HELP! I am now mama to 17 duck eggs and lost as can be...

[mtadkins5]

Update: 11 of my ducklings died

I have 4 on life support! It has been 5 1/2 hours now and all are still breathing. The are all still in the lower halves of their shells though. It was so hard to get into the eggs.It was like plaster! 3 look pretty good. I decided to help after 1 of my 4 left shell started to change like the others. I took pics along the way and will post them soon.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Update: 11 of my ducklings died

I have 4 on life support! It has been 5 1/2 hours now and all are still breathing. The are all still in the lower halves of their shells though. It was so hard to get into the eggs.It was like plaster! 3 look pretty good. I decided to help after 1 of my 4 left shell started to change like the others. I took pics along the way and will post them soon.

Aww I'm so sorry , BUT keep thinking positive you have done what most could not, it's not that easy to hatch in a bator. Hoping for the rest!!!

 

[joelharris]

Just read your thread you are doing really wel to hatch without a broody or incubator i have just set 7 muscovey eggs in my incubator on thursday and havent candled them yet. if any one has any tips about looking after muscovey ducks and ducklings please reply.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Just read your thread you are doing really wel to hatch without a broody or incubator i have just set 7 muscovey eggs in my incubator on thursday and havent candled them yet. if any one has any tips about looking after muscovey ducks and ducklings please reply.

Hi and

here is some good reading found in the sticky's at top left of duck thread... keep us posted on your eggs.. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/incubating-and-hatching-muscovy-eggshttps://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings#post_10611711

 

[joelharris]

ok thanks that was very helpful . does anyone no how long you are meant to dry incubate Muscovy eggs for?

 

[Miss Lydia]

ok thanks that was very helpful . does anyone no how long you are meant to dry incubate Muscovy eggs for?

INCUBATION
all shipped eggs should be incubated for the first 36 to 48 hours standing upright (pointy end down) and NOT TURNED for those first 36 to 48 hours
after the first 48 hours has passed you can turn on the autoturner... they still need to be upright and autoturned for best results...
after day 15 you will still leave them in the autoturner.. but you can lay them GENTLY on their sides or tilt them at a 45º angle... remember that the tissue inside will still be delicate.. and if handled wrong you can still kill the embryo.. once on their sides or tilted to the side they should be turned once a day by hand.. so if the X is on the side facing up.. turn them once a day so that the opposite side is facing up and so on. When removing them for weighing (after day 15) be careful that the eggs are not handled too roughly

For home grown eggs .. (assuming their air cells look to be perfect) place them in the incubator laying on their sides. If room in the bator is an issue you can incubate them upright however it's more of a natural position for them to be on their sides for incubation and that makes for better hatch rates. You will still need to place them in an autoturner (for best results) and hand turn them completely once a day (using the X & O method). Turn the autoturner on after the first 24 hours of incubation.
Monitor the air cells and weight at least once a week and adjust the humidity as needed.. be careful when removing the eggs from the incubator that you do not bump or jar them.

* ~ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ~ *​

MISTING AND COOLING
You can mist and cool the eggs once a day after day 10 (cooling for 10 to 15 minutes a day) if the air cells are in good shape.. however misting them will also cause more evaporation from the eggs (though it is minimal).. so if the air cells (or weight) is too great hold off on the misting.. the misting is more important during the last two weeks.. (I'm experimenting with an additive to be added to the water .. it should increase hatch rates even more for most people and also increase the health and hardiness of the ducklings after hatch) (I will update this with the info once I have completed the experiment)

here's the cooling & misting schedule I go by:
COOLING WATERFOWL (the basics)
I start cooling incubating eggs on day 7.of incubation for 5 to 10 minutes (for muscovy eggs I move that to day 10)
on day 14: I raise the time to 15 minutes and also start misting the eggs at the beginning of the cooling period
on day 21 and til external pipping: it goes to 20 minutes of cooling with the misting at the beginning of the cooling period per day

* ~ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ~ *​

HATCHING
for temps.. 99.5 ºF until the first internal pip (lockdown).. then I drop the temp down to 98 to 98.5 ºF and increase humidity to 60% or better.. also after the eggs are internally pipped if they are not already laying on their sides.. they should be.. if you have a separate hatcher without a fan then that's even better
"Lockdown" for Muscovy eggs should be around day 32 (give or take a few days).. candle the eggs and check for internal pips (when you can see the duckling's bill in the air cell). You may also be able to hear the duckling peeping. When you can see the bill in the air cell or hear the eggs peeping then lock them down. IF you don't see any internal pips or hear any peeping then they may need an additional day or two.
At hatch a still air machine would be preferred (the 98 - 98.5 ºF temp is for forced air machines) since the location of a fans in most commercial forced air incubators are designed to blow directly onto the eggs. If the bird in question is a slow baby (especially if it makes a large pip then rests for too long) the fan blowing directly on it can dry it out too much causing it to get stuck to the inner membrane. or causing the membrane to become too tough to break through.. Assistance would be required otherwise the baby would eventually weaken from all the struggling and die. If you only have a forced air bator which has a bad fan location.. you can cover the eggs with a paper towel or soft cloth to help block the fan from blowing directly on them... there are a few forced air models where this isn't a problem.. so you would have to check your incubator and see exactly how the air is circulated.

* ~ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ~ *​

OTHER EGGS
for shipped chicken and turkey eggs you can still use some of the methods I have listed..However the humidity at hatch for turkey eggs needs to be higher (80% or better).. plus chickens and turkeys do not need to be misted.. so the above instructions would need to be modified a bit to fit the species in question

Other types of waterfowl can be incubated the same way as Muscovys (incubation lengths will vary according to type of bird)

Percentages of weight loss will vary from species to species.. emu eggs for example need to lose 12 to 15% of their weight (+/- 1.2%) during their entire incubation



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ng
looks to me she is saying you dry incubate up until day 10 then you start missing and cooling them

 

[sweetmsmisty98]

hoping you have survivors

 

[momo18clara]

Update: 11 of my ducklings died

I have 4 on life support! It has been 5 1/2 hours now and all are still breathing. The are all still in the lower halves of their shells though. It was so hard to get into the eggs.It was like plaster! 3 look pretty good. I decided to help after 1 of my 4 left shell started to change like the others. I took pics along the way and will post them soon.

I`m so sorry!

At least you gave them a chance. That's more than they would have had without you!

I guess now just try to put that behind you as much as you can and concentrate on the ones that are still alive. If the shell was like plaster, you are defintally going to have to help them. They`ll never get out on their own. Follow the assisted hatching instructions and start helping them. Just do your best. That's all that anyone could ask for.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

 

[Johnson5326]

Oh no! Hoping your last few make it

 

[mtadkins5]

I have stared at this computer long enough so here is my update. Yesterday afternoon I lost 2 ducklings but the other 2 seemed to be coming along slowly but surely. Last night the other 2 were chirping and 3/4 out of their shells. They were weak but seemed ok. I sat with them till about 3:30 in the morning but had to get some sleep. At 5:45 when I checked on them they were dead

I can't believe this has affected me the way it has but I am crushed. Thank you all for following this thread and I so hate this is how it has ended.