Help!

[callmekiwi13]

I ordered duck eggs from Metzer Farms. I live in NC and I received them from California two days after I ordered them. I received 14 eggs instead of the original 12 that I ordered which was awesome and I was very pleased with the shipping time. But October 28th (yesterday) was hatching day, but I only had two ducklings hatch. I had two rotten Pekin eggs, and the other 10 eggs haven't hatched yet and it's October 29th. I ordered Pekin, Cayuga and Chocolate Runners. I have one Pekin and one Runner as of right now that have hatched. I knew when I got the eggs that I wouldn't get all of them to hatch, but I didn't expect to just get two... Is it normal to have a hatchign rate as low as this? I have no Cayuga ducklings to hatch yet. Is it normal to have ducks hatch late? How late can these few duck breeds hatch (Pekin, Chocolate Runners and Cayuga)? What do I need to do to help them hatch? I candled them when I got them and the air cells were big enough, then I candled them again after one week of incubation and you could see veins so something was growing. I candled some of them today and you could see what looks like a duckling, and it all looked intact, it didn't look like runny gunk like the rotten eggs did when I candled them... I sprinkled the eggs with water and put a wet sponge in the incubator today. I'm using the incubator my animal science teacher is providing for me at school. I'm just scared that I won't get anymore to hatch but I'm trying to keep hope. Any suggestions on what I should do? Or is it too late for them to hatch? Also, is Metzer Farms a good trust worthy business? Any information/suggestions/opinions are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Vosh Sahaal]

They can hatch up to four days late pretty easily. Give each one a good sniff, you can usually tell if one dies a couple days after. Also make sure you listen closely. If the incubator has something wrong (could even have too much O2) you can get really low hatch rates.

 

[callmekiwi13]

I discarded two rotten eggs yesterday and it doesn't smell as bad now around the incubator, but is it still supposed to stink? The humidity is now 86 and the temperature is 95. It doesn't seem to want to move higher and I'm working on fixing it now. But is there anything else i should/can do? Should I turn the temperature up higher than I had it before my first two ducklings hatched? I'm losing hope and I don't know what to do.

 

[Vosh Sahaal]

To me (not an expert) it sounds to me like you either had bad luck on the eggs (metzer has an excellent record over all) or an incubator malfunction. My suggestion would be to contact metzer and ask to compare notes. Let them know your temp and humidity throughout the process as well as the type of incubator. All info is useful including your turning schedule. By their policy (it is reasonable) they are not required to refund you. But they can probably work with you to figure out the problem. Also they may give you a courtesy discount on your next order. Your info also improves their hatch rates.

 

[callmekiwi13]

Thank you so much!