Incubating buddy wanted!

[tgperg]

Oh, I hope you get that critter.

I can tell they're moving by candling at the wide part of the egg and watching just right around the edge of the air cell. I can see a beak moving around.

Traci

 

[tink0602]

ok...thanks...I will try that! Do you mist yours? I have heard misting/no misting...there is so much info out there that my brain is getting clogged.

I wasn't really, other than sprinkling them twice, but I sprayed them yesterday and today...maybe I should just leave them alone. I am in S. Florida, so humid is a way of life. haha

I hope I get those raccoons, too. I just checked and nothing yet...I think they are doing their dirty work later in the evening.

 

[tink0602]

Just candled the wide ends, and I can see movement...yeah!! so far, so good.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Quote:
I have an incubator where the front door opens downwards- and I can just pull out the draw ( rack ) that the eggs sit on. I just shine the light on each one rather than pick them up and handle them usually. I will pick one up if I want to turn it a bit or look at it from a different angle though. The days 5 through to about 16 are the best days for candling- before and after that there really isnt a lot to look at.

 

[tink0602]

Congrats on your ducklings TG! Today is day 28 and DH and I noticed the eggs seemed to be moving a bit yesterday. The thermometer kept falling off of the eggs, and then I saw one rock a little last night so I knew we weren't crazy. I think my air cells might be a bit big, though. Some seem to be about 1/3 of the egg, is that normal for day 28 with Muscovies? I added some warm wet washcloths to increase the humidity.

 

[DaftaboutDucks]

Hi, can't help you with the Muscovies but we hatched Rouens on Easter weekend successfully. We have more in the incubator now(calls, rouen's & black east indies)due to hatch on the 12th of June. With the rouens it was about 1/3 of the egg near the hatch date & I was freaking out

too, thinking that they weren't gonna make it. I was a wreck. Needless to say the hatch went really great & all the rouens hatched just fine!!

Hope your hatch is as good as ours was.

 

[tink0602]

Thank you Daft! I am sitting here waiting for someone to reply back to one of my posts about this.

I put washcloths in there, and now the window is fogging up some. I don't know what to do...I can see what looks like "pushing" on the base of the air cell, but no beaks...could that be internally pipping???? Do you think they will hatch early??? Should I pull the red plug out. I am sorry....I am freaking out...I just don't want to screw this up at the end.

 

[tgperg]

Whew. I am not the one to ask. I missed lock down because I thought my eggs were older than they are. I candled them to see what was going on and they had internally pipped, I saw the beak in the air cell. At that time I raised humidity by putting a wet washcloth under them. My humidity was between 80 and 90% for the hatch. It took 60 hours total from internal pipping till the last viable egg hatched, and it was assisted. Two eggs didn't hatch at all. One duckling pipped the small end instead and punctured a biggish blood vessel and bled to death. One duckling pipped and zipped just fine, and one little guy was still alive this morning 60 hours after internal pipping so I helped him out. The inner membrane was all leathery looking. HOW THE HECK HE SHRINKWRAPPED HIMSELF IN 85% HUMIDITY IS BEYOND ME!!

Anyway, point being, I did almost everything wrong I'm pretty sure. I also kept hovering over the incubator (Is that why they call it a hovabator?) and I would take the red plug out to add O2 if the humidity was up, and put it back in if it dropped.

Good luck with your babies. I don't know about day 28 because I ended up candling mine at 30 or 31 but my air cell at that point was about 30% of the egg, I would guess.

Traci

 

[tink0602]

Hi Traci! I saw your new baby pics...so cute!!!

I hope I will be posting pics on here soon enough. I think I might be in the same boat, expecting a later hatch date than I will get. With them rocking a little...I don't know. What am I seeing when I see what looks like movement at the base of the air cell (- almost like its in the air cell??) I don't know if I should stop turning them or not...I wasn't going to stop until Wednesday, but the air cell is pretty slanted and I know the wider end is supposed to be on top.

(Why do we turn them, again?) If it's time for lockdown, I will flip them all so the wide part of the air cell is up and pull that second red plug, but how do I know when it's lock down time?

...okay breathe.....they are going to be okay....

 

[tgperg]

Quote:
I would stop turning them personally if they're rocking and you see movement in the air cell. My one duckling killed itself because it got confused because I kept turning it and it pipped the small end, not the large end. We turn them so the developing embryo doesn't stick to the membrane in the early part of incubation. I've read, do NOT know from experience, but I've read somewhere that it's not as critical toward the end. I also increased my humidity once I saw the little beak moving in the air cell. When you hold the egg up to your ear do you hear the click of their breathing? That's a sign that they've pipped internally, I believe.

Take all this with a grain of salt. I've incubated exactly once for one week and had a horrible, horrible hatch rate.

Traci