Stuck duck eggs on turner after daily misting

[Charlotto333]

Hi everyone, first post on here (after much browsing of BYC I might say) and I could do with a little beginners advice to a problem I’m currently having whilst incubating my Indian runner duck eggs.

I am on day 14, and for the last 2 days when I have gone to cool/mist my eggs (as per the instructions for duck eggs, on my Borotto lumia 16 incubator), I have noticed that a few (mainly the bigger ones) are getting stuck on the automatic turner. This was not happening prior to the cooling/misting which I began on day 10.

I can only assume that it is due to a thin wet layer forming between the egg and my plastic turner, which once heated up again and dried, is getting stuck. Would it be better if I misted but then let dry BEFORE placing back in incubator, or does it matter?

So my question is, should I continue daily misting, as I know some people don’t actually even do this and still have good hatch rates. Or should I continue? I’m just worried that one of these days I’m going to accidentally break an egg by being too forceful trying to remove it off turner. Techinically, I could just leave all eggs on the turner, wait for them to cool and then mist, without actually needing to remove them. But as I am daily misting anyway, I like taking the opportunity to candle, which i find better if removed off turner. Plus, if I continue to leave the stuck ones, they’ll just get more stuck, making it harder come lockdown when I need to take all eggs off turner, right?

Also, side note, I haven’t seen many people incubate duck eggs at 37.7 degrees Celsius, but this is what the Borotto manual says (it’s the same for chickens too), and they are a reputable brand so I thought I should just follow the instructions. But looking online, most go for 37.5. It then says at lockdown to reduce to 37.2. Along with increasing humidity by filling second reservoir.

 

[cavemanrich]

I don't know anything about duck eggs, or misting them.
But do have an opinion about your temperatures. I don't think ½degree Celsius difference rang is significant. Your incubator thermometer is not laboratory grade instrument, so you actually can be off,, up or down. Eggs still hatch. If your actual incubator is really too HIGH, then eggs die from cooking.
I personally would stop the water misting. I would also limit the candling to maybe 3 times per hatch cycle.


WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[Charlotto333]

I don't know anything about duck eggs, or misting them.
But do have an opinion about your temperatures. I don't think ½degree Celsius difference rang is significant. Your incubator thermometer is not laboratory grade instrument, so you actually can be off,, up or down. Eggs still hatch. If your actual incubator is really too HIGH, then eggs die from cooking.
I personally would stop the water misting. I would also limit the candling to maybe 3 times per hatch cycle.


WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

Hi, thanks for my first reply and your advice.

Naturally, if it wasn’t for the fact I am daily misting, I would follow the limited 3 times candling per cycle, but I figured if the lid is being opened and the eggs cooled/misted once a day, then it wouldn’t cause any harm to have a quick candle whilst I wait? Or does the actual act of regular candling cause harm to the development? I wear surgical gloves and make sure to be quick about it. First time incubating though, and I’m just so curious everyday to have a look inside the eggs. If I do decide to stop the daily misting though, I obviously won’t continue candling everyday too.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum, glad you joined!

As long as you don't drop an egg and crack it or handle it with dirty hands you should be able to candle daily, up to lockdown. Being careful is more important than being fast.

I do not incubate duck eggs and I do not mist my eggs so I have no experience to understand why the larger ones are getting stuck. I don't like the thought of them getting stuck, are you removing bloom from them when you break them loose? That would make it easier for bacteria to get inside. That's in addition to your thought about possibly breaking an eggshell getting them lose.

I don't have a clue how much you are supposed to mist them, how wet you are supposed to get the shells. But even if you are over-misting and getting them wetter than you should that would not explain why the larger ones are the only ones getting stuck.

Hopefully someone that mists and hatches duck eggs will see this and give you help. Could you contact the incubator manufacturer and question them?

 

[Charlotto333]

Welcome to the forum, glad you joined!

As long as you don't drop an egg and crack it or handle it with dirty hands you should be able to candle daily, up to lockdown. Being careful is more important than being fast.

I do not incubate duck eggs and I do not mist my eggs so I have no experience to understand why the larger ones are getting stuck. I don't like the thought of them getting stuck, are you removing bloom from them when you break them loose? That would make it easier for bacteria to get inside. That's in addition to your thought about possibly breaking an eggshell getting them lose.

I don't have a clue how much you are supposed to mist them, how wet you are supposed to get the shells. But even if you are over-misting and getting them wetter than you should that would not explain why the larger ones are the only ones getting stuck.

Hopefully someone that mists and hatches duck eggs will see this and give you help. Could you contact the incubator manufacturer and question them?

Hi, thanks for taking the time to reply!

Yes, that’s what I thought about daily candling, that it can’t do no harm as long as careful. Like I said though, I wouldn’t be daily candling if it wasn’t for the fact I am daily cooling/misting, so the lid is off anyway. Otherwise, if they were chicken eggs for example, I’d just let them do their thing with minimal candling.

Well I’ve watched a lot of YouTube videos of people misting their eggs, and generally a light and even misting is advised, which I have been doing. And then they would put back into the hot incubator. That’s another thing that seems to differ though; some will remove the eggs from incubator separately and then put the lid back on to keep at temperature, whereas others will just remove the lid and let the eggs cool whilst still in the incubator. So that way, the cooled eggs aren’t then put straight into the high temperature, but gradually heated up again instead. I’ve tried it both ways, but since the whole ‘getting stuck’ problem, I’ve just left them in the incubator to cool and done it that way.

I actually think it might be the bloom that’s causing them to get to stuck. As when you wet an egg, there’s kind of a slippy residue isn’t there (which I think is the bloom?) . And once this is drying off back in the incubator, the residue on the egg is sticking to the turner.

I assume it’s only the larger ones that are getting stuck , is because they’re wider and the edges of the shell touch the sides of the turner more, so make more contact. As I’ve noticed with my smaller eggs, they sit better with more room. But the incubator should be designed for eggs even bigger than duck eggs, so it would be interesting to know if anyone else has had this issue with the Borotto lumia turner design, whilst also daily misting.

You’re right though, I should definitely reach out to the manufacturer, as it was £165 so not a cheap one.

But anyway, apologies, I’m rambling! Just wanted my first time to go smoothly, but already I’m questioning whether misting was a good idea or not, and to continue…

 

[Charlotto333]

Hi, thanks for taking the time to reply!

Yes, that’s what I thought about daily candling, that it can’t do no harm as long as careful. Like I said though, I wouldn’t be daily candling if it wasn’t for the fact I am daily cooling/misting, so the lid is off anyway. Otherwise, if they were chicken eggs for example, I’d just let them do their thing with minimal candling.

Well I’ve watched a lot of YouTube videos of people misting their eggs, and generally a light and even misting is advised, which I have been doing. And then they would put back into the hot incubator. That’s another thing that seems to differ though; some will remove the eggs from incubator separately and then put the lid back on to keep at temperature, whereas others will just remove the lid and let the eggs cool whilst still in the incubator. So that way, the cooled eggs aren’t then put straight into the high temperature, but gradually heated up again instead. I’ve tried it both ways, but since the whole ‘getting stuck’ problem, I’ve just left them in the incubator to cool and done it that way.

I actually think it might be the bloom that’s causing them to get to stuck. As when you wet an egg, there’s kind of a slippy residue isn’t there (which I think is the bloom?) . And once this is drying off back in the incubator, the residue on the egg is sticking to the turner.

I assume it’s only the larger ones that are getting stuck , is because they’re wider and the edges of the shell touch the sides of the turner more, so make more contact. As I’ve noticed with my smaller eggs, they sit better with more room. But the incubator should be designed for eggs even bigger than duck eggs, so it would be interesting to know if anyone else has had this issue with the Borotto lumia turner design, whilst also daily misting.

You’re right though, I should definitely reach out to the manufacturer, as it was £165 so not a cheap one.

But anyway, apologies, I’m rambling! Just wanted my first time to go smoothly, but already I’m questioning whether misting was a good idea or not, and to continue…

@Ridgerunner This is how the incubator looks by the way. The egg slots on the red automatic turner are uniquely shaped, to be able to hold 1 egg or 4 quail eggs. But the wider eggs are getting stuck to the slots .