KathiQuacks
Crowing
I need reassurance that I’m doing this right..
This is my second time hatching duck eggs. Right now, I just have the one egg in lockdown, but I’ll have more eggs to put in lockdown in a week or two.
This egg started incubation on December 19th. I saw the egg had internally pipped yesterday morning (24 days along),
so I put it into lockdown a day early.
Now it’s the next day (25 days along). Candling through the incubator, I can see the baby is breathing, and I’ve heard it chirp a few times, but there’s still no external pip 22 hours later. Nervous, I put in a safety hole. I put it in now, because I’m not actually sure if it’s been 22 hours (it could be as late as 36 hours since internal pip), and also because this egg is a little on the smaller side.
So, am I doing this right? Should I have waited? I have a forced air incubator, my settings were 100°F (37.8°C), 50% RH before lockdown, and is now about 99°F (37.2°C), 70% RH for lockdown.
I’ve read a lot about assisted hatching, so if this baby doesn’t pip or attempt hatch by Sunday evening / Monday morning, I’m considering doing a full assist. Does this sound okay? Should I wait longer?
Also, I have another question, if anyone can answer it. The father of these eggs is crested. Do you know if a duckling having a crest could affect hatching??
Thanks so much for any help!!
This is my second time hatching duck eggs. Right now, I just have the one egg in lockdown, but I’ll have more eggs to put in lockdown in a week or two.
This egg started incubation on December 19th. I saw the egg had internally pipped yesterday morning (24 days along),
so I put it into lockdown a day early.
Now it’s the next day (25 days along). Candling through the incubator, I can see the baby is breathing, and I’ve heard it chirp a few times, but there’s still no external pip 22 hours later. Nervous, I put in a safety hole. I put it in now, because I’m not actually sure if it’s been 22 hours (it could be as late as 36 hours since internal pip), and also because this egg is a little on the smaller side.
So, am I doing this right? Should I have waited? I have a forced air incubator, my settings were 100°F (37.8°C), 50% RH before lockdown, and is now about 99°F (37.2°C), 70% RH for lockdown.
I’ve read a lot about assisted hatching, so if this baby doesn’t pip or attempt hatch by Sunday evening / Monday morning, I’m considering doing a full assist. Does this sound okay? Should I wait longer?
Also, I have another question, if anyone can answer it. The father of these eggs is crested. Do you know if a duckling having a crest could affect hatching??
Thanks so much for any help!!
