Surprise, Surprise...an Air sac Question!!

[MightyDucksVT]

Hi Everyone!

I am currently almost 14 days into my incubation of seven duck eggs-- six Anconas and one barnyard mix. Like many of you out there, I got my Anconas through the mail from an awesome seller on Ebay. The seller really did an amazing job shipping...bubble wrap, shredded paper, and packing peanuts...and all the eggs arrived safely no cracks or detached air cells. However, they did develop some wonky saddle-shaped air sacs. From what I have read it does seem to be that big of an issue but being a bator virgin I can't help but feel a little anxious...

So, I call on you good people for some advice! Some of the air cells take up almost 40% of the egg...but right now they're all growing well. I am more concerned as we get closer to hatching day and having enough room to grow properly. Thoughts?

Here are the specs:

-Brinsea mini advanced bator
-99.6º and HIGH humidity (I thought it would be a good idea to keep the air sacs from growing too big)
-Auto egg turning on since day 7; angle 14
-Cooling 120 minutes a day- 30 mins at a time.

 

[MightyDucksVT]

ANYONE?

 

[Amiga]

I wish I could help - I know next to nothing about hatching….

Perhaps you can check in on this thread

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/870351/incubation-issues#post_13180717

 

[loopy12]

Did you weigh the eggs before they went in the incubator? With ducks and geese I adjust incubator humidity depending on how well they are losing weight which is the most accurate measure and aim for about 14% weight loss by lockdown on day 25.

40% aircell, by volume, sounds a lot for day 14 - mine are at a quarter or less of total egg volume right now - and are on day 21. Are you sure that 40% is all aircell and not partly egg white/unoccupied space?

 

[MightyDucksVT]

No unfortunately, I didn't weigh them before incubating. I don't have x-ray vision but when I candled them what I can see that is clear white (light) looks like a lot, though it may just be spread out? Does that make sense? But most of the air sacs have been the same way since day 1...However, I just candled them an 30mins ago and the fetuses look great. I do have one egg in there that didn't go through the mail and it's air sac looks correct given its age.