Hi, everyone. I was hoping you could help me with a duck egg I've been looking after for just over the past week. I've been getting help and advice from a few people who have some experience with hatching eggs. They've aided me tremendously, but they're not always able to reply on short notice, so I figured I'd try to look for some additional help.
First a bit of background. Last week on Wednesday (April 7), I suddenly received a duck egg. The man who found asked if I liked animals (probably had seen me taking pictures of birds). I said yes, he showed me the egg he found and asked if I wanted to take it. Looking back, I should have asked where he found it so it might possibly be put back in its nest, but, overwhelmed and having a hard time saying no in general, I'd accepted the egg almost before I knew it and took it home with me.
With no animal help organization around willing or able to help me and unable to find any duck nests, I looked up what I could online. Not having an incubator but trying to keep the egg warm, I first wrapped it in a scarf and placed it on the heater that way up until Friday. I turned it three to five times a day, occasionaly sprinkling some water on it. As of last Friday (April 9), I got into correspondence with someone who's had experience hatching duck eggs and has been giving me advice and answering my questions.
From Saturday (April 10) onwards, I started using an improvised setup with what I could find around the house, consisting of a box, a rubber hot water bottle, the bottle's cover (which is a soft, warm stuffed animal) a sweater, a hospital blanket and a cup of warm water. I've been consistently checking on whether the egg is warm enough but not too warm, changed the hot water bottle and the cup of water when needed, and turned it every six hours. I know it's far from optimal, but I'm trying to the best I can with the knowledge and equipment available to me.
With that out of the way, onto the question. This is how the egg looked last Monday (April 12) when I candled it:
This is how it looked Tuesday (April 13)
And this is is how it looked yesterday evening (April 14)
The stripy smudge at the bottom end of the yolk on the one above is one of the markings I used to help with turning the egg.
From what I can see, both the yolk and what I assume is the air cell appear to have been getting bigger, but I still don't believe an embryo and/or veins are visible. Or am I not looking good enough? Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated!
First a bit of background. Last week on Wednesday (April 7), I suddenly received a duck egg. The man who found asked if I liked animals (probably had seen me taking pictures of birds). I said yes, he showed me the egg he found and asked if I wanted to take it. Looking back, I should have asked where he found it so it might possibly be put back in its nest, but, overwhelmed and having a hard time saying no in general, I'd accepted the egg almost before I knew it and took it home with me.
With no animal help organization around willing or able to help me and unable to find any duck nests, I looked up what I could online. Not having an incubator but trying to keep the egg warm, I first wrapped it in a scarf and placed it on the heater that way up until Friday. I turned it three to five times a day, occasionaly sprinkling some water on it. As of last Friday (April 9), I got into correspondence with someone who's had experience hatching duck eggs and has been giving me advice and answering my questions.
From Saturday (April 10) onwards, I started using an improvised setup with what I could find around the house, consisting of a box, a rubber hot water bottle, the bottle's cover (which is a soft, warm stuffed animal) a sweater, a hospital blanket and a cup of warm water. I've been consistently checking on whether the egg is warm enough but not too warm, changed the hot water bottle and the cup of water when needed, and turned it every six hours. I know it's far from optimal, but I'm trying to the best I can with the knowledge and equipment available to me.
With that out of the way, onto the question. This is how the egg looked last Monday (April 12) when I candled it:
This is how it looked Tuesday (April 13)
And this is is how it looked yesterday evening (April 14)
The stripy smudge at the bottom end of the yolk on the one above is one of the markings I used to help with turning the egg.
From what I can see, both the yolk and what I assume is the air cell appear to have been getting bigger, but I still don't believe an embryo and/or veins are visible. Or am I not looking good enough? Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated!
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