Manual Incubation Help ASAP

[CherryCord]

So I've been letting my broody mama sit on her eggs. I was going to let her hatch them but so far at least 2 to 4 of the eggs that were close to hatching were busted open. I had since discovered that my magpies were going in there and eating the eggs via a camera and catching one with yoke on its bill. So I separated my mama from the rest of the ducks. She can get in and out and none of my other ducks have figured out how to get into the nesting area.

However, I have had two babies close to hatching been broke out of there egg before they were ready and left to die. So I would like to let her continue to keep the eggs (My incubator doesn't work) until they start to zip at which point I want to take the eggs and manually incubate them myself. I have been practicing a lot to make sure I can manually manage temperature and humidity (My job actually gives me a bit of experience in doing so). I have got it where I can steadily keep temp at 98 degrees, and the humidy at 50 - 80 percent. I have gotten pretty good at keeping humidity at 10 degrees of where I want it to be. The range is only because I was experimenting with how to keep it at certain levels.
Anyways I would any advice on how to better make things work. Even though I k ow death is a risk on its own. I still would feel very bad if they died.

Advice ASAP please

I have an eggs that should begin to zip in the next couple hours.

Also I didn't really feel this needed a photo but I have to have atleaston attachment.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

So I've been letting my broody mama sit on her eggs. I was going to let her hatch them but so far at least 2 to 4 of the eggs that were close to hatching were busted open. I had since discovered that my magpies were going in there and eating the eggs via a camera and catching one with yoke on its bill. So I separated my mama from the rest of the ducks. She can get in and out and none of my other ducks have figured out how to get into the nesting area.

However, I have had two babies close to hatching been broke out of there egg before they were ready and left to die. So I would like to let her continue to keep the eggs (My incubator doesn't work) until they start to zip at which point I want to take the eggs and manually incubate them myself. I have been practicing a lot to make sure I can manually manage temperature and humidity (My job actually gives me a bit of experience in doing so). I have got it where I can steadily keep temp at 98 degrees, and the humidy at 50 - 80 percent. I have gotten pretty good at keeping humidity at 10 degrees of where I want it to be. The range is only because I was experimenting with how to keep it at certain levels.
Anyways I would any advice on how to better make things work. Even though I k ow death is a risk on its own. I still would feel very bad if they died.

Advice ASAP please

I have an eggs that should begin to zip in the next couple hours.

Also I didn't really feel this needed a photo but I have to have atleaston attachment.

I have brought many a call duck egg inside to finish hatching once externally pipped or zipping has begun for various reasons.
Once they have made it that far I don't feel like the humidity is a huge issue.
I just set them under a normal lamp in a plastic basket or bowl. It has worked out just fine.

 

[CherryCord]

I have brought many a call duck egg inside to finish hatching once externally pipped or zipping has begun for various reasons.
Once they have made it that far I don't feel like the humidity is a huge issue.
I just set them under a normal lamp in a plastic basket or bowl. It has worked out just fine.

Okay. Yeah most of my experiments were dome with the plastic bottom half of the incubator and a heating lamp.

 

[CherryCord]

I have brought many a call duck egg inside to finish hatching once externally pipped or zipping has begun for various reasons.
Once they have made it that far I don't feel like the humidity is a huge issue.
I just set them under a normal lamp in a plastic basket or bowl. It has worked out just fine.

I do have another question. I just did the math and the egg that was pipping started to pip at about 8 or 9 Friday morning. It's now 10pm on Sunday. It's been at least 61 hours and no sign of zipping. I can hear it actually peeping in the egg now. Should I be concerned?

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I do have another question. I just did the math and the egg that was pipping started to pip at about 8 or 9 Friday morning. It's now 10pm on Sunday. It's been at least 61 hours and no sign of zipping. I can hear it actually peeping in the egg now. Should I be concerned?

How is your duckling doing? Any progress on it hatching? If it still has shown no progress at this point I would recommend peeling a small part of the shell off every 1-2 hours. This keeps the duckling from bleeding out and gives it time to absorb the yoke. Also note that assisted hatches often grow slower and require more assistance for the first week. If you don't already I would make sure that you have a poultry electrolyte/vitamin supplement on hand. Even my healthy natural hatched ducklings all get a supplement for the first week.

As far as brooding separately many people do remove ducklings once hatched from the hen. 98 degrees for a brooder is too high and temperature to start should be more around 90-95 degrees and bring it down 5 degrees every week. Also the entire brooder should not be heated, but only an area big enough for all of the ducklings to be under and then the rest of the brooder should have no supplemental heat. Humidity should be the ambient humidity of the room and left alone.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I do have another question. I just did the math and the egg that was pipping started to pip at about 8 or 9 Friday morning. It's now 10pm on Sunday. It's been at least 61 hours and no sign of zipping. I can hear it actually peeping in the egg now. Should I be concerned?

Yeah...that's a long time.
Had it externally pipped or was it just internal?
How is it going now?

 

[CherryCord]

Yeah...that's a long time.
Had it externally pipped or was it just internal?
How is it going now?

It was just internal. Sadly it has passed away. It was pipping at the wrong end so I opened a small hole so it could breathe. Despite this it still passed.

 

[CherryCord]

How is your duckling doing? Any progress on it hatching? If it still has shown no progress at this point I would recommend peeling a small part of the shell off every 1-2 hours. This keeps the duckling from bleeding out and gives it time to absorb the yoke. Also note that assisted hatches often grow slower and require more assistance for the first week. If you don't already I would make sure that you have a poultry electrolyte/vitamin supplement on hand. Even my healthy natural hatched ducklings all get a supplement for the first week.

As far as brooding separately many people do remove ducklings once hatched from the hen. 98 degrees for a brooder is too high and temperature to start should be more around 90-95 degrees and bring it down 5 degrees every week. Also the entire brooder should not be heated, but only an area big enough for all of the ducklings to be under and then the rest of the brooder should have no supplemental heat. Humidity should be the ambient humidity of the room and left al

How is your duckling doing? Any progress on it hatching? If it still has shown no progress at this point I would recommend peeling a small part of the shell off every 1-2 hours. This keeps the duckling from bleeding out and gives it time to absorb the yoke. Also note that assisted hatches often grow slower and require more assistance for the first week. If you don't already I would make sure that you have a poultry electrolyte/vitamin supplement on hand. Even my healthy natural hatched ducklings all get a supplement for the first week.

As far as brooding separately many people do remove ducklings once hatched from the hen. 98 degrees for a brooder is too high and temperature to start should be more around 90-95 degrees and bring it down 5 degrees every week. Also the entire brooder should not be heated, but only an area big enough for all of the ducklings to be under and then the rest of the brooder should have no supplemental heat. Humidity should be the ambient humidity of the room and left alone.

How is your duckling doing? Any progress on it hatching? If it still has shown no progress at this point I would recommend peeling a small part of the shell off every 1-2 hours. This keeps the duckling from bleeding out and gives it time to absorb the yoke. Also note that assisted hatches often grow slower and require more assistance for the first week. If you don't already I would make sure that you have a poultry electrolyte/vitamin supplement on hand. Even my healthy natural hatched ducklings all get a supplement for the first week.

As far as brooding separately many people do remove ducklings once hatched from the hen. 98 degrees for a brooder is too high and temperature to start should be more around 90-95 degrees and bring it down 5 degrees every week. Also the entire brooder should not be heated, but only an area big enough for all of the ducklings to be under and then the rest of the brooder should have no supplemental heat. Humidity should be the ambient humidity of the room and left alone.

Sadly the little one didn't make it. I did open a small part on the air sack side and noticed the membrane wasn't broken so I opened a small part of the other side only to find it pipping at the wrong end.

Also I wasn't aware of the slower grow time or the supplement. So I will definitely keep that in mind and also buy supplement asap.

As for the heat I was misinformed then, but I did notice that when I dropped the temp to 91 they seemed to do a little better. I wasn't sure if it was that or if they were uncomfortable though so I kept it about 95.

Since I've been letting the mama do most the work and taking the eggs when they crack or if something seems wrong. I've only been hatching one baby at a time as her eggs have been laid and developing at different times from the others. That being said I had been putting the eggs in the bottom half an incubator (mine doesn't work so I manage the temps with a heating lamp and hygrometer) and keeping one side closer to the light than the other side.

As for the humidity do you mean that I don't need to worry about the humidity? Like if they're hatching that is.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Sadly the little one didn't make it. I did open a small part on the air sack side and noticed the membrane wasn't broken so I opened a small part of the other side only to find it pipping at the wrong end.

Also I wasn't aware of the slower grow time or the supplement. So I will definitely keep that in mind and also buy supplement asap.

As for the heat I was misinformed then, but I did notice that when I dropped the temp to 91 they seemed to do a little better. I wasn't sure if it was that or if they were uncomfortable though so I kept it about 95.

Since I've been letting the mama do most the work and taking the eggs when they crack or if something seems wrong. I've only been hatching one baby at a time as her eggs have been laid and developing at different times from the others. That being said I had been putting the eggs in the bottom half an incubator (mine doesn't work so I manage the temps with a heating lamp and hygrometer) and keeping one side closer to the light than the other side.

As for the humidity do you mean that I don't need to worry about the humidity? Like if they're hatching that is.

The only time you need to adjust humidity is if you're using an incubator. Don't play with the humidity in the brooder or when using a hen to hatch. The recommended incubator temperatures you see online are just our best attempt to replicate the mother hen, but many people are finding that these recommended humidity % are usually higher then what the mother hen provides. That doesn't mean that the internet is right and the hen is wrong, but if anything the opposite. Trying to adjust the humidity for a hen brooding eggs is only going to make her uncomfortable, stressed and possibly even effect her health if there is a drastic humidity change from the coop to outside.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

The only time you need to adjust humidity is if you're using an incubator. Don't play with the humidity in the brooder or when using a hen to hatch. The recommended incubator temperatures you see online are just our best attempt to replicate the mother hen, but many people are finding that these recommended humidity % are usually higher then what the mother hen provides. That doesn't mean that the internet is right and the hen is wrong, but if anything the opposite. Trying to adjust the humidity for a hen brooding eggs is only going to make her uncomfortable, stressed and possibly even effect her health if there is a drastic humidity change from the coop to outside.

I think they meant for the eggs they were going to bring inside to finish hatching.

If they are not being brought inside until they have started to zip..then no. I wouldn't worry about the humidity at that point.
Once they have progressed as far as starting to zip you shouldn't have any problems and you will be able to monitor and pop the end cap off and help them out if you need to.
I have placed zipping duck eggs right in the brooder with their brothers and sisters to let them finish zipping out before.