refrigerated duck eggs...updated...lesson learned...Pg. 3

[duck&chickencrazy]

ok i will wait until sunday night...i really hope they hatch

 

[duck&chickencrazy]

Ok so heres the deal...i have learned my lesson...i will not be trying another experiment like this again because things went horribly wrong...

out of the 6 duck eggs that i put in 3 pipped (one actually pipped zipped and hatched but died a day or so later) the other 2 that pipped, pipped on the wrong end and i had to help them out...they both had things on their abdomens and the one might make it but i doubt it...the other one still has the mass on it abdomen, and its not because it didnt absorb the yolk because it did, it is the ducklings insides i think...he also dosnt look like a normal duckling, he probably wont make it...

the other one might make it because it is dry fluffy and looks healthy but it also had the thing on its abdomen (it has dried and has turned black), so i will just wait and see...

and i removed the other 3 eggs that did nothing and tossed them

So out of this experience what have i learned???
-Well i learned that the reason for not using eggs from the fridge might be because the cold might not kill the embryo it just deforms it...

here is a pic of deformed baby

 

[perrym1962]

I have never tried ducks. But I have hatched chicks from the refrigerator without issue. My last hatch was 77 eggs from which a lot of was refrigerated for 3 or 4 days. I hatched 62 healthy babies..

 

[walkswithdog]

You only know that the cold caused your result if you repeat it three or four times with the same result.

You'd only know that Washing... which you also did, caused your result if that's all you did and you had the same result three or four times.

You can't know from a "first" experiment what your results would be for the 2, 3, 4 or 5th time.

You know that hatch of that group went poorly. Same parents? Same age? As your "test group" if not then not at all the same from the beginning.

Experimentation is only as good as your controls. You had at least two variables - washed and refridgerated. If they were also a different breed, even different parents, add more variables. Were they at one end of the bator or the other? Do you know for a fact temps are even on both sides of your bator? Mine aren't.

You know they did develop. You don't know that it was the first two variables that meant they didn't successfully hatch.

Did you have temp or humidity swings?

You actually probably had too many variables for a first try to draw any meaningful conclusion. I include refridgerated and cold eggs in every hatch, from the same few birds. While it does slightly decrease the hatch rate it's no more damaging than something like shipping.

I'm toying with turning the refridgerated eggs more to see if that improves hatch rate.

That's next. I don't wash eggs.

Each thing you do differently matters. Each difference in what kind of egg, parentage, age - all matters if you're trying to compare something.

Notes help. You have to know what spiked, or fell, how many times you did turn. What your humidity was and whether it did swing too much in the end. Or with ducks, too little.

Once isn't enough to draw a conclusion. If you really want to know you do it several times with notes.

 

[duck&chickencrazy]

yes as that may be true i dont think i can try this again because of the risk i am taking, i could have some deformed or weird birds and i just dont have the heart to deal with them if they need to be culled...

 

[jenjscott]

That ducky just looks like one that was helped out too early to me. (Voice of experience)

 

[countrybum]

Quote:
I have to agree, looks like where the yoke was not absorbed properly.

 

[duck&chickencrazy]

its not the yoke trust me he was late even when he hatched...he was supposed to hatch thursday of last week and he didnt even pip until sunday and then he came out of his egg on monday...and it has been like that since...the yolk would have dried up by now...after 3 days...and not to mention he just looks strange...his beak is lopsided and so is his face and he is really tiny

 

[Lil Chickie Mama]

Sorry!

 

[walkswithdog]

Sorry that it did not go well but your only problem was probably not just cold. Since you had several variables any of them might have created your results.

I do wish you better luck next time.

While I've had significantly late chicks and chicks that failed to hatch from extreme cold none had crossbeaks, or abdomen abnormalities that were apparent.

I'd look to your other variables for further explanations of that set of problems. Whether it's washing, parentage, age, bacteria or whatever or all of the above.