Need advice on hatching please

[Eliza1313]

I will start with background information first. I had a duck go broody, and purchased some hatching eggs that were shipped to me. I candled them several hours after they had arrived and noticed that they had loose air cells. The plan had been to place most of them under the broody, but I did not because of the loose air cells. I let them sit for another 24 hours without disturbing them before setting in the incubator. I kept them upright with no turning in the incubator for 48 hours, still had loose or jiggly air cells. At that point I started tipping the eggs at angles in the carton.

The air cells are slowly growing, but I'm not sure if they are where they should be. I am running the incubator dry, but the hygrometers I have put it around 40% or higher. I also added some chicken eggs I collected after the ducks eggs had been in for a week. (I can't currently post pictures)

I have candled every few days, to make double check progress on the eggs. Was worried they had been scrambled in the shipping. Out of the 12 eggs I received I believe one was infertile and had 4 that just had blood spots or streaks appear, no veining and nothing that looked like an embryo. I have removed those, along with the chicken eggs that fell into those categories.

Someone in the Incubation & Hatching eggs forum suggested misting the duck eggs. That it would cause an initial spike in the humidity but that by the end of the day it would be lower than where it started.

This is my first attempt at incubating. Lesson learned, I will weigh eggs before I set them (at least until I get the hang of this or when dealing with shipped eggs).

Also one egg did arrive with a hairline crack, we put some wax over the crack and originally kept it at the opposite side of the incubator. It however has been one of the ones developing the best so far.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Eliza1313]

Hmm, it appears my other thread in Incubation & Hatching eggs asking how to lower the humidity has disappeared.

I candled again last night. Looks like there is air cell growth from where I marked on Sunday, not a lot but some. Most of the air cells have set finally, only one is still jiggly.

One, maybe two, have quit developing on the duck eggs. The one had a dark spot and I am guessing what is called a blood ring, could no longer see veins. That one was removed from the incubator. The other had a dark spot, did not see movement, but still had veining. So I will recheck it Sunday. Still not sure if the Marans eggs are developing, too dark of shell, so not sure what to do with those.

Just over a week to go now. Going to have to set up the brooder this weekend.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hmm, it appears my other thread in Incubation & Hatching eggs asking how to lower the humidity has disappeared.

I candled again last night. Looks like there is air cell growth from where I marked on Sunday, not a lot but some. Most of the air cells have set finally, only one is still jiggly.

One, maybe two, have quit developing on the duck eggs. The one had a dark spot and I am guessing what is called a blood ring, could no longer see veins. That one was removed from the incubator. The other had a dark spot, did not see movement, but still had veining. So I will recheck it Sunday. Still not sure if the Marans eggs are developing, too dark of shell, so not sure what to do with those.

Just over a week to go now. Going to have to set up the brooder this weekend.

Lets see if @caesargirl is on she is a good one to help with hatching eggs and also @WVduckchick

 

[WVduckchick]

Sounds like you are doing fine! I would maybe suggest verifying the accuracy of your hygrometer if you haven't. There is a "salt test" that you can perform to test it. Google it. Its very easy to do.

From what I hear, marans eggs like a bit lower humidity than duck eggs do, so don't be surprised if they are a little later hatching.

Oh, also, if you are still misting, don't mist after day 25.

And good luck! Let us know how it turns out!

 

[Eliza1313]

Thank you.

Someone had posted how to do the hygrometer test on the other thread that has disappeared. I did not start misting the duck eggs because I wanted to get more input first. Our ambient humidity is fairly high due to the rains we've had the past couple of months. Do you think I should mist the duck eggs or continue as I have been? (Humidity inside the room is reading 58%, the LG incubator is saying 48%, and the dial reptile gauge is reading above 55% but I just realized it is right next to the open plug)

The duck eggs were set the evening of Nov 15 and majority of the chicken eggs were set the evening of Nov 22.

I did set most of the chicken eggs to hatch the same time as the duck eggs, except I put in 2 more 1.5 days later (read about a research study that says they can communicate with each other and pull hatch times closer together). Although I do have Mallard eggs set and they typically hatch a little early. Will probably use a spray bottle to help with maintaining humidity while waiting for those to hatch and still needing to turn the others. It is one of the 2 Mallard eggs I have that may have quit, so keeping fingers crossed that the one left is a drake.

I am seeing air cell growth, a lot easier to see now that they have stabilized. From illustrations and candling pictures I have seen they look to be on track now.

I can candle and take pics Friday evening and try to post them Saturday, if the mobile app will cooperate. Especially of the one Mallard egg.

 

[WVduckchick]

I dont mist mine, and also have duck and chicken eggs in my bator right now, all due Dec 15th, so I'm 2 days behind you. I'm not misting any of them. But my humidity is around 30% and air cells still look a little small for mid-way, so I dropped it this evening to around 27%. 55% seems way high, but its more about the air cells than any given number, so lets see how yours look. Instead of increasing it drastically on the regular schedule, maybe wait for a pip, then jack it up.
The problem with too high humidity is the air cell stays too small and the chick grows too large to work its way out, then drowns. But don't panic. Just Post some pics when you can and we'll go from there!

I'll get some pics too, probably Sunday, to compare.

 

[Eliza1313]

Sounds like a plan.

Ugh, having issues with the one that arrived cracked. I patched it with food-grade paraffin wax before setting it. The cracks are spreading, and unfortunately last night the temp inside the incubator had dropped a couple of degrees hardening the wax to the carton. It pulled away some of the shell when I went to turn it. Membrane stayed intact and no bleeding. I very carefully put the shell bit back in place without touching the inside and put more wax there and over the spreading cracks. I candled it then and there was still movement, and again this morning when I needed to turn it. Should I continue with it, just check it more frequently? It does seem to have a larger air cell than the rest probably due to the cracks I had not repaired, and not quit as large development wise. I have been keeping it away from the other eggs, so it may have been in cooler temps (still air incubator). I did put a small piece of wax paper to prevent it from sticking to the carton again.

 

[WVduckchick]

I would guess that one has lost more moisture because of the crack, but as long as its developing, I'd leave it in and see what happens. Since you are hand turning, you would probably notice a bad odor before anything goes drastically wrong. It may just stop developing, but it might surprise us!

 

[Eliza1313]

The plan is to leave it in for now. It was the first one that I knew was alive. It's growth has since slowed, but I still see movement. Found another post where someone says you can successfully hatch them even if they are missing a chunk of the shell.

I did shift it to the warmer side of the incubator, closer to the heat element and the open vent. Since the vent was letting in some humidity and I had not rotated it in closer to the element for a few days, since it's growth was ahead of everyone else's. I have been candling on Sundays and Wednesdays, so I guess I will check it again either Monday or Tuesday. Along with before lockdown.

The Mallards could hatch as early as the 10th. So I guess that will be Monday, that I will need to stop turning them.

 

[Eliza1313]

This is the one with the cracks