What is going on....???

[AAcres]

So I must have done something wrong during incubation/lockdown. I had 20 good eggs at lockdown and I think only 2 more are going to hatch. I currently have 6 hatched.
this is my first incubation so don’t be too hard on me. I’m trying not to be too hard on myself about it.
Please let me know if you think this one is shrink wrapped. It was starting to zip out but hasn’t made any progress for hours so I broke open the top of the shell. It’s still breathing in there.

 

[MGG]

So I must have done something wrong during incubation/lockdown. I had 20 good eggs at lockdown and I think only 2 more are going to hatch. I currently have 6 hatched.
this is my first incubation so don’t be too hard on me. I’m trying not to be too hard on myself about it.
Please let me know if you think this one is shrink wrapped. It was starting to zip out but hasn’t made any progress for hours so I broke open the top of the shell. It’s still breathing in there.
View attachment 2151820

Its not shrink wrapped. It doesn't look quite ready yet. Sorry you lost so many. Incubating has a big learning curve. Its ok. What all did you do at lockdown? Maybe we can figure out what happened. I'd rub some coconut oil on that baby's membrane to keep it moist and check on him again in a few hours. Look for them to make yawning/chewing motions. That means there's still yolk.

 

[AAcres]

Its not shrink wrapped. It doesn't look quite ready yet. Sorry you lost so many. Incubating has a big learning curve. Its ok. What all did you do at lockdown? Maybe we can figure out what happened. I'd rub some coconut oil on that baby's membrane to keep it moist and check on him again in a few hours. Look for them to make yawning/chewing motions. That means there's still yolk.

I moistened the membrane with paper towel and stuck him back in. Is that okay? He is still yawning/chewing. One of the other babies still drying pecked at him and he bled a very tiny bit so I hope he will be okay. That was while ago and the duckling in the shell is still doing okay.
So on the evening of day 24 I noticed one duckling has externally pipped. So instead of waiting till morning I put them all into lockdown that evening. I candled them all one more time and then put them on the bottom of the incubator with the lowest dip in the air cell facing up.
I kept the temp the same as it was all through incubation. It fluctuated between 99-102 throughout the first 24 days. occasionally near the end the temp would spike to 106 but I was always around and brought it back down. All 20 eggs were alive when I locked down.
For humidity I raised it initially to 65-70%. after a day someone in my area (not on this forum) told me that 75-80% was better. So I brought it up to that and it stayed in that range.
I should also mention (incase this plays a factor) between day 7 and day 14 I had the humidity running at 30-45%. On day 14 When I candled again I noticed the air sacks were not where they should be - they were too small. So I brought it down to run between 20-30% and that seemed to work to enlarge the air sacks.
I did open the incubator during lockdown. Maybe that was my mistake. I must have opened it about 7 times. I was quick and did monitor the humidity and it didn’t get below 65%.
but everyone who has externally pipped has hatched so far.
the ones not hatching internally pipped but never externally. And some look like they never internally pipped.

Any advice would be great. I will be doing this again and I’m all about learning.

 

[MGG]

I moistened the membrane with paper towel and stuck him back in. Is that okay? He is still yawning/chewing. One of the other babies still drying pecked at him and he bled a very tiny bit so I hope he will be okay. That was while ago and the duckling in the shell is still doing okay.
So on the evening of day 24 I noticed one duckling has externally pipped. So instead of waiting till morning I put them all into lockdown that evening. I candled them all one more time and then put them on the bottom of the incubator with the lowest dip in the air cell facing up.
I kept the temp the same as it was all through incubation. It fluctuated between 99-102 throughout the first 24 days. occasionally near the end the temp would spike to 106 but I was always around and brought it back down. All 20 eggs were alive when I locked down.
For humidity I raised it initially to 65-70%. after a day someone in my area (not on this forum) told me that 75-80% was better. So I brought it up to that and it stayed in that range.
I should also mention (incase this plays a factor) between day 7 and day 14 I had the humidity running at 30-45%. On day 14 When I candled again I noticed the air sacks were not where they should be - they were too small. So I brought it down to run between 20-30% and that seemed to work to enlarge the air sacks.
I did open the incubator during lockdown. Maybe that was my mistake. I must have opened it about 7 times. I was quick and did monitor the humidity and it didn’t get below 65%.
but everyone who has externally pipped has hatched so far.
the ones not hatching internally pipped but never externally. And some look like they never internally pipped.

Any advice would be great. I will be doing this again and I’m all about learning.

Wet paper towels can actually chill them, so I would remove that. He should be ok. If you have any coconut oil that would help, but it's fine.

 

[AAcres]

Wet paper towels can actually chill them, so I would remove that. He should be ok. If you have any coconut oil that would help, but it's fine.

Oh the paper towel isn’t in there with him. I just kind of moistened him with it and then put him back in the incubator.

 

[MGG]

I moistened the membrane with paper towel and stuck him back in. Is that okay? He is still yawning/chewing. One of the other babies still drying pecked at him and he bled a very tiny bit so I hope he will be okay. That was while ago and the duckling in the shell is still doing okay.
So on the evening of day 24 I noticed one duckling has externally pipped. So instead of waiting till morning I put them all into lockdown that evening. I candled them all one more time and then put them on the bottom of the incubator with the lowest dip in the air cell facing up.
I kept the temp the same as it was all through incubation. It fluctuated between 99-102 throughout the first 24 days. occasionally near the end the temp would spike to 106 but I was always around and brought it back down. All 20 eggs were alive when I locked down.
For humidity I raised it initially to 65-70%. after a day someone in my area (not on this forum) told me that 75-80% was better. So I brought it up to that and it stayed in that range.
I should also mention (incase this plays a factor) between day 7 and day 14 I had the humidity running at 30-45%. On day 14 When I candled again I noticed the air sacks were not where they should be - they were too small. So I brought it down to run between 20-30% and that seemed to work to enlarge the air sacks.
I did open the incubator during lockdown. Maybe that was my mistake. I must have opened it about 7 times. I was quick and did monitor the humidity and it didn’t get below 65%.
but everyone who has externally pipped has hatched so far.
the ones not hatching internally pipped but never externally. And some look like they never internally pipped.

Any advice would be great. I will be doing this again and I’m all about learning.

I think everything you did sounds fine. I personally open the incubator more during lockdown than during incubation period, lol. You just have to be very careful. If your humidity didn't fall it's fine. I always mist my eggs with warm water right when I open it so they don't shrink wrap. I'm always there during hatch though, during the hatching you'll always find me in front of the incubator. I even sleep by it and wake up overnight to check everything. So as long as you're careful, it shouldn't hurt anything. I wouldn't reccomend opening it during lockdown, but if you have to, it's not the end of the world. I don't know what would have gone wrong. Where'd you get the eggs from? I'm wondering if they're from poor stock or the ducks weren't getting proper nutrition. That could cause late term deaths.

 

[MGG]

Oh the paper towel isn’t in there with him. I just kind of moistened him with it and then put him back in the incubator.

Ok that's fine then.

 

[AAcres]

I think everything you did sounds fine. I personally open the incubator more during lockdown than during incubation period, lol. You just have to be very careful. If your humidity didn't fall it's fine. I always mist my eggs with warm water right when I open it so they don't shrink wrap. I'm always there during hatch though, during the hatching you'll always find me in front of the incubator. I even sleep by it and wake up overnight to check everything. So as long as you're careful, it shouldn't hurt anything. I wouldn't reccomend opening it during lockdown, but if you have to, it's not the end of the world. I don't know what would have gone wrong. Where'd you get the eggs from? I'm wondering if they're from poor stock or the ducks weren't getting proper nutrition. That could cause late term deaths.

My next hatch I'll try not opening.
The eggs came from my own ducks. We just got into having ducks last year so the khakis I have are only a year old, we got them as ducklings last May. The runners are 2 years old.
I'm feed them an all flock or a duck grower - these are what's available in my area. The girls also get a side of oyster shells.
Is there something I should add to their feed? Are they just too young? Though more khaki eggs hatched than runner eggs. I do have a male runner and a male khaki so who knows whos babies belong to whom lol.

 

[MGG]

My next hatch I'll try not opening.
The eggs came from my own ducks. We just got into having ducks last year so the khakis I have are only a year old, we got them as ducklings last May. The runners are 2 years old.
I'm feed them an all flock or a duck grower - these are what's available in my area. The girls also get a side of oyster shells.
Is there something I should add to their feed? Are they just too young? Though more khaki eggs hatched than runner eggs. I do have a male runner and a male khaki so who knows whos babies belong to whom lol.

I don't know then. What was your humidity leading up to lockdown again? Sometimes if its too high it can make them grow too fast and they can't pip so they die in shell. Can you eggtopsy them and see what happened? Gooey, dry, etc.

 

[AAcres]

So I opened one egg where the duckling had internally pipped. It looked wet inside but nothing crazy. I then opened one of the eggs where the duckling had not internally pipped and i saw a white dry coating around the duckling. Inside the duckling was wet.
Any thoughts?