- Nov 28, 2013
- 5
- 0
- 35
For the second time, I've allowed one of my muscovy hens to sit on eggs. It's now day 39 with no sign of ducklings so I candled the eggs. It looked like black fluid in the egg and it smelled so I took it and cracked it.
First tap, the shell came off but the membrane didn't break. It stank though. Kind of sour rather than sulfurous. So I put it into a jar to break it. Membrane was green/brown and very thick. Orange/brown slime inside the egg. The duckling was fully formed but dead. The yolk sac had some veins on it but seemed to be full of dark orange/brown gritty goo. I'll try and attach the pictures I took if I can!
This happened last time I let a hen sit. Eggs from the same hen/drake parentage have been successfully hatched by chickens by other people. So the eggs/genetics are surely sound?!
Any ideas why I can't seem to hatch ducklings?