HELP HELP HELLLLLPPPPP!!!!

[switzeka]

This is my first time hatching anything! I am a kindergarten teacher and got eggs from a local farm who has had great success with their hatching eggs. I got 21 chicken eggs and three duck eggs. I did everything out of the book that I've read about with the exception of having something to measure the humidity. I wanted my students to see the growth of the chick inside the egg so we candled them about every three days. I had 8 eggs that developed, and of those 8 I had 4 that developed. On day 26 when none of them had hatched I took them out, candled them, and did a water test to find that none of them were moving. I cracked them open and found that the chicks had feathers and from pictures looked to have developed to about day 18.

On another note today is day 29 for my runner ducks. One of them has peeped then stopped moving. My class left for recess and when we came back the temperature had dropped to about 86. I turned the incubator up and it went up to about 105. I turned it down and it has stayed at 102. I got scared because the duckling was not moving so I picked a little bit of the egg shell off and it started to move again. After about an hour it stopped moving and I picked a little bit more of the shell off and pulled a smidgen of the membrane off. I could see blood vessels but they were all completely in tack with no loss of blood.

I am fearful that the membrane and shell will dry up and the duckling will die overnight. I can still see what looks like a pulse but it is very weak. I can see the ducklings bill but it is not moving or attempting to get out of the shell/membrane.

 

[DeerFangRanch]

I think the "fatal flaw" was in not measuring humidity.

 

[shicks0211]

I disagree. I have hatched many, many eggs in the incubator and I still don't have anything that measures the humidity. I put some water in and make sure I add to it when i candle the eggs..then when it's hatch time I mist them and put in a damp towel and have about a 90% hatch rate. I don't make myself crazy with the humidity level/ size of the air sack and what not..although some swear by it. I think your fatal flaw was lack of patience. Some times I could swear i see no movement but what you have to understand is a few days before hatch its not got a lot of room to move, i've almost thrown eggs away, then decided to wait and 3 days go by and they hatch and I see no movement. (until they pip..then you can see their little beak and breathing movement. With your egg that you've cracked a bit (btw..BAD idea) obviously he isn't ready to hatch..what i'd do is maybe take a papertowel and wet it..and put it over the little open area..don't cover the whole egg..just tear off a piece big enough to fit and keep it moist..don't spray the egg with water while thats open because you could drown the little guy..then just mist your eggs..close it up..and wait patiently..check for the next couple days to see if he's hatching..if his little beak goes into the air sack. the temp should be at 9.6 to 99.8..so 102 is a little warm for him. I'd maybe sit the egg on top of a warm moist papertowel to help with the humidity in there and make it easier for him to get out. If he lives. Let us know..I hope he survives!

 

[jdywntr]

Humidity is important but chicken and duck eggs require different incubation parameters so incubating them together is difficult. Measuring the humidity is important, especially if you are new at incubating as too much will drown the embryos and too little will dry them out.

 

[shicks0211]

humidity is definitely important..but i think if you keep it humid and not dry in the incubator you'll be ok..you can get something to measure humidity though in like a cigar shop.

 

[coffeekittie]

I am now having more successful hatches and one of the things I changed was worrying and fussing with the humidity. It does matter, but temps and as one reply said, patience are more important in my opinion. Caveat: I live in a moist area of the world, and humidity is never lacking.

Keeping that open part of the shell moist with filtered, warm water would be a good idea.

 

[switzeka]

Oh my word! I have worried and fretted over this process. I think it was a poor decision on my part to try and incubate eggs the first time in my classroom in front of my students. I wanted them to live and be successful so much that I candled them every few days and handled the eggs quite a bit. I was unsure about how long it would take for them to hatch so when he stopped moving I thought I was doing the right thing by trying to help it. :/ today I did a water test and candled them one last time for movement before I opened them myself. One of my ducklings had a crooked bill and the tongue was hanging out one side. The other two were well developed however there was quite a bit of yolk left outside the ducklings body. I'm not sure what that means...any suggestions as to what could have caused it not to absorb (take in) the rest of the yolk? So...I cried the whole way home yesterday because I was so sad that my eggs were completely unsuccessful. I plan on trying again over the summer changing a few things like temperature consistency, measuring humidity, not handling them as much, and only incubating one kind of egg. better luck next time I hope.

 

[shicks0211]

well, they sort of absorb the yolk right about at hatch time..in fact some of mine still have kind of a "yolk sack" attached when they come out and they just walk away from it..not usually though. it's only happened a couple times. One, turn the incubator on before you get the eggs and watch it for a couple days to make sure it's maintaining the temperature between 99.6 and 99.8...consistantly. Go to a cigar shop and get something to measure the humidity and maintain it between 60% and 65% or so until 3 days before hatch and then up it to about 72%. I candle my eggs about a week after i put them in to check which ones are developing and toss out any duds. Add water and what not. After that I candle them maybe every 4 or 5 days..pretty much when I have to add water. Never help the ducklings hatch..even if it's day 28 and you feel they'll be fully formed and you can see them moving. I have helped one or two hatch but only after they've struggled for a day or two and then i just take a couple pieces to make it easier for them to com out themselves, never hatch them out the entire way. If you don't have a self turner, you MUST open the incubator a minimum of 3 times a day and turn the eggs, if you don't you'll get deformities. and patience, patience, patience..it's maddening sometimes but you just have to sit on your hands..lol With doing these things, even first time incubators should get at least a couple to hatch. My first hatch i had about a 70% hatch rate. You'll get it, don't get discouraged...and even this was a learning experience for the kids..look how much mommie duck has to keep track of to get her perfect babies out..she knows to turn them, she knows when to sit..it's amazing really that these babies hatch from what looks like nothing and grow into a baby chick, duck, bird or what ever. Good luck on your next hatch..don't stress..you almost got it!!

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

And I will add that candling a lot can cause losses too. If I were going to incubate for a classroom (worthy project, by the way!) I would do it at Day 15 for Ducks (Don't some Chicken Keepers Reccommend Day 10?) then I wouldn't do it again til the eggs were past the hatch date. Too much candling can be dangerous to your ducklings, and I've noticed here that the eggs I've candled less have had better hatch rates.