Peacock egg incubation

[ChickenCanoe]

She laid 8 eggs in the shade a few days ago and I haven’t seen her checking on them or warming them since then. The location she chose was dropping into the low 80’s. I have taken them inside and put them inside a towel on a heating pad. Yesterday the max temperature achieved was 104. It shuts off intermittently and the temperature drops into the 90’s. This is definitely an experiment in progress.

I would have left them alone. She didn't lay 8 eggs in less than 10 days so she was likely assembling a clutch before she started sitting. The eggs can cool all the way down to near freezing before affecting their ability to hatch as long as incubation hasn't started.
They wait till they have a clutch before they start sitting 24/7.
Now that you've put them on a heat pad, cell division has begun.
Where are you getting that 104F reading? On the pad, on the egg, or?
Going from the 90s to 104 continuously will certainly doom the hatch.
No offense but it sounds like an experiment in how to ruin 8 peafowl eggs.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If she was laying them in a clutch she was going to come back and sit once she was done laying. Peahens can go three days between laying eggs so she might have been about done and getting ready to go broody. I think you made a mistake by removing the eggs especially since you do not have a proper incubator or a broody hen to put them under. A heating pad is sure to ruin the eggs.

Exactly!

 

[BRB]

Raccoons eat most of them at night.

If she was laying them in a clutch she was going to come back and sit once she was done laying. Peahens can go three days between laying eggs so she might have been about done and getting ready to go broody. I think you made a mistake by removing the eggs especially since you do not have a proper incubator or a broody hen to put them under. A heating pad is sure to ruin the eggs.

 

[BRB]

I would have left them alone. She didn't lay 8 eggs in less than 10 days so she was likely assembling a clutch before she started sitting. The eggs can cool all the way down to near freezing before affecting their ability to hatch as long as incubation hasn't started.
They wait till they have a clutch before they start sitting 24/7.
Now that you've put them on a heat pad, cell division has begun.
Where are you getting that 104F reading? On the pad, on the egg, or?
Going from the 90s to 104 continuously will certainly doom the hatch.
No offense but it sounds like an experiment in how to ruin 8 peafowl eggs.

 

[BRB]

After how many days on the heating pad will I be able to check their progress?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

10 days but don't discard before 20+ days unless they leak or stink.

The temperature needs to be consistent at 99-100 around the clock AND you need to be able to control humidity so it can't be in open air.
How many times a day are you turning them?
Can you post a picture of your setup?

 

[BRB]

10 days but don't discard before 20+ days unless they leak or stink.

The temperature needs to be consistent at 99-100 around the clock AND you need to be able to control humidity so it can't be in open air.
How many times a day are you turning them?
Can you post a picture of your setup?

 

[Kessel23]

A heating pad is not going to work.

 

[BRB]

I am turning them twice a day and keeping the narrow side of the eggs angled down. Is this right?
As for the temperature, I am leaving the eggs inside a bathtowel on top of the heating pad. Yesterday the thermometer went as high as 104 and as low as 95. I am hoping that the insulating factor will help keep them at a constant acceptable temperature. After a few weeks I will let you know if it worked. We have 20 or 30 wild peahens in our yard and neighbors have told me that raccoons often eat the eggs before they can hatch. So this is an experiment, but if it doesn’t work, then I won’t do it anymore. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Early in incubation, the more often you can turn the better.
The insulation factor may help. Are you checking temperature with a probe inside the towel next to the eggs?
How are you going to maintain humidity?
If you have a gram scale, I'd weigh the eggs now so you can track if humidity has been close to correct.