Need some help

[jasonvanorder]

Need help figuring out what we are doing wrong. This is the first year hatching pekin ducks. The first attempt we set 8 eggs only 1 hatched. This time we set 7 and none hatched. We are using the NR360 temp at 99.5. Humidity was held between 55-60% until lockdown then held at 80%. This time we had one infertile 4 that quit at various points along the way and the last two were doing great Friday. Both pipped late Friday night early Saturday morning. Not an issue since it was right at day 27/28. I stood back and waited. Last night I noticed no progress. No movement and no sound. This morning I opened both eggs at the pips and both were full of fluid. Both ducklings gone. Trying to figure out what when wrong and if we really want to try for a 3rd time hatching or just order some from a local hatchery. My wife is crushed. Any ideas and advice would be helpful. Thanks all

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

I think those humidities seem too high. You can try doing a dry hatch around 30-40% humidity until lockdown and then go up to around 65%, but 80% is just too high, can cause drowning inside the egg. Get yourself a couple of properly calibrated thermometers and check your incubator is running at the same consistent temperature and then get a calibrated hydrometer to check humidity inside the incubator.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Need help figuring out what we are doing wrong. This is the first year hatching pekin ducks. The first attempt we set 8 eggs only 1 hatched. This time we set 7 and none hatched. We are using the NR360 temp at 99.5. Humidity was held between 55-60% until lockdown then held at 80%. This time we had one infertile 4 that quit at various points along the way and the last two were doing great Friday. Both pipped late Friday night early Saturday morning. Not an issue since it was right at day 27/28. I stood back and waited. Last night I noticed no progress. No movement and no sound. This morning I opened both eggs at the pips and both were full of fluid. Both ducklings gone. Trying to figure out what when wrong and if we really want to try for a 3rd time hatching or just order some from a local hatchery. My wife is crushed. Any ideas and advice would be helpful. Thanks all

I'm sorry things didn't go well! Losing a hatch is tough, I know how your wife must feel. Hopefully we can give some thoughts and figure out what went wrong.
55% is okay during incubation but 60 is too high, 80 is also a little high at lockdown. Did you candle the eggs throughout? What stage did the other eggs die? From what you've said it was during lockdown?
High humidity doesnt let enough moisture leave the egg, and when the baby internal pips they can drown- Did you spray the eggs at all? This isn't necessary to do, but spraying the eggs with water daily for the later part of incubation can help the egg lose moisture, which may have helped in your case.

Did you use a calibrated thermometer, and calibrated hygrometer? They usually arent accurate so it's important to calibrate them to get a true reading.

 

[junior67]

@MochaLatte may be able to help.

@CluckNDoodle may as well.

I don't know if ducks are different, besides days, than chickens. But I have the NR360 and hatch chickens. First do you have a calibrated hygrometer/thermometer in there? Don't trust the temp the incubator says. Also the humidity seems high. Trying to remember but think 45-50% for incubation and 55-60% for lockdown.

Search for the post Harris Farms Nurture Right 360 is Amazing. There is a huge thread with tons of information.

 

[BelovedBirds]

@MochaLatte may be able to help.

@CluckNDoodle may as well.

I don't know if ducks are different, besides days, than chickens. But I have the NR360 and hatch chickens. First do you have a calibrated hygrometer/thermometer in there? Don't trust the temp the incubator says. Also the humidity seems high. Trying to remember but think 45-50% for incubation and 55-60% for lockdown.

Search for the post Harris Farms Nurture Right 360 is Amazing. There is a huge thread with tons of information.

Humidity is a tad higher for duck eggs, but you're right, 60 and then 80 is much too high

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Need help figuring out what we are doing wrong. This is the first year hatching pekin ducks. The first attempt we set 8 eggs only 1 hatched. This time we set 7 and none hatched. We are using the NR360 temp at 99.5. Humidity was held between 55-60% until lockdown then held at 80%. This time we had one infertile 4 that quit at various points along the way and the last two were doing great Friday. Both pipped late Friday night early Saturday morning. Not an issue since it was right at day 27/28. I stood back and waited. Last night I noticed no progress. No movement and no sound. This morning I opened both eggs at the pips and both were full of fluid. Both ducklings gone. Trying to figure out what when wrong and if we really want to try for a 3rd time hatching or just order some from a local hatchery. My wife is crushed. Any ideas and advice would be helpful. Thanks all

How did you acquire these eggs? Were they shipped? Duck eggs do NOT ship well. I'm an experienced hatcher and out of 6 shipped cayuga duck eggs I got one to hatch.
I would incubate at 99.8'F and 45% humidity, and then lockdown at 60% humidity.
I've hatched tons of duck eggs.
Alternately, Metzer Farms Hatchery in TN/CA can ship you out as little as 2 ducklings, or you can look on Craigslist near you to see if someone close by you has some for sale.

 

[citymeetscountry]

First off, I’m sorry, that is frustrating and disappointing I’m sure. I agree with previous posters that humidity was too high. When I did our incubation/hatch I aimed for 45-55% and then 55-65% for lockdown. Out of 6 set, I had 4 hatch (1 was infertile and 1 was an early quitter). We even had a power outage during incubation.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I'm sooo sorry for you difficult experience! I didn't read all of the other posts but I saw I was tagged so I'll tell you what I do.
I incubate waterfowl at the same humidity as my chicks in the NR360 (45% for the beginning of incubation and increase to 65% for hatch) but I also spray and cool the eggs for a short period when hatching waterfowl to help them to lose more weight. (Yes I know it sounds like the opposite would happen but it's the evaporation off of the exterior of the shell as it dries, that pulls moisture from the egg as well.)
You'll want to monitor the air cell development or weight of the eggs to know if you need to adjust the humidity. Any humidity you start with is just a basic guideline and you'll want to adjust it as needed. Humidity is just a tool to speed up or slow down the rate of weight loss.

 

[jasonvanorder]

Thanks for the replies and info. This is our first year hatching ducks and only the second time trying this year. The first set only one hatched but I figured it was because I didn’t have the right turner for the incubator and they just didn’t get turned enough at the start. Every place I read said to run the humidity that high. It sucks because if I would have known I would have stepped in to help them out. But like with the first one we hatched I thought it would take a while so was just waiting it out. The first duckling took almost a full 36 hours from first pip to hatch. After 48 hours with these I check and didn’t hear anything or see movement. That’s when I chipped back some shell from the pipped area and saw all the fluid. I feel horrible. But unfortunately that’s part of raising animals and a very very hard lesson learned. We will give it another shot this year with the lower humidity numbers recommended here and see what happens. Just gotta get our 3 ladies to lay a few more. Again thank you all for the wisdom it will be put to use for sure. Also we did end up ordering 10 random ducklings from metzer farms yesterday too. Those should be arriving by the end of next week

 

[Horsern]

I'm sooo sorry for you difficult experience! I didn't read all of the other posts but I saw I was tagged so I'll tell you what I do.
I incubate waterfowl at the same humidity as my chicks in the NR360 (45% for the beginning of incubation and increase to 65% for hatch) but I also spray and cool the eggs for a short period when hatching waterfowl to help them to lose more weight. (Yes I know it sounds like the opposite would happen but it's the evaporation off of the exterior of the shell as it dries, that pulls moisture from the egg as well.)
You'll want to monitor the air cell development or weight of the eggs to know if you need to adjust the humidity. Any humidity you start with is just a basic guideline and you'll want to adjust it as needed. Humidity is just a tool to speed up or slow down the rate of weight loss.

We are going to try hatching ducks for the first time and my question for you is when do you start taking them out to cool and spray and do you do it up to lockdown? I have heard this also and was having trouble getting our humidity up to the high level I read about (similar as the original poster) but was happy to find others have had success with lower humidities.