Removing Undeveloping/Quitter Eggs from a Broody - yes/no?

[wordgirl]

I have an Ancona duck hen sitting on 12 eggs. She's on day 17, so 11 more to go. All of the eggs she is setting started out fertile, I am pretty sure, but around day 4 or 5 she somehow jumped over the temporary partition in their pen and got stuck for up to several hours on the other side (I have a partition up right now so she isn't bothered by the other ducks). Very sadly, only four of the twelve are still developing.

The rest I believe are dead. This is my third time incubating (second broody, used an incubator once) and candling, and I'm fairly comfortable with my candling, but I'm definitely not an expert! I don't want to accidentally throw out any good eggs!

One of the eggs at least I think is changing colors (not a good sign, I, and a couple of them are getting quite cloudy inside (no veins, no movement). I'm afraid of a blowout, but don't want to get over-involved where I shouldn't be. Will eggs explode underneath a broody? I've heard they can in an incubator, and I'd hate for that to happen and contaminate the few good eggs I have left.

What is your advice? I think, if I decide to remove any, I'll candle them for a couple days in a row to make sure I'm not looking at a sleeping duckling. I also don't want to confuse my broody by taking half or more of her eggs away. Would you leave them all? Or take out non-developers?

Thanks!

 

[sumi]

Eggs can explode under a broody, I've had a minor blow-up under a hen once, but not in an incubator yet, (and hopefully never will - touch wood). If you are 100% the egg you are looking at is not "right" rather play it safe and remove it. If you are pretty sure, but not 100%, try and take a pic of of when you candle and post it here so we can have a look. The duck will be upset with you if you remove some of the eggs, but as long as you leave the viable ones she should stay put.

 

[wordgirl]

Thanks, sumi!

My sister and I went out last night and looked at all the eggs and marked them down so we can go back again and re-check.

A couple of the ones I'm a bit worried about are all dark inside - one looking almost like it has a bloody ring around the air cell. The four viable ones are getting big, but they haven't completely filled the egg and they're not all dark - and you can still see veining and movement in them. Should I remove the all-dark ones?

A couple also are pretty clear, with an almost air-bubble-type thing floating around in there - I'm thinking it'd be safe to take those, too. But then again, those maybe would be "safer" to leave with her so she still feels like she's got her eggs?

How long do veins remain visible? The whole way out?

Thanks!

 

[sumi]

I'd remove all the ones that doesn't look viable and leave the ones that shows good veins and movement. The clear ones may be "safer" to leave with her a bit longer, but I'd keep an eye on them just in case. Maybe remove the darker ones first and then the clears, so you don't take 3/4 of her eggs in one go?

At the final stage of incubation the egg is usually so dark inside the only thing you'd be able to see clearly is the air cell. Though you may be able to see some veining just below the air cell.

 

[wordgirl]

Okay, thanks. I candled again yesterday. One egg was beading stinky fluid so I tossed that immediately (the air cell had also possibly flipped to the other end of the shell...weird!). I think I'll probably toss some of the dark ones and murky ones today.

I don't want to disturb her too much, though, because I just realized that one of my four viable eggs has spider-cracks all over one side of it.

Oh, this is not turning out as successful a incubation as I was hoping.

 

[wordgirl]

So I have taken out all the quitters, and we're on day 25. I took them out gradually, over the course of about a week - first the one, then two another day, and then three, and then two last night.

Out of the four remaining eggs (#4, #6, #12 and #14), two at least were shadowing in the air cell last night, and maybe a third. Didn't hear any cheeping yet, though, so I don't think they've poked through the membrane. The fourth embryo, in egg #6, the one with spider cracks, died a couple of days ago I think, because the veins loosened and it stopped moving. I don't know if it was fully developed, because it doesn't fill the whole egg (there's empty space in both ends of the shell). I'm going to leave that until the end of the hatch, though, just in case, and I don't want to bother Jane (mama) too much these last few days of "lockdown."

So, sadly I'm down to really only three eggs, I think. Thanks for your help, sumi! I'll let you know how the hatch goes. Hopefully I'll have three new fluffies!

 

[sumi]

I'll keep my fingers crossed

Good luck with them!

 

[wordgirl]

I have two little fuzzy babies so far!

And the third egg is zipping! I went in to feed them tonight and I heard a little peep under Jane, so I lifted her off for a few seconds to get a quick peek. There were the two little cuties!!! One is chocolate, I think, and I'm not sure about the other - he/she hadn't fully dried off yet.

Tomorrow, if they've all hatched, I think I'll move them into a crate so they have more room and won't have to worry about accidentally running into the other big ducks for a while.

 

[sumi]

Congrats!

Enjoy your babies!