HELP PLEASE!!!!! Runners in my bator and need to know what to do....

[Chick a dee1023]

HELP!!!!!

OK, so we are new (first hatch in bator now), we THINK we are at day 21 on our runner duck egg incubation, we looked at pics to get an idea of what to look for in the way of sizing the air sac. It seems smaller than it should be to me,(It did yesterday too, so I dropped hum to 50 and candled for the official day 21 candle to check progress). There was a bit of receding in the air sac, but not as much as I'd like, so I dropped hum down to btwn 40-43, but after fixing the bator, candling, and wiping the eggs down a bit (i was told that may help them "sweat more" and the air sac to grow) well, I put them back in and put a thermometer on top of them (there's only 2 eggs left) and they are moving a lot... the thermometer is rocking... Idk if we are further than day 21, or if this is normal. I need to know if I should up the hum to 70 and lock down, or if this is OK and they always do this so I should leave it low for the air sac to progress further.... PLEASE HELP!!!!!

 

[duckyfromoz]

Dont stress too much- there is still a week to go to try and sort out humidity issues and the size of the aircell. One important thing though- is not to handle the eggs too much as well. You dont really need to turn the humidity up until they are starting to hatch- so dont be raising it to 70 % just yet. A few more days on the lower rate will help to get the aircells to a better size.

 

[shicks0211]

don't panic. normally when they start rocking they're pretty close to hatching..but not always..keep an eye on them..have they pipped yet? once they pip then you'll know you're only a couple days away from hatch..(pipping if you didn't know is when you candle it and you can see the little beak in the airsack inside the egg and at this point when you hold it you'll hear them peeping) if you see that then stop turning and lock it down..if not then just be patient and watch them for a couple more days..don't stress too much about the humidity, I never do, i try to keep it regulated..but i've had almost 100% hatch rate and i don't mess with it too much..i switch incubators when i see them start cracking the egg and put a damp towel in if necessary to up the humidity and mist them..sounds like you're doing fine

 

[Chick a dee1023]

don't panic. normally when they start rocking they're pretty close to hatching..but not always..keep an eye on them..have they pipped yet? once they pip then you'll know you're only a couple days away from hatch..(pipping if you didn't know is when you candle it and you can see the little beak in the airsack inside the egg and at this point when you hold it you'll hear them peeping) if you see that then stop turning and lock it down..if not then just be patient and watch them for a couple more days..don't stress too much about the humidity, I never do, i try to keep it regulated..but i've had almost 100% hatch rate and i don't mess with it too much..i switch incubators when i see them start cracking the egg and put a damp towel in if necessary to up the humidity and mist them..sounds like you're doing fine

No pipping yet

. I want them to stay in there for a few more days so I can hopefully get the air sac bigger, They seem to be strong lil ones, my stupid bator temp went up to 102 twice, 104 the other day and dropped to 93 about a day or 2 after I put them in (it stayed beautifully at 99-100 for 3 days straight BEFORE I put them in), and they are very active in there when I candle (and now even in the bator lol).

. I'm so anxious for them to hatch, but I also don't want them to for a bit longer, I'm going crazy biting my nails here LOL! Thank you for replying!!

Dont stress too much- there is still a week to go to try and sort out humidity issues and the size of the aircell. One important thing though- is not to handle the eggs too much as well. You dont really need to turn the humidity up until they are starting to hatch- so dont be raising it to 70 % just yet. A few more days on the lower rate will help to get the aircells to a better size.

Thanks, yeah, that's what what I'm trying to do, I was just worried they were starting to internally pip and I didn't want them to start hatching over night and die from the humidity being too low. I'm trying not to handle them too much either, but I was stuck between a rock and a hard place... I didn't want to keep taking them out, but I was trying to keep an eye on the air sac for pipping so I could fix the humidity if they were. As of around midnight there still was no pipping yet so that's good lol

. Thanks again