’m home late there’s no issue but in that case which one has a more reliable rotator? (how do i calibrate an incubator btw and a humidity meter? Or is it not possible to calibrate a whole incubator and will I have to use the external meters to find the right temperature and water volume I’ll need to add before putting in eggs)

A dead egg can definitely feel cooler to the touch. Or could be warmer/cooler spots in the incubator.

I have several incubators. A couple old Brinsea Octagon 20’s that are fabulous, but I rarely use them now. I also have 2 Brinsea Mini’s that only hold 7 eggs each, that I use often for small hatches.
But my recommendation would be a Nurture Right 360 (made by Harris Farms). I use it the most now. It holds 22 eggs, I believe, and has automatic rotation, and the view during hatching is the absolute best! They do need to be calibrated out of the box, but it’s a very reliable incubator for a decent price. Brinsea’s are expensive, in comparison.

Humidity is at 44%, should I dry run the incubator and spritz the egg every day in order to get the air cell to catch up during the last few days? Or go ahead and top up the water, or wait till I’ve calibrated the thermometer before adjusting humidity as well?

I would run dry and stop misting the eggs. Watch for internal pips, then crank up the humidity as soon as you see the first pip.

 

[Croissant]

did you calibrate the glass thermometer?

I just did it - it was 0.3 off of 0 in the ice water (put it in there for 2 minutes after waiting a minute) so that means it’s pretty accurate doesnt it? It was 0.3 higher. When I took it out of the incubator it read 38.8 so I think the temperature is at 38.5

A dead egg can definitely feel cooler to the touch. Or could be warmer/cooler spots in the incubator.

I have several incubators. A couple old Brinsea Octagon 20’s that are fabulous, but I rarely use them now. I also have 2 Brinsea Mini’s that only hold 7 eggs each, that I use often for small hatches.
But my recommendation would be a Nurture Right 360 (made by Harris Farms). I use it the most now. It holds 22 eggs, I believe, and has automatic rotation, and the view during hatching is the absolute best! They do need to be calibrated out of the box, but it’s a very reliable incubator for a decent price. Brinsea’s are expensive, in comparison.

I would run dry and stop misting the eggs. Watch for internal pips, then crank up the humidity as soon as you see the first pip.

If it was me I would run around 30-35 % till lockdown. Your lockdown may be a day or two later. Just keep watch on the eggs for shadowing , air cell drop of there is lots of liquid still you could do the lockdown stuff but leave humidity low for another day
Once you see the air cell drop or shadowing along the air cell up it so it’s good for hatch
If they have smaller air cells they will probably external pip much earlier but still take the same regular time to hatch
A lady who bought my eggs a month ago ran really high humidity through days 1-25( 80-85 %) then 90-95% at lockdown
Her little ones had small air cells and external pipped really early but took 48-56 hours to actual hatch

Ooh ok I’ll compare prices and see which one is more manageable for me but I’ll probably go for the cheapest one if it works really well! I misted the eggs this morning but I won’t mist them anymore from here on to keep them dry.

And when I completely dry run the humidity drops to 20 but adding a little bit of water jumps it to 60 and then it gets down to about 55-58ish, I’ll try getting it down to 30-35 though, might use a damp cloth instead of topping the water.

should I decrease the temperature by a whole degrees as well since it’s at 38.5 based on the calibrated thermometer?

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I just did it - it was 0.3 off of 0 in the ice water (put it in there for 2 minutes after waiting a minute) so that means it’s pretty accurate doesnt it? It was 0.3 higher. When I took it out of the incubator it read 38.8 so I think the temperature is at 38.5View attachment 3065760
View attachment 3065761


Ooh ok I’ll compare prices and see which one is more manageable for me but I’ll probably go for the cheapest one if it works really well! I misted the eggs this morning but I won’t mist them anymore from here on to keep them dry.

And when I completely dry run the humidity drops to 20 but adding a little bit of water jumps it to 60 and then it gets down to about 55-58ish, I’ll try getting it down to 30-35 though, might use a damp cloth instead of topping the water.

should I decrease the temperature by a whole degrees as well since it’s at 38.5 based on the calibrated thermometer?

I think @WVduckchick suggested run dry so 20 % would be fine
She has hatchec a lot of babies
I always take her advice.

 

[Croissant]

I think @WVduckchick suggested run dry so 20 % would be fine
She has hatchec a lot of babies
I always take her advice.

Alright I’ll do that with the humidity!

 

[Croissant]

An update! So the air cell for one of the eggs has decreased by a lot:

The other egg however might have died:

I don’t see any movement and the other side looks a bit weird

Not to mention on the other side of the egg, there’s a spot with no veins as if the large vein going towards there has been cut off somehow.

 

[Croissant]

Humidity is at 60% and temperature 36.8C roughly