Incubating/Hatching First timer

[Trainride72]

Hello~
My husband and I have attempted to incubate and hatch ducklings. We currently have 3 Muscovy Hens and 3 Ancona Hens. For a couple of weeks we had 3-4 of the hens sitting on a pile of eggs (24-32). We then noticed that they were doing their QA and that some of them had been taken care of by the hens. We also noticed that 2 of the eggs that had been taken care of had baby ducklings in them as we found the ducklings dead lying in the coop. We then decided to pull out approx 10-12 eggs to place in the incubator. We placed them in the incubator approx. 1wk ago. We had 3 hatch yesterday. We have had one that has pipped the tip of it's beak through but that is it since last night. We have also had two of the eggs moving around (like there is something in there) getting ready to hatch. How long can we leave the hatched ducklings in the incubator before taking them out to the brooder box? Also, do I let the one with the beak just sit there like that or do I need to assist it in it's hatching?

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[ronott1]

Hello~
My husband and I have attempted to incubate and hatch ducklings. We currently have 3 Muscovy Hens and 3 Ancona Hens. For a couple of weeks we had 3-4 of the hens sitting on a pile of eggs (24-32). We then noticed that they were doing their QA and that some of them had been taken care of by the hens. We also noticed that 2 of the eggs that had been taken care of had baby ducklings in them as we found the ducklings dead lying in the coop. We then decided to pull out approx 10-12 eggs to place in the incubator. We placed them in the incubator approx. 1wk ago. We had 3 hatch yesterday. We have had one that has pipped the tip of it's beak through but that is it since last night. We have also had two of the eggs moving around (like there is something in there) getting ready to hatch. How long can we leave the hatched ducklings in the incubator before taking them out to the brooder box? Also, do I let the one with the beak just sit there like that or do I need to assist it in it's hatching?

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

You can take them out anytime after the ducklings are dry. The key is to not open the incubator up too often and for too long. Whey you take them out, fill up the water tanks to make sure humidity stays up.

It can take ducklings longer to hatch. Give the one with the pip longer. I often have to remind myself to leave the eggs alone and wait at least a day before assisting.

It sounds like you are having a good hatch!