Help! Why do our ducklings keep dying during hatching?

[tayjamieson]

The eggs you are hatching...where do they come from?

I'm getting the eggs from our own ducks, I went into more detail on the reply I just posted a second ago about their diet and lifestyle if that info is helpful!

 

[tayjamieson]

What did this last little duckling's poop look like?

Funny you ask that because the duckling that hatched 3 days ago, which (seems) to be doing great, it's poop was green/runny at firs and I was worried. Today it's more solid and dark brown.

 

[tayjamieson]

Tay i went on your profile and read your other thread.

Again, i really think your temps are too low. What sort of incubator are u using? I saw you have it all sanitized, and set to 99 but some incubators dont stay at that temp just right, it might be falling too low too often if say therea a draft.

where is it located? I like to keep mine inside a barely used cabniet to help the temp stay as stable as possible.

Thank You so much for reading my other posts!

Uh-oh the draft could be my culprit - they are inside our guest bedroom and our house is a very very old farmhouse with little to no insulation so it gets pretty cold inside our house and the room the incubator is in. Shoot!

 

[Kiki]

I have a couple things going on - I have had 2 eggs that turned black on the day of or after they are due and they didn't hatch so at some point they died I just don't know exactly when or how and I'd like to figure it out. Thats why I mentioned that we have had to help every duckling crack through the shell/membrane because they couldn't break it themselves and seemed to be getting exhausted.

The other issue is that I continue to have ducklings hatch with an unabsorbed yolk, pretty much every single one was born with it. Luckily most have survived it but we have had a couple die that had it so I don't know what we are doing that is causing that for every duckling :/

Yes I get my eggs from our own ducks, I have 3 adult male "jumbo pekin" ducks and 3 adult females. They are in a big grassy field all day, only in their coop at night time for safety. They eat mostly what they forage and then they have access to some crumble, for them we currently use Nutrena All Flock Crumble 20% protein right now as well as scratch grains here and there and crushed granite grit. Sometimes we feed them warm oatmeal, scrambled eggs, food scraps from dinner, etc. I switch between 16%-20% depending on the time of year. Is their diet OK? I didn't even think to evaluate that!

Our incubator is 2 months old so I thought that it would be accurate but clearly I did not know what I was doing! Next time I will be SURE to have thermometers.

Does anyone have a TYPE of thermometer they use that they highly recommend? Like digital, glass, etc.? and where do you place them?

First...did you open the dark eggs up to see if a duck developed or if the egg just rotted? I'm guessing here but if you are having to open all the eggs yourself then you might be opening them just too soon since the yolks are not absorbed. If your temps have been too low then they will take longer to hatch on their own.

Parent stock diet is very important. If they don't get a complete diet ( a complete feed made for ducks) then they won't make healthy babies.

Unfortunately I don't know proper duck feeds at this time but if I had to guess I'd say feed them only a complete feed and limit all treats.

 

[Kiki]

Funny you ask that because the duckling that hatched 3 days ago, which (seems) to be doing great, it's poop was green/runny at firs and I was worried. Today it's more solid and dark brown.

First poops are green so as long as it was just the very first poops that's ok.

 

[tayjamieson]

First...did you open the dark eggs up to see if a duck developed or if the egg just rotted? I'm guessing here but if you are having to open all the eggs yourself then you might be opening them just too soon since the yolks are not absorbed. If your temps have been too low then they will take longer to hatch on their own.

Parent stock diet is very important. If they don't get a complete diet ( a complete feed made for ducks) then they won't make healthy babies.

Unfortunately I don't know proper duck feeds at this time but if I had to guess I'd day feed them only a complete feed and limit all treats.

I haven't opened them up but I will do so to get the bottom of things. I bet temperature and humidity are probably my culprits which is so silly because it's the first thing you set up, ugh.

I can't thank you and everyone else enough for listening to me and helping me figure this out. We have 3 more eggs that are due any day now, I'm praying that at least one will survive so that the other baby duckling has a buddy his age to hang out with. What temp. and humidity should the incubator be at when its hatching time? Just so I can at least attempt to get it right while they hatch.

 

[Kiki]

Here are a couple links that you might be interested in reading.
(I still think, even though I am guessing, that the temp is your main problem.)

https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8127.pdf

http://animalsciencey.ucdavis.edu/avian/pfs33.htm

https://aglifesciences.tamu.edu/pos.../08/EPS-001-Incubating-and-Hatching-Eggs1.pdf

 

[Kiki]

I haven't opened them up but I will do so to get the bottom of things. I bet temperature and humidity are probably my culprits which is so silly because it's the first thing you set up, ugh.

I can't thank you and everyone else enough for listening to me and helping me figure this out. We have 3 more eggs that are due any day now, I'm praying that at least one will survive so that the other baby duckling has a buddy his age to hang out with. What temp. and humidity should the incubator be at when its hatching time? Just so I can at least attempt to get it right while they hatch.

Which incubator do you have?

 

[mixedUPturk]

Thank You so much for reading my other posts!

Uh-oh the draft could be my culprit - they are inside our guest bedroom and our house is a very very old farmhouse with little to no insulation so it gets pretty cold inside our house and the room the incubator is in. Shoot!

Yes i too live in one of those old houses the inner rooms stay warm and the outer ones cool during winter every year

Im glad i read your other thread dear, u seem very sweet and willing to do everything you can for your poultry.

 

[Kiki]

Yes i too live in one of those old houses the inner rooms stay warm and the outer ones cool during winter every year

Im glad i read your other thread dear, u seem very sweet and willing to do everything you can for your poultry.

Other thread?


Going look now, thanks for mentioning it.