I blew it. Now what?

[MikaylaLeslie]

I have an incubator full of welsh harlequin duck eggs. It’s day 24. This is only my second time incubating. First time was with muscovys and it was a disaster. Decided to try again and I tried really hard to just not worry too much. I’ve kept the temperature at 99.5 and humidity around 60%. I was preparing for tomorrow to take them out of the egg turner and drop the temperature/raise the humidity. I candeled them all last night and noticed that the air sac doesn’t seem all that big. I thought it meant the humidity was too low. Tonight I realized it means the humidity was too high. I’m now slightly panicked. On top of all of that I realized that at least one egg has already internally pipped. I took them out of the egg turner. I gave them all a good spray before putting them back in. What if anything should I do now? What temperature and humidity should I have it set to?

 

[Miss Lydia]

@FunnyfarmMidwest @WVduckchick @Pyxis

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

@FunnyfarmMidwest @WVduckchick @Pyxis

Sorry I didn’t get this tag for some reason.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

I have an incubator full of welsh harlequin duck eggs. It’s day 24. This is only my second time incubating. First time was with muscovys and it was a disaster. Decided to try again and I tried really hard to just not worry too much. I’ve kept the temperature at 99.5 and humidity around 60%. I was preparing for tomorrow to take them out of the egg turner and drop the temperature/raise the humidity. I candeled them all last night and noticed that the air sac doesn’t seem all that big. I thought it meant the humidity was too low. Tonight I realized it means the humidity was too high. I’m now slightly panicked. On top of all of that I realized that at least one egg has already internally pipped. I took them out of the egg turner. I gave them all a good spray before putting them back in. What if anything should I do now? What temperature and humidity should I have it set to?

I hatch call ducklings and have had quite a few develop with significantly smaller air cells. A lot of the time those seem to do fine. There’s not much you can do this late but I’ve used a damp (not wet) cloth to gently remove the bloom. This allows more moisture to escape. It’s up to you though. If a few have internally pipped I’m thinking they’ll be ok without help. Maybe @WVduckchick will be around to help you. She’s taught me a lot and helped me out many times.

I always keep my incubator temperature at 99.5 (forced air) for pekin eggs and don’t change it during lockdown. For humidity I usually keep it at 50-55 during incubation then up it to around 65-70 during lockdown and hatching but it depends on factors such as location.

best of luck!

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

I have an incubator full of welsh harlequin duck eggs. It’s day 24. This is only my second time incubating. First time was with muscovys and it was a disaster. Decided to try again and I tried really hard to just not worry too much. I’ve kept the temperature at 99.5 and humidity around 60%. I was preparing for tomorrow to take them out of the egg turner and drop the temperature/raise the humidity. I candeled them all last night and noticed that the air sac doesn’t seem all that big. I thought it meant the humidity was too low. Tonight I realized it means the humidity was too high. I’m now slightly panicked. On top of all of that I realized that at least one egg has already internally pipped. I took them out of the egg turner. I gave them all a good spray before putting them back in. What if anything should I do now? What temperature and humidity should I have it set to?

Is there movement?

 

[MikaylaLeslie]

Is there movement?

Lots! There’s about 35 eggs there about and all of them are moving like crazy as of last night.

 

[MikaylaLeslie]

I hatch call ducklings and have had quite a few develop with significantly smaller air cells. A lot of the time those seem to do fine. There’s not much you can do this late but I’ve used a damp (not wet) cloth to gently remove the bloom. This allows more moisture to escape. It’s up to you though. If a few have internally pipped I’m thinking they’ll be ok without help. Maybe @WVduckchick will be around to help you. She’s taught me a lot and helped me out many times.

I always keep my incubator temperature at 99.5 (forced air) for pekin eggs and don’t change it during lockdown. For humidity I usually keep it at 50-55 during incubation then up it to around 65-70 during hatching but it depends on factors such as location.

best of luck!

That gives me hope! Thank you so much.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

That gives me hope! Thank you so much.

Of course! I hope they hatch.

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

Lots! There’s about 35 eggs there about and all of them are moving like crazy as of last night.

I wouldn’t worry about them then. I don’t gage my humidity at all.

 

[WVduckchick]

The air cells don't look too awful to me, though I'm glad you said there is movement, because those 2 pictured could be mistaken for quitters.
Personally, I would delay increasing the humidity until I saw drawdown, just to give them the maximum time to lose as much moisture as possible. If you haven't seen it yet, the Red link in my signature block below is my article on Incubation Humidity. There are a couple other tips that might help you.

Good luck! Welshies are sooooo beautiful, I hope you end up with a great hatch!