Help Muscovy eggs

[Lin71]

Hi, I am a first time poster looking for some advice.
My Muscovy hen has been sat on her eggs for 36 days (I think dates correct) No sign of babies yet. I have candled eggs but not really sure what I am looking at. She has been very diligent and sat continuously only leaving to eat and bath. This morning I found she had laid a new egg in the nest. Is this a bad sign? I think I can see slight movement in some eggs but not sure if its me moving the torch! All the eggs smell good and one has a small crack in but it has not changed in 36 hours.I would be really grateful if someone with experience could give some advice as not sure if eggs are live. She will be a first time mum if she hatches the eggs. Photos attached
Thanks in advance
Lin
π

 

[BelovedBirds]

Hi, I am a first time poster looking for some advice.
My Muscovy hen has been sat on her eggs for 36 days (I think dates correct) No sign of babies yet. I have candled eggs but not really sure what I am looking at. She has been very diligent and sat continuously only leaving to eat and bath. This morning I found she had laid a new egg in the nest. Is this a bad sign? I think I can see slight movement in some eggs but not sure if its me moving the torch! All the eggs smell good and one has a small crack in but it has not changed in 36 hours.I would be really grateful if someone with experience could give some advice as not sure if eggs are live. She will be a first time mum if she hatches the eggs. Photos attached
Thanks in advance
Lin
π

the egg being candled is alive, if there are veins, they're alive. Are you certain she has been sitting for 36 days? If she started sitting 36 days ago, then I believe that meand they are on day 35, the first 24 hours don't count, at least with manually incubated eggs.

Could you get a clearer focused photo of the cracked egg?
If by any chance it is a pip, it can take 48 hours to go from pip to zip so don't panic. It does seem a little low, so if it is a pip then baby may be a little malpositioned.
Is she a first time broody?

 

[Lin71]

the egg being candled is alive, if there are veins, they're alive. Are you certain she has been sitting for 36 days? If she started sitting 36 days ago, then I believe that meand they are on day 35, the first 24 hours don't count, at least with manually incubated eggs.

Could you get a clearer focused photo of the cracked egg?
If by any chance it is a pip, it can take 48 hours to go from pip to zip so don't panic. It does seem a little low, so if it is a pip then baby may be a little malpositioned.
Is she a first time broody?

Thank you so much for your reply. Yes she is a first time broody. I will try to get better photo of cracked egg later when she comes off to eat. The crack is in middle of the egg, I cant see any movement and when candled to me it looks the same as the others? So I wondered if it was damaged rather than pipping? That is great news that the eggs are alive!! I am not sure of date as she laid 14 eggs and I think I started counting after around 6 as she was sitting and I am a new to ducks. I didn't know there were 14 until a week or so ago when I looked in nest properly for first time. so could I be as much as a week out? Does it matter that she has started laying again? New egg in the nest this morning. Definitely hers as I only have her and a drake.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Thank you so much for your reply. Yes she is a first time broody. I will try to get better photo of cracked egg later when she comes off to eat. The crack is in middle of the egg, I cant see any movement and when candled to me it looks the same as the others? So I wondered if it was damaged rather than pipping? That is great news that the eggs are alive!! I am not sure of date as she laid 14 eggs and I think I started counting after around 6 as she was sitting and I am a new to ducks. I didn't know there were 14 until a week or so ago when I looked in nest properly for first time. so could I be as much as a week out? Does it matter that she has started laying again? New egg in the nest this morning. Definitely hers as I only have her and a drake.

if you could, I would do a quick candle of every egg, and see if some are less developed than others. The worry is that once the first babies hatch, she could grow impatient with the other eggs and leave them. If she is laying new eggs, I would mark all the eggs under her and remove any new ones that she lays, I've never had broodies, I've only incubated manually, so keep in mind that I'm saying is simply what I've heard from others, and that you may soon get better opinions/advice.
Personally if I were ever to let my ducks brood, I would have an incubator on hand incase anything were to go wrong- do you have one?

The egg in the photo being candled looks quite developed, I would guess there are a few days left but I'm not certain.
If the cracked egg was broken rather than pipped, it's important to candle it to check for life- if baby is moving, and there are still veins, you can fix damaged eggs by dripping scentless candle wax over the crack, but it's *very* important to rule out that the egg is hatching before doing this- you dont want to block the air hole by mistake. Let me @Miss Lydia who I believe has had broodies before, and @WVduckchick who is great with hatching. Their opinions would be better/more experienced than mine!

 

[WVduckchick]

I agree, a more focused pic of the cracked egg would help.
But still, broodies usually know what they are doing, I am mostly hands off with mine. Timing can be very tough with broodies also, depending on your weather, temps, how much she on and off the nest, etc.
In general with broodies, they won’t normally start incubating the eggs until they start sleeping on them overnight. Even if they lay on them part of the day, they are mostly just regulating and prepping them. Then when they get enough eggs to satisfy them, they start sleeping on them. That’s when I mark the calendar as start time. But I always allow an additional week before I get worried! Lol
As far as new eggs, I’ve not seen one lay a new egg while brooding. I’ve had hundreds of broodies. Though if it happened to me, I’d assume another hen, so I’m not sure what to think about that!

So I would say just give her some time. But the cracked egg does concern me because if it’s broken, it can attract ants and other critters, so you would want to clean it up.
Also I prefer medical/paper tape on cracks instead of wax, just my preference.

Good luck! Post pics when they hatch.

 

[Lin71]

I agree, a more focused pic of the cracked egg would help.
But still, broodies usually know what they are doing, I am mostly hands off with mine. Timing can be very tough with broodies also, depending on your weather, temps, how much she on and off the nest, etc.
In general with broodies, they won’t normally start incubating the eggs until they start sleeping on them overnight. Even if they lay on them part of the day, they are mostly just regulating and prepping them. Then when they get enough eggs to satisfy them, they start sleeping on them. That’s when I mark the calendar as start time. But I always allow an additional week before I get worried! Lol
As far as new eggs, I’ve not seen one lay a new egg while brooding. I’ve had hundreds of broodies. Though if it happened to me, I’d assume another hen, so I’m not sure what to think about that!

So I would say just give her some time. But the cracked egg does concern me because if it’s broken, it can attract ants and other critters, so you would want to clean it up.
Also I prefer medical/paper tape on cracks instead of wax, just my preference.

Good luck! Post pics when they hatch.

Thank you for the reply I will attach a better photo of the cracked egg. I have removed the freshly laid egg as suggested. I have also candled all of the eggs tonight and numbered them. They all look pretty much the same and have veins so I think they are alive!!The most exciting thing was one of the eggs was peeping and another tapping! I was so delighted. Isn't nature AMAZING!!! (ha ha can you tell this is my first ever hatch!) The cracked egg looks a little different when candled but photos are not great as I was kneeling in the cupboard with it balanced on a head torch! I think I must of been a good few days out with the dates. Fingers crossed.All images are of cracked egg.
Thank you both for your help

 

[WVduckchick]

That must be the most odd crack I’ve ever seen in the side of a developing egg. It looks like another egg fell on it (not likely under a broody) or she accidentally stepped on it too hard, maybe it was up against another egg, and got smooshed in. It still seems to be developing, but I suspect it will quit. I would at least try to cover the dent with some tape.

Do you have an incubator? I’d consider moving it to the incubator, if it were me, or possibly even pitching it. You definitely don’t want it to break in the nest and make a mess.

 

[WVduckchick]

And by the way, hatching never gets old, or less amazing, even with a broody!

 

[Lin71]

That must be the most odd crack I’ve ever seen in the side of a developing egg. It looks like another egg fell on it (not likely under a broody) or she accidentally stepped on it too hard, maybe it was up against another egg, and got smooshed in. It still seems to be developing, but I suspect it will quit. I would at least try to cover the dent with some tape.

Do you have an incubator? I’d consider moving it to the incubator, if it were me, or possibly even pitching it. You definitely don’t want it to break in the nest and make a mess.

I will tape it in the morning when she leaves the nest. Unfortunately I dont have an incubator. I was looking at them on Amazon but wasn't sure where to start! Think it would be a good idea to have as a standby even if the cracked egg doesn't make it. Will a chicken egg incubator do the job? or is there a specific one for duck eggs?

 

[WVduckchick]

I will tape it in the morning when she leaves the nest. Unfortunately I dont have an incubator. I was looking at them on Amazon but wasn't sure where to start! Think it would be a good idea to have as a standby even if the cracked egg doesn't make it. Will a chicken egg incubator do the job? or is there a specific one for duck eggs?

Same type of incubator. Ducks take longer to hatch than chickens, and muscovies take longer than mallard derived ducks.
I recommend the Nurture Right 360 made by Harris Farms for a reasonably priced, effective incubator. I’d stay away from cheap knock-off models and styrofoam ones.