June Hatch A Long

[LilyD]

Woah. I needed to add some water to the incubator and fill another reservoir.

(What do you all set your duck lockdown at?)

Anyway, SO MANY of the eggs have internally pipped. It sounds like popcorn with the pecking on the shells. I’m a little worried it’s early, but I mean I guess not if they still take 48 hours!

So this egg I have been showing you for the last two weeks with such poor bottom development... it for a TAD more veining in the bottom. But I mean that’s almost 20% of the egg that’s fluid. And.... it’s pipping.

I put it in a carton.

View attachment 1822247

I usually set mine at 60-65ish but can go up as high as 70. Babies don't read the manuals lol so they give us all gray hairs.

 

[LilyD]

Do duck eggs typically bruise as they are starting to pip or is that indicative of a potential problem?

Bruising usually means they have hit veining below the shell.

 

[LilyD]

Have about 4-5 external pips... and two are on the wrong end. But they’re moving and shaking and chirping so we will see what happens.

The bruised egg is now externally pipped through the bruise. Out of the air cell. It’s in a huge air cell egg so we will see....

I’ve attached the best photos I can get of both these wrong end pips.

The first is the bruised one, if you squint you can see the bruise. The pip is in the middle of one bruise, about 10:00 position from the 8 marked in the egg. Then there’s another bruise to the left.

View attachment 1822890

This one here is the far egg right under the heating element. This little guy is vigorously moving and pecking away.
View attachment 1822891



OH NO

One of my carton eggs is pipping on the bottom too. And I have 7 at least external pips.

Do I risk the other pips to grab it out of the carton? I could most and grab and put it in the other incubator and be in and out. It’s moving so I haven’t lost it yet but I will if I don’t move it

Can you heat up water and then put a towel of the the water in the pot and the incubator both to make a second humid zone outside and then reach inside that to take the egg out you want. I've also heard of people moving the incubator into the bathroom so they can crank the shower up on hot and start it steaming with the fan off adding moisture to the outside air and then open the incubator to take the egg out.

 

[jolenesdad]

Can you heat up water and then put a towel of the the water in the pot and the incubator both to make a second humid zone outside and then reach inside that to take the egg out you want. I've also heard of people moving the incubator into the bathroom so they can crank the shower up on hot and start it steaming with the fan off adding moisture to the outside air and then open the incubator to take the egg out.

I’ve got one silver Appleyard out and then two more zipping. As they spoke the humidity I’m going to remove a couple of the wrong end chicks to the other incubator so I can be more hands on if needed.

I can’t see through that bruised membrane one at all to tell what’s going on and it chirps a lot because it’s by itself in there anyway. Not a distressed chirp though. So I did a small safety hole earlier and chipped some shell away and saw veins that are now 2/3 gone. I still think most of the bottom pippers can do it on their own but this is a huge egg, so I feel like it may have trouble we will see.

Also, my fluid filled bottom egg is zipping!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

We are at day 12 starting tonight at 8:08pm no more candling until after day 14. We use a 1000 lumens flash light with a 1 inch width I can cup it at the top and block the light from leaking around and then sit the eggs on my hand to check them. Works pretty well.

I bought a high lumen LED light to see through those BCM eggs, but was horrified to discover after using that the end actually gets pretty hot. After our massive failure hatch, I’m on the hunt for a candler for dark eggs that puts off NO heat! I don’t know that this is what killed my eggs, but at least it’s one factor under my control...

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I’ve got one silver Appleyard out and then two more zipping. As they spoke the humidity I’m going to remove a couple of the wrong end chicks to the other incubator so I can be more hands on if needed.

I can’t see through that bruised membrane one at all to tell what’s going on and it chirps a lot because it’s by itself in there anyway. Not a distressed chirp though. So I did a small safety hole earlier and chipped some shell away and saw veins that are now 2/3 gone. I still think most of the bottom pippers can do it on their own but this is a huge egg, so I feel like it may have trouble we will see.

Also, my fluid filled bottom egg is zipping!

Yeah! Your babies are doing so well, and you are right on top of it all!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

It looks like 4 or 5 of the silver Appleyard eggs are about to pop!

I want to see! How about a quick phone pic???

 

[jolenesdad]

I want to see! How about a quick phone pic???

Working on my updates and questions in one post in a second so I don’t spam the thread.

 

[jolenesdad]

Okay!

I have 23/30 external pips.

One of those external pips is a quitter and one of the non pippers definitely is gone. While the humidity had spiked from three silver Appleyards hatching, I grabbed all the bottom hatching eggs and I’m really glad I did.

I think they’ve pipped the bottom because they appear to my novice eyes to be shrink wrapped. I’ve included photos below. In the one of the group in the incubator you can see how far away that membrane is from the shell. It would make sense... these guys are stuck a bit, can’t move, scratch a blood vessel trying, and finally get a hole on the bottom. Plausible?

Thanks to everything I’ve learned here from everyone but especially @LilyD and @CluckNDoodle , I chipped away a hole in each air cell to look safely for veins. I feel like I am going to have to assist each of these bottom pips when the time is right. They all have lots of veins, one or two lightish veins. I tried to do that on the side of the air cell in a way that they will still hopefully be able to kick out on their own. I’m feeling really cautiously optimistic about it all. A little stumped why these would be this way, but analyze later!

Cluckndoodle here is a photo of the non pipped egg that didn’t make it. I saw the bruise so grabbed it too wondering if I could rescue it, but it was already gone. This is the worst bruise of all, clearly insurmountable.


Silver Appleyard

Hard, hard membrane on the bottom pippers.

If you blow this up you can see how separated the membrane is. I could have taken the entire bottom of the shell.

Swoon!

Hi!

:-/

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Okay!

I have 23/30 external pips.

One of those external pips is a quitter and one of the non pippers definitely is gone. While the humidity had spiked from three silver Appleyards hatching, I grabbed all the bottom hatching eggs and I’m really glad I did.

I think they’ve pipped the bottom because they appear to my novice eyes to be shrink wrapped. I’ve included photos below. In the one of the group in the incubator you can see how far away that membrane is from the shell. It would make sense... these guys are stuck a bit, can’t move, scratch a blood vessel trying, and finally get a hole on the bottom. Plausible?

Thanks to everything I’ve learned here from everyone but especially @LilyD and @CluckNDoodle , I chipped away a hole in each air cell to look safely for veins. I feel like I am going to have to assist each of these bottom pips when the time is right. They all have lots of veins, one or two lightish veins. I tried to do that on the side of the air cell in a way that they will still hopefully be able to kick out on their own. I’m feeling really cautiously optimistic about it all. A little stumped why these would be this way, but analyze later!

Cluckndoodle here is a photo of the non pipped egg that didn’t make it. I saw the bruise so grabbed it too wondering if I could rescue it, but it was already gone. This is the worst bruise of all, clearly insurmountable.


Silver Appleyard
View attachment 1824186

Hard, hard membrane on the bottom pippers.
View attachment 1824189

If you blow this up you can see how separated the membrane is. I could have taken the entire bottom of the shell.
View attachment 1824191

Swoon!
View attachment 1824192

Hi!
View attachment 1824194

:-/
View attachment 1824193

Wow! I would be so stressed out!!! I hope that you are able to free your chicks that pipped the small end! That bruising is wild... so is it blood from pipping through a blood vessel? And... thanks for the pic of your adorable duckling !! I’m living vicariously here... I hope your babies do wonderfully overnight!