Muscovy duck egg air sack complications

[Evefa2]

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC!

Is it still alive?

 

[Evefa2]

Sorry the text above deleted earlier...

I have been recently trying to hatch a Muscovy duck egg. The whole incubation process has gone well but here we are now, one day overdue (day 36) and I don’t know what to do next. I don’t want to intervene with the hatching by poking a hole in the air sack because of all the horror stories I’ve read online.

Here are my list of grievances:

1. It seems like there are dark spots in the air sack where the duckling has poked through when I candle it. I’m not sure if it is it’s beak or feet.

2. It looks like there are grey patches in the air socket as well. I am assuming it’s the egg thinning

3. The egg sometimes rolls over a bit in the incubator so I know there is movement but when I finally rounded up the courage to break the laws of lockdown, I didn’t see or feel any movement inside the egg when I picked it up to candle. I haven’t heard any pipping or little peeps at all.

I also haven’t been at home frequently so I’m assuming the pipping occurs while I’m not at home. I just need answers on whether or not I should intervene or leave it in the egg to hatch on its own.

 

[Evefa2]

Welcome to BYC!

Is it still alive?

I have no idea. I replied below saying my circumstances

 

[casportpony]

Are there any bruises on the egg that look like this?

 

[sylviethecochin]

1. It seems like there are dark spots in the air sack where the duckling has poked through when I candle it. I’m not sure if it is it’s beak or feet.

Should be beak at this point. That's generally how they begin to hatch—by poking their beaks through the membrane. Quail take a short time to hatch after this, chickens take many hours, mallards take a longer time.

2. It looks like there are grey patches in the air socket as well. I am assuming it’s the egg thinning

I have no idea why these develop, but in my experience, it happens a lot with duck eggs. Not so much with chicken eggs. @Pyxis probably knows more.

3. The egg sometimes rolls over a bit in the incubator so I know there is movement but when I finally rounded up the courage to break the laws of lockdown, I didn’t see or feel any movement inside the egg when I picked it up to candle. I haven’t heard any pipping or little peeps at all.

Duck eggs take a very long time to hatch, and they rest often between attempts. It's highly likely that the peep is just resting.

 

[Evefa2]

Are there any bruises on the egg that look like this?

No. I do have some dark spots though. The orangish spots have been there since the beginning, but the cloudy dark spots under the shell have just came up within the last 3 days

 

[sylviethecochin]

View attachment 1761960No. I do have some dark spots though. The orangish spots have been there since the beginning, but the cloudy dark spots under the shell have just came up within the last 3 days

I'll wait for pyxis to confirm, but I find that that many grey spots just inside the egg are often signs of a bacterial infection. One or two is normal, but I see a lot in your picture.

 

[Evefa2]

I'll wait for pyxis to confirm, but I find that that many grey spots just inside the egg are often signs of a bacterial infection. One or two is normal, but I see a lot in your picture.

And the bacterial infection could result in death or abnormalities?

 

[sylviethecochin]

And the bacterial infection could result in death or abnormalities?

It could. Assuming that's what it is. Like I said, I've seen a lot of duck eggs develop grey spots later in incubation, and I have no idea why, but they didn't seen to harm the chick. Though that is a lot of grey, it's very common for eggs with longer incubation periods to be a few days, or even several days, off of expected hatch date.