Incubating Welsh Harlequins & egg is moving on day 23

[HennyPenny44]

Is this an indicator that it might hatch prematurely? I took off the lid from my incubator and the baby inside was rocking. I’ve only hatched chicks in the incubator before and the eggs didn’t start moving until they were hatching. This egg is larger than all the others. Excited to meet my babies but not sure how to proceed. Advice anyone?

 

[Plague]

I just incubated some from our mixed flock. I did notice some occasional egg movements several days before lockdown time, and even then it was like a couple days after lockdown before mine started hatching. So I don't think it necessarily means they are going to hatch early. I believe I have read they tend to reposition themselves inside before hatch so their heads are up by the air sack. I would think this is probably why mine did, and yours are. Although this was first time I ever incubated any eggs period.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Is this an indicator that it might hatch prematurely? I took off the lid from my incubator and the baby inside was rocking. I’ve only hatched chicks in the incubator before and the eggs didn’t start moving until they were hatching. This egg is larger than all the others. Excited to meet my babies but not sure how to proceed. Advice anyone?

That’s a sign baby is getting into hatch Position
I stop turning when I see wiggling , air cell drops fast and shadowing along the lower end of the air cell
I don’t follow the book of day 25
I follow my eggs
Example
This batch 10 eggs
Saturday night 2 showed the 3 signs I stopped turning them
Sunday morning 2 more
Sunday night 2 more
This morning 2 have internal pips im day 24 /25
2 are not shadowing yet and air cells haven’t done the fast drop but everyone is now on lockdown
Once I see an internal pip
I would rather stop turning ones not ready then turn ones that have got into position as it can confuse them and then they move out of position

Check your egg and if it’s shadowing and air cell has dropped just stop turning that egg but carry on as normal for the rest until you see an internal pip then start lockdown

 

[HennyPenny44]

I just incubated some from our mixed flock. I did notice some occasional egg movements several days before lockdown time, and even then it was like a couple days after lockdown before mine started hatching. So I don't think it necessarily means they are going to hatch early. I believe I have read they tend to reposition themselves inside before hatch so their heads are up by the air sack. I would think this is probably why mine did, and yours are. Although this was first time I ever incubated any eggs period.

Thanks! Ok, that’s a relief. I was worried about having to make the humidity and temp adjustment for this baby. I’ll just keep a watchful eye then and proceed as scheduled.

 

[HennyPenny44]

That’s a sign baby is getting into hatch Position
I stop turning when I see wiggling , air cell drops fast and shadowing along the lower end of the air cell
I don’t follow the book of day 25
I follow my eggs
Example
This batch 10 eggs
Saturday night 2 showed the 3 signs I stopped turning them
Sunday morning 2 more
Sunday night 2 more
This morning 2 have internal pips im day 24 /25
2 are not shadowing yet and air cells haven’t done the fast drop but everyone is now on lockdown
Once I see an internal pip
I would rather stop turning ones not ready then turn ones that have got into position as it can confuse them and then they move out of position

Check your egg and if it’s shadowing and air cell has dropped just stop turning that egg but carry on as normal for the rest until you see an internal pip then start lockdown

Wow, ok, this makes me nervous! Not sure what shadowing is but I see movement at the lower end of the air cell. The air cell is big and very slanted. I don’t know how to tell if there’s an internal pip either. I worry because I’ve read you need to decrease temp during lockdown to 99/99.5F and raise humidity to 65-70%. Some places even say 82%. In other words, I don’t know if I should lock down early on account of this duckling.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Wow, ok, this makes me nervous! Not sure what shadowing is but I see movement at the lower end of the air cell. The air cell is big and very slanted. I don’t know how to tell if there’s an internal pip either. I worry because I’ve read you need to decrease temp during lockdown to 99/99.5F and raise humidity to 65-70%. Some places even say 82%. In other words, I don’t know if I should lock down early on account of this duckling.

I did a quick video of the two ways as I have both ways going right now
I up humidity to 65 and when they hatch it jumps up 70 ish don’t worry about that
I never turn down my heat but some do

Air cell will dip fast right before internal pip

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I did a quick video of the two ways as I have both ways going right now
I up humidity to 65 and when they hatch it jumps up 70 ish don’t worry about that
I never turn down my heat but some do

Air cell will dip fast right before internal pip

I’ll add in the first egg of the video you see pushing along that lower mark
But egg 2 you see it’s past the lower mark as baby is in the air cell now

 

[HennyPenny44]

I did a quick video of the two ways as I have both ways going right now
I up humidity to 65 and when they hatch it jumps up 70 ish don’t worry about that
I never turn down my heat but some do

Air cell will dip fast right before internal pip

Thank you so much for the video! I believe it’s shadowing so I’ll stop turning it. And I’ll continue to candle until I see an internal pip. I’m new to duckling incubation and the information out there is a bit conflicting so thanks for giving your perspective!

 

[HennyPenny44]

I’ll add in the first egg of the video you see pushing along that lower mark
But egg 2 you see it’s past the lower mark as baby is in the air cell now

Yes, I think I saw that. It’s just doing a lot of movement in that area for now.

 

[Plague]

Wow, ok, this makes me nervous! Not sure what shadowing is but I see movement at the lower end of the air cell. The air cell is big and very slanted. I don’t know how to tell if there’s an internal pip either. I worry because I’ve read you need to decrease temp during lockdown to 99/99.5F and raise humidity to 65-70%. Some places even say 82%. In other words, I don’t know if I should lock down early on account of this duckling.

Sounds like what I seen last time I tried candling mine. I couldn't see anything at the opposite side of the airsack at all. So all I could figure to go on if they was still alive was seeing a bit of movement at the edge of the airsack. I had ran at 100.4 up until lockdown myself, and dropped it down 1 degree when I started lockdown, and tried another degree on second day of lockdown, but my incubator seemed to not hold the temperature well there so I increased it back up 1 degree. Kept an eye on temps as they hatched though so if it had started raising I was ready to drop it again. My humidity ended up running above 80% which concerned me, but my incubator has no way to drop it, beyond removing water or flat out opening it and letting some vent that way.