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I have no idea what the weight of the egg should be. I think I read something somewhere about weighing the eggs, but since the size of eggs vary per bird/breed I think it is all relative to what every weight you started at. Like, hypothetically because I don't know, a 30% gain after 15 days or something.
They were all completely dark? Did you see any air cells at the large end of the egg? Go to this thread, it has progressive pictures of egg candling. This is a chicken egg, but it seems about the same. Check it out and compare it to what you are seeing. Close to hatch that air cell will take up to a 1/3 of the egg. You may be at the lock down point where you no longer have to turn them if yours are close to this.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261876
Okay, if they hatch just make sure that you are set up inside the incubator so that they can hang out in there while brothers and sisters are hatching. Make sure there are no areas where they could get stuck, ect. They will crawl over the other eggs, but that is okay. Everybody should stay in the incubator if possible until you are pretty sure the last egg has hatched, or at least until they are all fluffed out and looking like baby ducks. They don't need food/water at this point because they absorb the yolk (think of shipped day old ducklings). Have your brooder ready though and when you put them in it dip their beaks in the food/water so that they know where it is and keep watch to make sure they all take some drink on their own.
During the hatch, the first thing you will see is the pip. That is the first break in the shell that the baby makes. The next step, that can happen as much as 12-24hrs later is zipping. This is when the baby really goes for it and starts using its beak to make a line in the shell so that it can break it and push out. For our chick, this took two hours. It is normal for them to take some breaks, it is hard work.
You do not want to open the incubator once you see your first pip because you will let out all your heat, and maybe more importantly at this point the humidity. The membrane inside the shell can become overly dry and start sticking to the duckling. Because you are no where near air tight, I would keep the water level very high. It was hard for me to get my humidity up above 55%, with a similar set up. I have read that a lot of people put wet wash clothes or sponges in the incubator during the hatch. Do make sure some air is able to get into the bator though because they will need oxygen. Oh, and watch that temp when they get going because they create a lot of body heat on their own once they get going. You may have to adjust your light to make sure they don't over heat.
I don't think you are sappy. I think this is very sweet. I am raising birds for all kinds of reasons, some for eggs, some for meat, and some just because I love them. When they become part of the family, it is hard to loose them. I would be doing what you're doing right now, and would feel just as sentimentle about it. Still crossing my fingers for you! I hope you don't mind but I am going to try and draw some attention to this thread. I am such a beginner, and there are so many people on here that really know what they are doing and have been hatching eggs for a long time, I want to make sure that I haven't pointed you in the wrong direction on anything.
