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...

 

[learycow]

Duck eggs have large yolks, so that's normal
The blood is normal too as some will have a blood spec simply from the egg formation inside the duck.
And depending on what it looked like, it sounds like the last egg was fertilized (not necessarily hatchable as not all eggs will develop) but a white dot can indicate sperm

 

[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!

 

[learycow]

What I did before I got an automatic turner is this.
I would roll up a dish cloth and put them in the incubator. I place the eggs so they are pointy end down, but at an angle laying against the rolled up cloth. But you can lay them flat.
I turn an odd # of times a day (I aim for 3, but 5 works too). That way they don't sit on one side a lot longer than the other.

The humidity will fluctuate the most with this. But you can always put a clean, water soaked sponge in there to help keep it up. Or a small bowl of water. I never spray my eggs but I know a lot of people who do. It's different for everyone and the more you practice and play around, the more you will find what works and doesn't work best for you

But yes, putting the eggs in there in groups is the best place to start (in my opinion).
As for the eggs currently in there, candle every egg that's over 7 days. If they are not fertile, toss them. If you leave eggs in there, they can (not always) rot and explode. Trust me, exploded rotten egg smell is TOUGH to get out of the incubator. So not worth the risk of leaving them in there!
Then with the remaining eggs, candle them on day 7 or more and do the same with those. Toss the infertile eggs.

 

[learycow]

This is egg #17's progress after 2 days...

Hatched on 12/2/2013 and candled:


egg #17 on 12/4/2013 - same egg candled today:


Still wondering if it's fertile... hmm..

Its too soon if the egg was laid on Dec 2nd.

Unless there is veining around the pink dot, it probably isn't fertile.

Here is a picture of what I mean by veining:

The pink dot in this pic is the embryo. The veining will start near the embryo and work its way around the egg until it covers the whole egg minus the air sack.
Yours does have the pink dot (embryo) but there are many variables that can prevent them from developing. So if it was laid and placed in the incubator on Dec 2nd, it's only a few days old and too early to tell if it's definitely a fertile egg or not. Some will start out with a pink embryo that you think is fertile, but it will stop growing. It can get darker as you candle it because it will eventually start to rot. These usually become "bomb eggs" and you will want to remove them from the incubator as soon as you verify that it's no good.

 

[learycow]

Yay! Congrats!
Now that they are defitely fertile, I would suggest limiting opening the incubator and playing around with them. You will likely have a better hatch rate

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hatch day is a few days after Xmas, maybe even sooner

And I wipe them off carefully with a paper towel.

Also.... I was really worried today when my hubby called and said power went out at some point while we were at work. Based on the blinking clocks, he estimated it was 5hrs of no power!!!!! I Was so nervous that the duckies would get cold and die :'( power went on automatically on the incubator whenever it did come back and the temp was normal.
but it does worry me.... will they be ok??

I think I'd candle a few and check on status of them. how cold was your house during this time? or take a few at a time out and candle them all.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Generally its at a temp between 68° & 72° in the house. Hope they're ok

maybe my kitty was nice enough to get cozy ontop the incubator like she did once before haha! Although that's not enough to actually keep them warm...

I know if they were mine I'd have to candle but please don't just take my ideas without maybe someone more experienced with bators, My Scovy ducks hatch out all ducklings here. It would be hard for me not to know they are all okay. Just be sure to monitor your humidity and temp if you decide so they don't have another drastic drop.

 

[learycow]

I am brand new, both here and to ducks, so my knowledge is more limited than yours, but I do have a question for you. Are you cleaning that egg with water? I'm pretty sure that's a bad thing to do if you're intending incubation, because it washes off a coating that is vital to the egg's development. In fac, even wiping it off might do harm.

There is a lot of information out there on this matter. But you need to find what works best for you.

From my experience (I've been incubator hatching eggs for over 6 years) do NOT use the excessively dirty eggs. Dirty eggs let off bacteria into the warm incubator. SInce eggs are pourus, they can absorb the bacteria which can result in early embryonic death or ducklings that hatch and then get sick and die.

Some people will use a dry cloth or papertowel and try to get all the loose dirt off the eggs.
Some people wash them completely.
Some people will not touch them at all, simply put them in the incubator the way they are.

I always keep dry, clean bedding where the duck will nest or lay. That way the eggs are usually clean and don't require any washing or wiping.
However, I know that sometimes this is not possible!
For the slightly dirty eggs, I wipe with a dry towel. If I can't get everything off, then I run them under LUKE WARM water and wipe with a wet paper towel. Then I set them at room temp (65-70) to dry.
For me, this has always worked. I get an 80-100% hatch rate with almost every batch I incubate.

I did experiment and did a small batch of 8 eggs that were DIRTY DIRTY.
All developed, as expected.
7 hatched (1 had early death). Of the 7, 1 acted weak for the first few weeks but then got better. The rest were perfectly fine. So you can incubate dirty eggs, but I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Egg #18 (laid on 12/3) is moving!!!!!!! could it hatch soon?

and everyone is still healthy ^_^

Getting into position. But still a ways to go...