No visible movement - 5 days till hatch

[cricket-cricket]

I'm talking about my muscovies. We had a minor temp spike today, from the usual 99.5 to 101 tops. Thought I'd check a couple. One I could detect some movement (big blob mostly). Another, nothing.

What do you think? A quitter? Perfectly normal and just too close to hatch time to tell? I examined it long and hard. Couldn't see much of the vasculature anymore either. Sometimes I look for solid, uniform lines. If they appear broken, streaky or clotted - I usually figure them for goners. Not sure about this one though.

comments?

 

[willowcol]

if you only have 5 day I would just leave them all in, you never know could be sleeping.

 

[dancingbear]

I haven't hatched ducks, but I've hatched a lot of chickens, and some turkeys.

I have never seen the movement in any if the eggs I've hatched. I know other people do, but anytime I've candled, I have seen nothing moving at all. Until they pip or hatch. Maybe they all yell "Freeze!" when I walk in the room. Maybe they're always asleep when I candle. Obviously, they move, they hatch later, I just never see it.

In other words, just wait it out.

I've had an egg hatch 3 days late, too. I was certain that one was dead, but I gave it another day. I was going in to throw it out, and there was the chick, alive, hatched, and healthy! I'd listened to that egg a couple of hours before, too, heard no pecking, peeping, or anything. Then, there was a live baby chick!

 

[selinagil]

I would leave them alone--I've had temp spikes and live chicks with no issues so don't stress it! Good luck

 

[Fancie]

what I have noticed is you can tell by holding the egg if they are good or not. Good eggs stay warm after you remove them from the bator... bad eggs get cold very quickly...