A wild duck started laying in our boat cover. We tried moving the cover off the boat - eggs in place - but the mom stopped showing up. After three days, we decided to try to incubate and keep them. Up to Day 7, we used a homemade incubator but had issues with unequal heating. I saw heartbeats and good vasculature in 7 of 8 eggs at Day 4. Around Day 7 a Kebonnixs 12-egg incubator arrived. I have a small thermometer/hygrometer which kept reading 97.5 F no matter what I set the incubator to. In the user manual, there was an FAQ about home thermometers reading lower than the machine's sensor - something about how home thermometers are in plastic casing whereas the machine's sensor directly contacts the air inside - but the English translation was poor so it was hard to understand. I set the machine to 100.5 just in case but otherwise trusted the manual. Things were developing nicely in 5 of 8 eggs, with good movement and vasculature through Day 10.
However, on Day 11 I noticed that none of the embryos were moving. Over time, the vasculature disintegrated and the embryo started to appear black from the outside. No odor or cracks, good air pocket. On day 14 I finally suspected the incubator and placed my tile in an alternate incubator I'd been meaning to send back. The machine heated up to 99.5, which was confirmed on my thermometer. As a last-ditch effort, I transferred the eggs to the other incubator and waited two days but, alas... they were all dead. I cracked them open to try to figure out what happened. The pictures are attached. It seems like they died at different stages of development, with two that were pretty far along (a duckbill and all extremities formed). If it was that the incubator was too cold, would they have died at different times like this? If not, what could have killed them all? I know ducks have a poor hatching rate but I guess I'm surprised that some died when they were pretty far along. If it's a mistake I made, I'd like to know so I don't repeat it when I eventually hatch chickens/ducks for my backyard flock.
Thanks in advance.
However, on Day 11 I noticed that none of the embryos were moving. Over time, the vasculature disintegrated and the embryo started to appear black from the outside. No odor or cracks, good air pocket. On day 14 I finally suspected the incubator and placed my tile in an alternate incubator I'd been meaning to send back. The machine heated up to 99.5, which was confirmed on my thermometer. As a last-ditch effort, I transferred the eggs to the other incubator and waited two days but, alas... they were all dead. I cracked them open to try to figure out what happened. The pictures are attached. It seems like they died at different stages of development, with two that were pretty far along (a duckbill and all extremities formed). If it was that the incubator was too cold, would they have died at different times like this? If not, what could have killed them all? I know ducks have a poor hatching rate but I guess I'm surprised that some died when they were pretty far along. If it's a mistake I made, I'd like to know so I don't repeat it when I eventually hatch chickens/ducks for my backyard flock.
Thanks in advance.
