Oh dear, all my duck eggs candled clear! :(

awesomefowl

Argues with Goats
9 Years
Jun 5, 2010
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raxacoricofallapatorious
I candled all my 7 ancona (expensive) duck eggs today, and I couldn't find anything.
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I set them on last Wednesday night, is it too early to see? The temperatureis usually 99-100 degrees, no clue about humidity.
RATS!!
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I assume you bought then and had them shipped in? It is really the wrong season to be buying eggs, ancona ducks will lay for a long time but the drakes usually lose their fertility when spring is done. They will mate but they are 'shooting blanks' BTW it is really is too early to see 7 days is when most experienced breeders will first candle duck eggs. If you get nothing at 10 days you should ask about a refund, I doubt you will get one, an honest breeder wouldn't have shipped this time of year unless he was hatching himself and had reason to beleive the eggs were fertile, It does happen sometimes, but mostly not.~gd
 
Blood vessels should be visible around day 4. If you don't see anything by day 7 then they are no good at all. At that point you should open them and check for the fertility disk. If you don't see one then you should confront the seller and request a refund including shipping. The seller needs to learn when eggs are fertile etc and to check for it. They do not need an incubator for that, simply crack the egg and look. You just see a lot of sellers on ebay that don't know what they are doing. I hate it when they blame the shipping carrier and who know what else. The fertility disk is a clear indicator that they left the nest fertile or unfertile. I also find it crazy that sellers get good feed back simply for shipping and not the product. Shipping does only some damage, but not to the point that they are all bad. You should expect a 30% or better hatch rate. Anything under 30% points to other issues. Did you know that vitamin and mineral deficiencies cause poor hatching rates? I have never seen a single seller stating that their ducks are on a better diet or supplements for the absolutely best egg production possible. Very frustrating. Always ask if they provide supplements on their laying hens. Then you get mixed eggs with all kind of sizes including double yolkers, which is another no no. Best is to order in spring, but wait at least 2-3 weeks before you order, because that is the time frame ducks need to get back into swing. This of course varies with some breeds. I hope my rant gives you a little bit more information and what to look for.
 
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Can you tell us more about this fertility disk? I have cracked many duck eggs for eating and I don't think I have seen anything like a disk.
Is it found on the yolk or in the white of the egg? I assume it is the result of sperm geting to the egg before the shell is formed and without this sign the egg can never hatch because it wasn't fertilized. What should I be looking for? This is important to me because I try to sell fertile eggs to asians who eat the unborn ducks in the eggs before they hatch (no accounting for food tastes) and they often demand a refund because the egg was not fertilized. I always give a refund to keep them happy but I have often wondered how they were so sure that the egg was not fertilized. They don't want eggs that candle as fertile because those usually die before they can get them home and heated again. With a true fertile but unbrooded egg they can start the brooding process to meet their needs. Please tell me more about the fertility disk! with that info I could crack an egg to convince them that they are likely to be fertile and eat it my self rather than having to deal with unhappy customers. ~gd
 
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