I am day 30 of my eggs. I don't know why I don't have a hatch yet. My temperature has been consistent throughout the incubation period. Water has been in the reservoir the whole time. I can see a large air pocket in at least 2 of the eggs. I started with 10, got rid of 4 already that were not fertilized. I can see that ducklings grew inside the egg. Do I just have to be patient. Would could have caused the eggs to die if they did indeed die. I have a class of 23/5 year olds who are going to be so disappointed. I used the same incubator last year and hatched 4 ducks. Please tell me I still have hope.
Are any of the eggs moving? Did any pip yet? Can you hear anything if you hold the egg to your ear, either a quiet "rap, rap, rap" or chirping (both are good sounds to hear)? If the answer is yes to any of these, there is hope. You can do a float test too--but I've
only been told about it, never tried it.
I had one hatch on day 30 last year--I was really worried about it, but she turned out healthy and happy. My temp was a little too low on that hatch.
As for what went wrong, it could be a few things.
Where did the eggs come from? Shipped eggs are sometimes damaged in transit and can cause bad hatches.
What was the temp and humidity during incubation? Low temp causes delayed hatches, high temp kills the embryos. Like Amiga said, low humidity will "shrink wrap" the duckling.
How often did you turn the eggs? They need to be turned 3+ times a day to keep the embryos healthy.
Was the incubator sanitized before use? Bacterial growth can cause eggs to quit.
Was there any ventilation in the incubator? The embryos absorb oxygen through their shells. If the vents were closed or blocked on the incubator, it could cause quitters.
