VERY SADDLED duck egg! Need help please! 😩

[AmyA248]

Please don’t stress about by the book dates
There can be cool and hot spots in Bators that cause early or late hatches
Also bator readings can be off and again cause early to late hatches
I don’t go by the book with my hatches I go by my eggs
To me he sounds like he is close to internal and mom needs to relax
Easier said then done )
Honestly just be patient they go at their pace not at ours
I have had mine hatch day 24 to day 30
The day 30 was the one under mom who should be closest to the book
But was 2 days late. She is over a year old now

I’m trying so hard not to stress, but Muscovy eggs take between 34-38 days!! Such a long and stressful wait.
I’m just so worried about my one little egg.
My little girl is so invested that the first words out of her mouth each morning is “How’s my baby egg?” She would be absolutely devastated if he doesn’t make it.
I’m hoping I have everything correct in lockdown. I was told by the breeder that I should have the humidity between 70-72% and 99.5 degrees.
I know I’m not supposed to candle during lockdown, but I’m so afraid and I just have to check on him to make sure he’s still alive and check if he internally pipped.
I’m very careful when I check him, but I just can’t help myself because what if he’s shrink wrapped or struggling and I would have been able to help save him…

Thank you so much for your concern and kindness.

Blessings,
Amy

 

[AmyA248]

Did you calibrate the gage ? If not it can be way off. I’m just calibrating mine like that and all 4 are way off and different From one another
This could be why he is a little late
The readings maybe off
As for him in the correct position I think he is so go ahead and candle a few tubes a day but do as I showed abc don’t move the actual egg
You will be able to tell without picking up the egg
I candle mine from day 1 to internal pip
Some are against it but I get 100 % hatch rates so I’m not worried about candling
Yoy won’t have harmed the baby by standing it up but you could confuse it and he could try to turn and end up at the wrong end is all
I get you are so worried but you need to try to relax before you drive yourself crazy
I run my humidity at 65 for hatching
But I’m not sure if yours is accurate and it takes 24 hours to properly calibrate them
There are lots of video on YouTube on how to calibrate
For the heat they only take 30 seconds to calibrate
I buy the thermometers you would stick into meat and add them in to the bator and go by them to adjust my heat setting on the bator reader
I place them so they are level with the top of the egg
Fill a cup with crushed ice then add cold water the stir so the ice doesn’t clump up
Place the thermometer in the cup not touching any sides or bottom
Wait 30 seconds and it should read 32f or 0c if its off you can adjust the nut while it’s in the water to get it to the correct place
I then do a second test to be sure

Omg! Thank you for such fantastic advice!!!
I’m going to do exactly as you said immediately and do the tests.

Do you think I should adjust the humidity to 65% instead of 70%?
Is the temperature of 99.5 degrees correct as well during lockdown?

I feel terribly guilty for candling him wrong. I didn’t know I should not have held it upright.
It’s difficult to candle in the lockdown incubator, it’s quite small, but I’m going to make sure I figure it out.
I know that I’m not supposed to open the incubator or touch the egg while in lockdown, but I HAVE to make sure he’s ok, I just can’t help it and if anything were to go wrong I’d be able to help right away.

I candled this morning and he’s trying so hard to pip. There is lots of flickering and pushing constantly, but the saddled air sac is so huge I feel like he’s completely squashed in there!
Obviously I’m a novice if you couldn’t tell. Lol! And I truly appreciate all the love and support from this incredible group!
You people are simply the BEST, and none of my abandoned Wood ducks from last June would have made it if it wasn’t for this fantastic group!
Their mother was killed and the 5 eggs appeared to be approximately 2 weeks old.
I had no idea what to do, but I couldn’t leave the eggs in my yard to die, I had to at least try to save them and they all happily hatched!

Blessings and a huge thank you!
Amy

This is my awful lockdown incubator that I must check CONSTANTLY! It is quite literally crap and needs constant supervision…

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I’m trying so hard not to stress, but Muscovy eggs take between 34-38 days!! Such a long and stressful wait.
I’m just so worried about my one little egg.
My little girl is so invested that the first words out of her mouth each morning is “How’s my baby egg?” She would be absolutely devastated if he doesn’t make it.
I’m hoping I have everything correct in lockdown. I was told by the breeder that I should have the humidity between 70-72% and 99.5 degrees.
I know I’m not supposed to candle during lockdown, but I’m so afraid and I just have to check on him to make sure he’s still alive and check if he internally pipped.
I’m very careful when I check him, but I just can’t help myself because what if he’s shrink wrapped or struggling and I would have been able to help save him…

Thank you so much for your concern and kindness.

Blessings,
Amy

I know that you’re nervous, but the reason they say not to candle at lockdown is because it increases the chance of shrink wrapping. At lockdown the humidity in the incubator is increased to the point that it is often much higher than the ambient humidity in the room you have your incubator in. When you pull the eggs out to candle at lockdown the humidity difference between the incubator and room you are in can actually create what is essentially a vacuum inside the egg and cause the membrane to shrink wrap around them.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Omg! Thank you for such fantastic advice!!!
I’m going to do exactly as you said immediately and do the tests.

Do you think I should adjust the humidity to 65% instead of 70%?
Is the temperature of 99.5 degrees correct as well during lockdown?

I feel terribly guilty for candling him wrong. I didn’t know I should not have held it upright.
It’s difficult to candle in the lockdown incubator, it’s quite small, but I’m going to make sure I figure it out.
I know that I’m not supposed to open the incubator or touch the egg while in lockdown, but I HAVE to make sure he’s ok, I just can’t help it and if anything were to go wrong I’d be able to help right away.

I candled this morning and he’s trying so hard to pip. There is lots of flickering and pushing constantly, but the saddled air sac is so huge I feel like he’s completely squashed in there!
Obviously I’m a novice if you couldn’t tell. Lol! And I truly appreciate all the love and support from this incredible group!
You people are simply the BEST, and none of my abandoned Wood ducks from last June would have made it if it wasn’t for this fantastic group!
Their mother was killed and the 5 eggs appeared to be approximately 2 weeks old.
I had no idea what to do, but I couldn’t leave the eggs in my yard to die, I had to at least try to save them and they all happily hatched!

Blessings and a huge thank you!
Amy

This is my awful lockdown incubator that I must check CONSTANTLY! It is quite literally crap and needs constant supervision…

The temp of 99.5 is correct for forced air
That’s if your thermometer is accurate
The little ones do work hard and that’s why it takes so long. They to take breaks and rest
Like I said it’s perfectly fine to candle once in lockdown just not moving the egg
If you can’t get it in there then lift the egg up still in its position and candle not moving the egg around
My bator gives plenty of room to candle while in but if I have a bunch of eggs sometimes I need to lift an egg up to look so I don’t hit other eggs

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Any new updates on baby yet ?

 

[AmyA248]

The temp of 99.5 is correct for forced air
That’s if your thermometer is accurate
The little ones do work hard and that’s why it takes so long. They to take breaks and rest
Like I said it’s perfectly fine to candle once in lockdown just not moving the egg
If you can’t get it in there then lift the egg up still in its position and candle not moving the egg around
My bator gives plenty of room to candle while in but if I have a bunch of eggs sometimes I need to lift an egg up to look so I don’t hit other eggs

Good morning,

Thank you again for your help.
Today is day 37, Muscovy eggs take anywhere from 34-38 days to hatch, and now I’m REALLY worried!
Nothing happened last night so I have to candle him to see if he’s even still alive. I’m scared to death to look!

What do I do if he’s still alive and hasn’t internally pipped yet?
How long can he stay squashed in there without giving up?

We are all so invested in this little baby and will be devastated if he doesn’t make it after all this time!!

I’m going to check him now…

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Good morning,

Thank you again for your help.
Today is day 37, Muscovy eggs take anywhere from 34-38 days to hatch, and now I’m REALLY worried!
Nothing happened last night so I have to candle him to see if he’s even still alive. I’m scared to death to look!

What do I do if he’s still alive and hasn’t internally pipped yet?
How long can he stay squashed in there without giving up?

We are all so invested in this little baby and will be devastated if he doesn’t make it after all this time!!

I’m going to check him now…

I think your temp is off anc this is the delay
There us nothing you can do but wait
Do you see any bruising on the egg ?

 

[AmyA248]

I think your temp is off anc this is the delay
There us nothing you can do but wait
Do you see any bruising on the egg ?

Here are the photos I just took.
I don’t see any bruising.
He is just peaking at the same spot like CRAZY!!!
I’m trying to upload a video, but I can’t figure out how to do it. I uploaded it to Facebook and TikTok and supposedly you can upload from there but it’s not working.

Anyway, he’s still alive and kicking!!

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Here are the photos I just took.
I don’t see any bruising.
He is just peaking at the same spot like CRAZY!!!
I’m trying to upload a video, but I can’t figure out how to do it. I uploaded it to Facebook and TikTok and supposedly you can upload from there but it’s not working.

Anyway, he’s still alive and kicking!!

To upload a video here first put it on YouTube then share the link
I see yellow bruising right at the air cell in a few pics
To me that looks how mine do when they internal pip
I really would like to see a video
To see what I can see

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

If you put your ear to the egg can you hear him hitting the egg ?