Muscovy egg advice needed

[Farmer Maz]

Hi I ordered 6 Muscovy eggs a few weeks back I am new to the whole incubating thing. And I thought they would be a good type to start with. A already have 3 blues. Love them very much. I'm on day 20 I have 5. All moving looking good. One was infertile.my incubator is a self Turner.with fan. I'm running it at 35.7 @60% I know they take between 35 and 37 days to hatch.iv been cooling and misting.. but they are not lay flat should they be? They are pointy down in the holders.If they should be flat can I move them and hand turn them from now on. I'm just so worried I don't want any to die. Any advice would be amazing thanks

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Hi I ordered 6 Muscovy eggs a few weeks back I am new to the whole incubating thing. And I thought they would be a good type to start with. A already have 3 blues. Love them very much. I'm on day 20 I have 5. All moving looking good. One was infertile.my incubator is a self Turner.with fan. I'm running it at 35.7 @60% I know they take between 35 and 37 days to hatch.iv been cooling and misting.. but they are not lay flat should they be? They are pointy down in the holders.If they should be flat can I move them and hand turn them from now on. I'm just so worried I don't want any to die. Any advice would be amazing thanks

You're doing pretty well at 5 of 6 developing!

I also raise Muscovies and hatch their eggs under broodies and in an incubator.

If you haven't already read this, it has a lot of helpful information: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/incubating-and-hatching-muscovy-eggs. I don't use the autoturner on my incubator for Muscovy eggs - I prefer to hand turn them, so they start out on their sides and remain there throughout the incubation; since yours are already in the autoturner, you could leave them until lockdown and then remove the autoturner and place the eggs on their sides for hatching.

I mist and cool, too, and based on what I've observed when broodies incubate their eggs, I think it's very important to facilitate a successful hatch. Your humidity seems a bit high to me at this point in the incubation - I usually dry hatch at around 35-45% humidity and don't raise it to 65-70% humidity until lockdown, otherwise the ducklings can be "gooey" at hatch (see the article referenced above) or have difficulty hatching - and temperature in a forced-air incubator should be around 99.5oF (37.5oC).

Best wishes for a good hatch!

 

[Farmer Maz]

Hi thank you so much for your advice it's helped a lot. I will check out the link. I did think my humidity was too high. I will lower it gradually. I am shocked the eggs survived a Ferry journey and the post. I will keep you updated on babies. I'm just hoping they will be ok.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

YVW. Muscovy eggs aren't the easiest to incubate, especially if shipped - but you can still have a good hatch.

Will look forward to updates!

 

[Farmer Maz]

On lock down now..I'm pretty sure two of the eggs have moved slightly.Do they move a bit? Last time I looked in the eggs was Saturday.All 5 ducklings were moving and alive so I hope all hatch. I'm so excited!

 

[Miss Lydia]

On lock down now..I'm pretty sure two of the eggs have moved slightly.Do they move a bit? Last time I looked in the eggs was Saturday.All 5 ducklings were moving and alive so I hope all hatch. I'm so excited!

@FoodFreedomNow

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

@FoodFreedomNow

@Farmer Maz, the eggs definitely can and do move as they near hatch. It's a good sign to see them "rocking and rolling".

 

[Farmer Maz]

Unfortunately iv lost 3. But iv still 2. I feel terrible as this is my first hatch. I should of done more research.. its day 39.one of the eggs is chirping and rocking and is through the air sack and has been for 24 hours. Should I just leave it? Is the poor thing going to die too? The other one isn't far behind. Although it's hard to see as he is a very dark coloured duckling.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Unfortunately iv lost 3. But iv still 2. I feel terrible as this is my first hatch. I should of done more research.. its day 39.one of the eggs is chirping and rocking and is through the air sack and has been for 24 hours. Should I just leave it? Is the poor thing going to die too? The other one isn't far behind. Although it's hard to see as he is a very dark coloured duckling.

Sorry to hear 3 didn't make it.

Not sure it will make you feel any better, but my first attempt at hatching Muscovy eggs was a total bust - they were shipped eggs, it was unusually cold, the Postal Service sent the package from a neighboring state (one of the reasons I bought them, thinking they would arrive faster...

) up north several states so there were likely pressure changes, temperature changes, shaking, and maybe even x-raying. It was a disappointing start. On the bright side, I learned from the experience.

If it's day 39 and the duckling is still trying to get out, I would consider assisting. When I first began hatching chicken eggs, I tried not to "interfere" and, as a result, lost chicks that would likely have been just fine with a little help pipping and zipping. My philosophy on assisted hatching now is if my gut feeling is that the chick or duckling is having trouble, I go in and help as little as possible (e.g., poking a small hole and removing just a tiny bit of shell to see what's going on) until I can assess whether further assistance is needed. I do think that it's best for the chick or duckling to kick out of the shell by itself if possible so that it can strengthen its legs, but I'd rather have a live hatchling with slightly weak legs than a dead one.

I use this helpful resource when I prepare to assist in a hatch: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching. I can't overemphasize how important it is to go slowly - there are blood vessels that can break if you rush things, or the duckling may not yet have absorbed the yolk sac and it could be ruptured.

Sending you good energy and wishes for your remaining eggs to hatch successfully.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

@Farmer Maz , I forgot to mention that Muscovy eggs have unusually tough shells, so it can be very difficult for the ducklings to get out...hence my less-conservative stance on assisting, especially with these guys.