I candled my pekin duck eggs, are they fertile?

[StitchMyStars6]

#1 - 11/14

#2 - 11/15

#3 - 11/16

#4 - 11/17

#5 - 11/18

no egg on 19th
#6 - 11/20

#7 - 11/21

#8 - 11/22

#9 - 11/23

no egg on 24th
#10 - 11/25

#11 - 11/26

#12 - 11/27

I haven't seen any veins or blood rings or specific spots within the eggs. The yolk, or whatever I'm looking at, are sorta dark in some, but I still can't tell if they're fertile or not. Could these be duds I've been incubating all this time? I'd hope to at least get one to hatchif there's ever a chance...

 

[Amiga]

Since I am not a hatcher, I can only point you toward this

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/491013/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed

and see if you can get some help from it. There is also a Thread Formerly Known as Hatch Day Is Today, with hatchers who check in.

What kind of incubator are you using, and what temperature and humidity do you have? Not that I can do much with that information, but I read the hatchers asking that question

 

[learycow]

What day did you candle them on?
From looking at those pictures, none are fertile. But if you candled them early, they may not be developed enough to show yet.

 

[StitchMyStars6]

I have been candling every night. So far I have 13 eggs. Each picture is dated through the 14th-27th of this month. It's really hard for me to tell, but I'm thinking they're not fertile either :/ I've got 2 pekin girls and 1 crested boy. The past 2 months, he's been getting very frisky with the ladies, in the pool mostly. So I'd imagine some eggs would turn out fertile.

 

[DuckyGurl]

I don't know if they are fertile or not, but I don't think they should be candled every night.........

 

[learycow]

ok, so the eggs from the 14th and around there are about 2 weeks old. So if that's what they look like when candled, then they are not fertile.

Also, as said above, candling every night is not good for them. Every time you open the incubator you lower the temp (fluctuating temps are not good for the eggs) but you are also lowering the humidity.

Here's my suggestion:
1. Collect eggs for 4-5 days. Leave them at room temp (65-70 degrees) pointy end down. Then put them in the incubator all at once. Putting in 1-2 eggs a day, every day, is not good as you are doing the same thing as when you candle them daily, fluctuating the temp and humidity).
2. LEAVE them in the incubator, temp around 99.5-100.5, humidity at 55% (this is what works best for me but it's different for everyone), for at LEAST 7 days. You can candle them on day 7, but you still may not be able to see the veins if they are fertile. If you can wait until day 10, you will be able to tell for sure.
When you candle them on day 10, you will see the yolk as you can in the pics above, but you will see veins (it will look like a spiderweb) and a small black dot (the growing embryo).
3. Candle them 1 time a week (I do this so I can take out eggs that have quit that way they don't explode in the incubator)
4. On day 26, I bump the humidity to 65-70% and stop turning. You can candle them to see if they have pipped internally, but I find I get a better hatch rate if I leave them alone at this point.

They should all hatch together even though they may be a few days apart when laid. Eggs "talk" to each other so they all grow at about the same rate. This is why a hen on a nest will have all eggs hatch at the same time, even though some eggs may be 2 weeks older than the rest (figuring the hen has 14 eggs in her nest, laying one egg a day, the oldest egg is 14 days old while the newest egg is 1 day old, yet they all hatch on day 28 after the last egg is laid)

What type of incubator do you have?
If it's a hovabator, I would do this, 1 batch of eggs at a time until you get good at it. Then you can experiment with 2 different batches though keep in mind that if you have 1 group of eggs that hatch while the second group is due to hatch the following week, the hatched ducklings can release bacteria into the incubator air which can contaminate the eggs due the following week. Which can result in fewer hatching or sick ducklings (eggs are porous and absorb bacteria)

I hope this helps!

 

[StitchMyStars6]

Yea, I'm brand new at all this, and it's been exciting since day one of seeing an egg. I gotta simmer down here, lol. In fact, I decided that it was time to crack open egg #1 because I really really felt that it was a dud. It had absolutely no smell, no spots, no blood or veins. But the yolk was pretty big, while the egg itself was rather small.
I will gladly apply your idea to these eggs and take extra care of them, and not overdo things heh heh.
thank you!!!

 

[StitchMyStars6]

Oh, and I have a Little Giant Still-Air Incubator. I refill the water rings as needed, spritz some water on them now and again, increase/decrease temp (rarely have to, it's pretty constant at 99.5-100.0), and the instructions says to leave one of the vent plugs open. The humidity seems to be between 40-55. It's not very steady I guess. I never see it get any higher or lower. I imagine being a first timer with this, it's likely to get some duds or have mistakes, but I'm working on it

 

[StitchMyStars6]

Sorry, I try to keep it all in one comment, but then other thoughts come to mind...
every morning around 6am, I go to let the kiddos out and then get the egg. Whoever has been laying the eggs, doesn't sit on them, so incubation is necessary.. I bring in the egg (seem to get 1 per day, sometimes it skips), gently clean it off of any residues, mark/date it, place it in the incubator, and turn throughout the day when needed/when I can. I need to get the auto egg turner!!!
But I will definitely take your word for it, and keep at room temp before incubating, and then eventually incubate them in pairs. Well, do as you suggest, of course.

 

[StitchMyStars6]

Egg #15 was laid today. I marked it and placed it somewhere safe at room temp
I'm also wondering if I should toss some eggs that's been around awhile with no progress I guess... maybe keep the ones that I've had in the past week? I'm not sure