Is it a quitter?

[TattooQ27]

We are on day 19 and I had a couple of questionable eggs so I candled them. Everything looks good in all but 1. It is really dark inside and I can't see any movement or veining but there is no blood ring. Would that make it a quitter or is that normal for day 19 in duck eggs? I know when there is no veining and a blood ring is present that it's bad news but I haven't seen one without veining and without a blood ring.

 

[TattooQ27]

Well I had DH take a look and he really felt it was a quitter so we opened it. I wasn't very happy when we opened it because it was the 3rd ancona we have lost this week. I am not experienced enough with hatching to figure out why this one died but I am upset because Anconas are my favorite. I am beginning to wonder if our Ancona isn't a good breeder or if it has more to do with the fact that she is breeding with a pekin but we are going to have to do some thinking about where we want to go from here. Bummer.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

What were you running your temp and humidity at? Did you test your hygrometer before you began? I never realized how far off those things can be. They can ruin a hatch if they are reading incorrectly. So sorry for your loss.

 

[TattooQ27]

Quote:
I am running the temp right at 99.5 and the humidity is at 55%. I had the humidity a little lower the first week but the air cells were getting big too fast. I am not too unhappy with the amount of loss so far. We set 33 originally, 2 were clears and were removed on day 10. The 3 that had started but were lost were all lost in the last week and were all anconas. I am wondering if it is something to do with the ancona duck I have or if its just coincidence that all 3 were anconas.