Help! Incubating Duck Eggs

[shellhick]

Tomorrow is day 28 which means my duck eggs could hatch. The problem is I have not seen any movement from the eggs. I have hatched chicken eggs three times and always remember seeing the egg move a day or two before they hatch. How long should I give these eggs? Last week we had a power outage for about 2 hours. Could my ducks be dead? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[sumi]

Have you candled them recently? The power outage and resulting cool down may have delayed their development a bit, but it wouldn't have killed them. Embryos can withstand cooler temperatures for certain periods, depending on the temperature, some I've read about here survived power failures and other mishaps like incubators getting turned off for 24 hours.

When I hatch eggs I'd sometimes see an egg wiggle before hatch, but often I do not see any sign of life until the little ones pip. So don't worry about the lack of movement.

 

[shellhick]

Thank you for the helpful information. I am a teacher and my class and I candled all 12 of the eggs today. One egg had a hole on top and seemed to be rotting inside. We cracked it open and it was brownish jello. It was very stinky. It appeared that the embryo did not even develop. Most of the other eggs look as though something is inside so we are still waiting. Today is their due date. I would like to add that I am not the greatest candler. I think I see something in the egg, but I feel like it should take up more room or be darker. Some of the eggs seem very translucent and one looked as though there was still liquid. After my research I have found that when some people candle they can see the duck bill. I don't see any of that. We had a very successful hatching with our chickens and would love to see the ducklings. We are getting a little discouraged. Thanks so much for all your help. I will keep you posted.

 

[sumi]

Here's some duck egg candling pics for reference:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/304863/duck-egg-candling-photo-diary

Good luck and fingers crossed for a good hatch!

 

[shellhick]

Thanks so much for the pictures. We just used them in class. It was a great way to show the kids what it should look like and to be able to compare to ours. We will keep you posted.

 

[sumi]

Please do!

 

[shellhick]

No ducks yet... Feeling discouraged.

 

[sumi]

The power failure you had wasn't long enough for the core temperature of the eggs to drop much, but it may have cooled them just enough to delay their development a bit. Sorry, I forgot to mention that in my first post. Also I found that sometimes, even in perfect incubation conditions, the eggs may hatch a day or two late. I've had an entire hatch under a broody hen start on day 22 only with the last chick hatching on day 25. So don't give up hope just yet!