What happened to my fertile duck eggs?

[Crazy4Fowl]

I have 10 eggs incubating under a heat lamp. 6 days ago we could hear them scratching and pecking in 3 of the eggs. The next 2 days we could really hear them. Then 2 days ago we only heard a few pecks, we checked them all day, we figured they were tired. Today we couldn't hear anything. Not even a single peck. Are the ducks resting? Could it be too hot? We took the cover off the box today.

 

[Duckchick2011]

Check the Humidity. Humidity is a BIG deal at this point of incubation. I forget how high it needs to be but it is crucial. If the air in the incubator is too dry you chicks may "pip" and then get trapped by the membrane inside the egg drying around them. Do you see any cracks or holes yet??? If you don't, give them a little more time. If the humidity is too low pour a little warm water in there to get it going.


Ooooh, you took the top off. Yikes! They need it wet and hot, especially right now. Unless your house is very warm and humid taking that top off could have bad consequences.

Get that top back on, raise the humidity and temp to the proper levels. I will do my homework and find out the exact numbers.

Hope all goes well for your ducks!

Edit: Okay, my brain skipped the part about them being in a cardboard box. I was imagining an incubator...alright, then I would put a bowl of very warm water under that light.(not just pour it in, sorry).

Try your best to get it humid. You might lose them but don't give up now.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I have 10 eggs incubating under a heat lamp. 6 days ago we could hear them scratching and pecking in 3 of the eggs. The next 2 days we could really hear them. Then 2 days ago we only heard a few pecks, we checked them all day, we figured they were tired. Today we couldn't hear anything. Not even a single peck. Are the ducks resting? Could it be too hot? We took the cover off the box today.

That's a very tricky scenario for incubating. Are you doing anything to monitor the temp and humidity in it? The temp should be around 102 F, and more is not better. The humidity starting around day 25 if these aren't Bantams needs to be 60-65%.

What do you mean when you say you checked them? Did you remove them to candle them?

 

[Orca5094]

If you heard scratching and pecking inside 6 days ago, I'm sorry to say that they have likely all died by now. You can only hear scratching and pecking a day or two before they hatch (once they have "internally pipped"). If they aren't out within a couple days after that, they will not survive as they will run out of air inside the air cell. Can you candle the eggs and see if any are still alive in there?

Sounds like you probably didn't have sufficient humidity for them to develop and be able to hatch normally. Like above posters have said, humidity is crucial for duck eggs and their membranes likely dried out onto the ducklings inside the eggs, making it impossible for them to hatch. :/

Give us an update after you candle them, ok? I hope for the best, but I fear they did not make it.

 

[Crazy4Fowl]

Check the Humidity. Humidity is a BIG deal at this point of incubation. I forget how high it needs to be but it is crucial. If the air in the incubator is too dry you chicks may "pip" and then get trapped by the membrane inside the egg drying around them. Do you see any cracks or holes yet??? If you don't, give them a little more time. If the humidity is too low pour a little warm water in there to get it going.


Ooooh, you took the top off. Yikes! They need it wet and hot, especially right now. Unless your house is very warm and humid taking that top off could have bad consequences.

Get that top back on, raise the humidity and temp to the proper levels. I will do my homework and find out the exact numbers.

Hope all goes well for your ducks!

Edit: Okay, my brain skipped the part about them being in a cardboard box. I was imagining an incubator...alright, then I would put a bowl of very warm water under that light.(not just pour it in, sorry).

Try your best to get it humid. You might lose them but don't give up now.

Well actually it's not cardboard, and they are in our garage (connected to the house) which is very warm.

 

[Crazy4Fowl]

That's a very tricky scenario for incubating. Are you doing anything to monitor the temp and humidity in it? The temp should be around 102 F, and more is not better. The humidity starting around day 25 if these aren't Bantams needs to be 60-65%.

What do you mean when you say you checked them? Did you remove them to candle them?

We candled them. But what I meant was we listened to them.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

We candled them. But what I meant was we listened to them.

So are they still alive right now?

 

[Crazy4Fowl]

So are they still alive right now?

I just put an egg next to my ear and heard 2 pecks.

Edit: Candling doesn't help much because they are black.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I just put an egg next to my ear and heard 2 pecks.

Edit: Candling doesn't help much because they are black.

Were you able to check the temp and humidity? If they've been internally pipped for that long and still haven't pipped externally, I'd put a small air hole in all of them. I'm surprised they haven't already run out of air in that time since they usually have 3 days of air at the very most before they suffocate. You are going to need to be very slow and very careful doing that if you do it, and you don't want to use anything really sharp. It's a tricky thing to do when you have eggs that are so dark you can't see inside them to get an idea where to make the hole.

 

[Crazy4Fowl]

Were you able to check the temp and humidity? If they've been internally pipped for that long and still haven't pipped externally, I'd put a small air hole in all of them. I'm surprised they haven't already run out of air in that time since they usually have 3 days of air at the very most before they suffocate. You are going to need to be very slow and very careful doing that if you do it, and you don't want to use anything really sharp. It's a tricky thing to do when you have eggs that are so dark you can't see inside them to get an idea where to make the hole.

How do I put the air hole? With a tooth pick?