rocking duck eggs at day 22 advice please?

[piperpayne2287]

first time incubating duck eggs using a brinsea mini advance, today is day 22 and the eggs are rocking, any advice about whether to raise the humidity now and lock down. i know its too early, or is this wriggling just them getting into position to start attempting internal pipping, advice on the net seems pretty vague and i don't want to get it wrong this close to hatch

thankyou

 

[piperpayne2287]

anyone?

 

[Amiga]

First,

Welcome to Duckdom!

I am not a hatcher, but a bunch of them over on the Thread Formerly Known as Hatch Day is Today may be able to help you out.

Please keep us posted!

Hatching is for the brave, in my opinion.

 

[flood]

I have survived hatching ducklings twice. It is not uncommon for them to start hatching at day 23. Both times I have had at least one that did or at the least started to pip day 23. locking down now is probably good. My last hatch just completed. One hatched on day 23, fourteen on day 27, and three on day 28. The first hatch was only 5 eggs. Two hatched 4 days early.

It takes a lot of internet searching to find the answers but they are out there. I didn't save links but could possibly find the one about hatching at day 23 being somewhat normal in my history. It was a hatchery that sent to schools.

 

[piperpayne2287]

still waiting... can't really tell what going on in there, been candling from outside the incubator, and thought one had internally pipped but not really sure now, theres shadowing along the bottom edge of the air cell, which has now slanted and every now and then when the egg moves a little bit of the the air cell drops down and goes back up again, so I'm assuming the egg is trying to internally pip and hasn't got there yet? i'll continue waiting, its gonna be a while!!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

make sure you dont open the bator at this point, doing so compromises the humidity level inside which they need to stay up for a good hatch. Ducklings take forever, resting often and for long periods of time between any activity. They internally pip and rest, turn and start zipping some and rest, turn more zipping a bit and rest. This can go on for 3 days once they start.

 

[piperpayne2287]

hows this looking, you can see the shadow now is also on the side of the air cell as well as bottom, and moving up an down are we internally pipped? no beak visible as far as i can see without opening it and losing humidity, which I'm not gonna do

 

[flood]

I'm glad you were able to get some walk-through on the other thread. How is it going now?

 

[piperpayne2287]

Well it's been a disaster and a relative sucess in one, I had three in the bator after the one I was querying interanlly pipped, the second egg went and externally pipped on the bottom, and I'm not gunna lie, with only three eggs I didn't want to risk losing any so helped them out, I've had hunidity issues the whole time my house has a dehumidifier a without it the hunidity is 80% in the house so following the brinsea instructions I'm pretty sure I ran it far to humid at the beginning. And now have confirmed it. I waited 24 hrs for number one to exteranlly pip and he didn't so popped a hole in the air cell part of the egg and broke that part of the egg away for him, the membrane was plastered to his beak so looked like he hasn't been able to move to pip the shell, but the allantois was like glue all sticky and yuck under the white part of the membrane, so I exposed as much as I could and popped a wet cloth with a window on him for 24 hrs, just Incase he hadn't absorbed the yolk, took I off tonight and out he popped, just like that, had a near panic attack when he came out because there was initially lots of blood in the bottom of the shell, and I thought oh god I've killed him, popped him back in the incubator after inspecting him, he wasn't gushing, had another look in the egg and found lots of fluid in the bottom, and green gunk? ( not sure what that was ..poo or bacteria) he had a sleep and is now in the brooder much drier. Trying to stand watching him like a hawk, At the same time I cleared an area fr the duck who pipped wrong end so he could breath, slowly whilst seeing to the other duck I've been pulling back the membrane to give him enough room to get out on his own, which he literally this second has done and is just resting half in his egg. When I saw the fluid in the bottom o the first egg I decided to help the third duck who I'd decided not to help Incase I was being an idiot jumping to assist ( I wanted to see if he could hatch on his own and thus prove my stupidity) but on seeing the fluid though I'd better give him a bigger hole so he won't drown he didn't pip till this afternoon I'd thought he was dead so was pleased when I saw the pip though not with the location. Tomorrow ill make the hole big enough so he can push himself out.

So one in the brooder and one hatched and one alive I thought was dead so I'm happy, just hope they all survive! I'm ever the pessimist.

Baby number two out !