Pending disaster? (duck egg incubating)

[Sgt_P]

It's day 25, and my surviving 7 duck eggs are all moving, but aren't ready for lockdown.

They appear very underdeveloped for as far along as we are.

The eggs were shipped. The incubator holds temperature (I've got three thermometers). It also holds humidity well (3 hygrometers too). I did have the humidity a little high for the first couple of days. But the aircells seemed to be on track with each subsequent candling.
Where I may have failed:
humidity to high for the first few days
thermometers not calibrated (possible low temp?)
didn't weigh and track weight of eggs

Are they still viable, or did my rookie mistakes cause this to be a lost cause? See the pic...

 

[JaeG]

I can still see veins there so there's still hope. I don't think you've made a mistake - what you've done sounds fine to me. What is important is the average humidity over the course of incubation, so a bit high for a few days won't affect them in the long run. It may pay to calibrate your thermometers and hygrometers just in case. If you search in the articles section you'll find instructions on how to do that. But they've actually done studies and often wild ducks incubate at lower temperatures than we would because in the long run it makes the ducklings hardier.

The movement may have been the ducklings rotating into the hatch position which they do a few days out because otherwise they are too big.

Let me know how you get on. We've just hatched Muscovy ducklings and they are the cutest little things. But we did have one stop a few days out and another stop just before internal pipping. So we were down to five eggs and four hatched just fine and one I had to help completely - it internally pipped but it never externally pipped so I made a safety hole for it because it was no longer peeping back at me and it had been at least 24 hours since it had internally pipped. 48 hours later I had to break it out of its shell, and it's perfectly perfect, ready to be out of that egg (and it's everybody's favourite because of its cute markings around its eyes) so I don't know what the problem was.

Until some are externally pipping there's no danger in checking on how they are doing by candling every now and then. That way you know approximately when they internally pip and when you might need to step in and help. I'll link you to a thread in the goose thread that applies to incubating all types of eggs and it's really helpful: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed.491013/

 

[Sgt_P]

I can still see veins there so there's still hope. I don't think you've made a mistake - what you've done sounds fine to me. What is important is the average humidity over the course of incubation, so a bit high for a few days won't affect them in the long run. It may pay to calibrate your thermometers and hygrometers just in case. If you search in the articles section you'll find instructions on how to do that. But they've actually done studies and often wild ducks incubate at lower temperatures than we would because in the long run it makes the ducklings hardier.

The movement may have been the ducklings rotating into the hatch position which they do a few days out because otherwise they are too big.

Let me know how you get on. We've just hatched Muscovy ducklings and they are the cutest little things. But we did have one stop a few days out and another stop just before internal pipping. So we were down to five eggs and four hatched just fine and one I had to help completely - it internally pipped but it never externally pipped so I made a safety hole for it because it was no longer peeping back at me and it had been at least 24 hours since it had internally pipped. 48 hours later I had to break it out of its shell, and it's perfectly perfect, ready to be out of that egg (and it's everybody's favourite because of its cute markings around its eyes) so I don't know what the problem was.

Until some are externally pipping there's no danger in checking on how they are doing by candling every now and then. That way you know approximately when they internally pip and when you might need to step in and help. I'll link you to a thread in the goose thread that applies to incubating all types of eggs and it's really helpful: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed.491013/

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I've been reading that thread for a few weeks trying to get ready for the lockdown.
I'm going to wait it out. As long as there is movement there is hope. I'm just so concerned that they don't appear nearly as advanced as they should be...

People on here said the incubation/brooding/raising process is a roller coaster. And now I can attest (and I'm only 25 days in...)

Fingers crossed!!

And congrats on your hatch!!!

 

[JaeG]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I've been reading that thread for a few weeks trying to get ready for the lockdown.
I'm going to wait it out. As long as there is movement there is hope. I'm just so concerned that they don't appear nearly as advanced as they should be...

People on here said the incubation/brooding/raising process is a roller coaster. And now I can attest (and I'm only 25 days in...)

Fingers crossed!!

Hatching Muscovy was a marathon. Up to 35 days for incubation (ours hatched day 35 and day 36) and they did that shadowing in the air cell for days and days - I was getting quite concerned because I could see the shadow but not a beak.

It sure is stressful! But worth it when they do hatch.

As you can see some of mine were a day late despite a calibrated thermometer (and Muscovy can start hatching on day 32) so I'd just keep carefully candling them once a day so that you can track when they internally pip.

 

[Sgt_P]

Ok, I'm still nervous...

I just read a thread where they were discussing the temp being too low and the chicks taking longer. And if there is movement (and veins) there is still hope.

I'm in that situation (I think) with my duck eggs. One of the mistakes I made was not weighing the eggs. I started with humidity on the high side for a few days. So since then I have been keeping the humidity between 30-35% and watching the aircell. I felt like I was on track. (BTW, they are shipped eggs with saddled aircells to add to the challenges.)

Sunday night was day 25, and I should have entered lockdown. However, there was room underneath each embryo and and no clicking or internal pipping signs. So I continued hand turning and keeping the conditions the same.

It's now day 27, and there is still movement and veins. But little to no progress on the ducklings filling the bottom of the eggs. And no sign of internal piping.

So I'm suspecting my temps were a bit low. I've got 3 thermometers and 3 hygrometers, but wasn't able to get a medical grade thermometer due to the pandemic buying. I tried calibrating one of the thermometers with ice water, but I'm not sure I trust it (I did it twice and got slightly different results each time.)
I've upped my temp by half a degree F, and feel that might be right.

But I'm worried that the moisture inside the egg might be too low (if the egg days are more like 22, 23, than the actual calendar). Should I raise the humidity a bit to compensate? Or will the little guys run out of energy/yolk due to the days being too long.

I'm a veteran of the Marine Corps and teach self defense for a living, and nothing I've ever done has made me as nervous and apprehensive as this! LOL! I now understand the phrase, "nervous as a mother hen"...

Any advice? Or do I just wait...

 

[JaeG]

They won't run out of energy as a slightly lower temperature just slows their development a little. It's the same development, just over a slightly longer period, so in the end the energy required is the same. If you feel like the air cells are on track for hatching I would raise the humidity to compensate for the extra days.

I'm having this conundrum too as I have one surviving chicken egg in my incubator. It seems to be a little behind where it should be and I have raised the humidity, but now I'm second guessing myself. sums it up nicely!

Seriously, childbirth isn't this stressful! Incubating eggs takes first prize for most stress inducing activity! By a long shot. But then when you do get something cute and fuzzy hatching out it makes you want to do it all over again.

 

[Sgt_P]

Thanks again for talking me down.

Best of luck with you remaining egg!

 

[Sgt_P]

Tonight is the beginning of "hatch day", day 28, and we're still behind...

I've gotten some great advice from other sections and members here, and I've decided to raise the humidity and stop turning. Technically Lockdown. I'm misting and candling twice a day while keeping the humidity high. I've still got movement, but no noise. And I think I saw a couple of bills (but the bottoms of all the eggs still have voids with veins... the ducklings haven't filled/moved down.)

And to add to the nervousness, one of the bills with movement I saw was on the wrong end. Ugh.

I'm on a roller coaster, and I'm supposed to return to work on Saturday. So that adds to the stress of them being so late (if they pip, zip, and hatch...) I feel like I can't be away for even a minute, but Saturday I'll have no choice...

 

[JaeG]

Tonight is the beginning of "hatch day", day 28, and we're still behind...

I've gotten some great advice from other sections and members here, and I've decided to raise the humidity and stop turning. Technically Lockdown. I'm misting and candling twice a day while keeping the humidity high. I've still got movement, but no noise. And I think I saw a couple of bills (but the bottoms of all the eggs still have voids with veins... the ducklings haven't filled/moved down.)

And to add to the nervousness, one of the bills with movement I saw was on the wrong end. Ugh.

I'm on a roller coaster, and I'm supposed to return to work on Saturday. So that adds to the stress of them being so late (if they pip, zip, and hatch...) I feel like I can't be away for even a minute, but Saturday I'll have no choice...

Well I candled my lone chicken egg yesterday and it had so much space still to fill, I thought there's no hope. But I could still see a few veins. Then this morning I candled it and thought it was dead because it didn't look right. But then I saw a bit of a shadow moving in the air cell and I can hear the clicking of it breathing. But there's still a little bit of space it hasn't filled in the egg, so I'm not sure what on earth is going on! It's a weird egg, that's for sure!

As long as you can see movement, your ducklings are still alive. You can keep candling, even though they are in lockdown (until they start to externally pip) - just keep the eggs in the same position they are in inside the incubator so you don't confuse the ducklings. It means you can monitor when they do internally pip (they will create a shadow in the air cell for awhile at the highest end, then later you will see their bills at the lower end of the air cell and they should peep back when you talk to them). That way you can judge whether you think they will need a safety hole or not.

 

[Sgt_P]

I pride myself on being a positive person, so it pains me to seem negative and frightful. But it's an amazing thing to witness and feel responsible for. And knowing that mistakes I may have made could be detrimental to those little precious ducklings just guts me.

I am hopeful. And I'm hopeful for your little chicken too!

And after all this, I'm already preparing to do it again. (get back on the horse kinda thing!)