Misting eggs??? (edited to ask new question)

[princessmama]

I just read on duckeggs.com that misting the eggs with a spray bottle, which I have been doing all along, will change the membrane and actually cause the eggs to lose water faster. All this time I've been thinking it will keep them from losing too fast!

Which is it??

 

[shelleyd2008]

I doubt that is right. If the mama duck were setting on the eggs, do you think she would go a whole month without getting wet? Plus, she doesn't dry herself off before she goes back to the nest. The membrane of a duck egg is very spongy, it needs the extra humidity to soften it up.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Hi there, me again. I just wanted to let you know my current results on my duck hatch. The last time I tried to hatch eggs from my ducks, I got one baby from over 20 eggs. I did not mist or cool the eggs. This time, having goose eggs in the bator as well, I have been misting and cooling the eggs daily. So far, out of 17 or 18 'good' eggs (that have not obviously quit), there are 15 that have either internal or internal and external pips

I would say definitely mist the eggs, and to heck with what that site told you!

 

[princessmama]

Thanks for your reply

And for sharing your experiences. There's nothing like practical experience for good information.

I'll keep misting.

We had an egg where the top where the air cell is turned black. The air cell was very large and a funky shape, it curved down on one side. All we could see inside was a dark, swirly cloud. All the others that have made it this far(21 days, muscovy ducks) we can see movement and blood vessels, etc. We cracked it open and it was all cloudy with a slimy dark blob and no visible blood vessels.

Now I have another egg turning dark on top. Am I going to lose this one too?

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
If it looks like the other one, I would say most likely. Mine don't usually have any change in the color of the air cell until after they have pipped into it.

 

[princessmama]

Phooey! I'm down to twelve out of sixteen. This would make eleven. I guess that's still a lot of ducks...lol. We've got two weeks to go tho

Maybe i'll candle it tonight and see what it's doing. Or not. Do you know why they die like that? A problem with development? Or something that happened during shipping?

 

[shelleyd2008]

Honestly, it could be anything. Incubation methods, shipping, breeder stock health, these are just a few reasons that eggs quit like that. I have been having a terrible time with getting eggs hatch, and I believe it is due to the incubator I have been using for the most part. It's a LG, and it seems like most every egg I put in it dies. I am lucky to get 1 chick to hatch out of a dozen eggs. If I put them under a hen, I get at least half on shipped eggs, and if I put them in my hovabator I get at least half. There are so many variables with hatching eggs, and adding shipping on top of it just makes it that much harder. Hope you can keep the others going!

What kind of bator do you have?

 

[princessmama]

A Marsh Turn-x from the seventies!

My in-laws had it in storage and pulled it out when i said we'd like to hatch some eggs some day.

We hatched eight (out of nine!) chicken eggs last month. They were local eggs, then I ordered the muscovy eggs from sandspoultry (i think that's the right name anyway). I was excited to have 13 out of sixteen eggs developing well last week

 

[shelleyd2008]

You are doing better than I am. I ordered two different sets of 8 muscovy eggs. Each set arrived with 9 eggs. Out of the 18 eggs (9 from 2 sets) I have 9 eggs left. Two of the ones I don't have had blood rings, and the others didn't even start. Mine still have 1 1/2-2 weeks left, but so far, I don't think there have been anymore quitters. I will not get muscovy eggs again, unless my OEG hen is broody. They sure do suck up the bator space! My OEG hen has 6 chicks, finally, after setting for about 7 weeks. So I figure, if she will set that long without quitting, I'll get her some eggs that take longer next time!

 

[TheBoonducks]

I dont know about chicken eggs but duck eggs have a very thick protective membrane on the egg that takes a good scrubbing to remove. If the eggs are very dirty before setting its best to wash them because the misting may help bacterias enter the egg. The water for misting should always be a tiny bit warmer than the egg. When we let our mama duck sit on her eggs she purposefully bathes and then sits back on the nest, especially at the end of the incubation period. Eggs should be misted 48 and then 24 hrs before they hatch. We reference Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks by Dave Holderread. He really knows his stuff, we know because our first Mama, the one who sets, is his baby. We get ducklings from his conservancy and they are the strongest and healthiest ducklings we have seen!