stopped turning my mandarin duck eggs to early!

[pokey24]

Whilst I was away at uni my mandarin duck started sitting (my parents forgot to note the date and now can't even remember what week she started sitting - I swear they get more senile every year

) Anyway, a couple of weeks after I got home for the summer the mandarin abandoned her nest late one night and had been off for over an hour, and was asking to go to bed with the other ducks. I candled the eggs, took 3 that had chicks in and put them in my incubator, expecting them to all be dead because they were stone cold. I candled them properly the next morning and saw movement! However, because I have no idea when the duck started sitting I didn't know what stage the eggs were at. A couple of days ago during candling I noticed one of the eggs had a large air sack and I could see shadows moving at the back of the air sack, as though the chick was trying to push through. Thinking this meant that the chicks were beginning to pip I turned off the automatic turning mechanism on my incubator. That was two days ago now and so far the egg that got me all excited hasn't changed much... no proper internal pip, still moving etc. The other two eggs still have relatively small air sacks which havent dipped down yet, however the chicks are still alive because I can see them wriggling! Basically I think I have turned off the turning mechanism way too soon, probably about 3-4 days before I should have done judging by the stages of the two slower eggs. Will they still be ok? I don't want to turn it back on cos the first egg really can't be far from pipping now - it certainly looks very active! Also can anyone think of a reason why this egg would be so far ahead of the other two?

thanks so much for any help! I know this was a rather long winded explanation

I really want these duckies to be ok, it's the first time my mandarin has layed!!!!
xxx

 

[Oregon Blues]

All you can do is the best that you can do. Best luck with them. It sounds like they are OK so far.

 

[FenDruadin]

I wouldn't worry too much. Eggs are surprisingly resilient. There are ideal conditions, but it doesn't have to be ideal to be adequate. Start turning them again, and watch for the bill to protrude into the air cell. When it does, you'll see it upon candling--the air cell probably looks pure and clear right now, but when the bill enters it, you'll see what looks like a dark shadow sticking up into it. Stop turning at that point and prepare for lockdown.

Good luck!