Whats the longest i can leave the eggs unturned?

[jenbell83]

i have to drive 4 to 5hrs to another town and back. will my eggs be ok if i dont turn them that long? itll be like 10 to 11hrs round trip. i also usually cool them down. but i think that part will be ok. whats the longest amount of time duck eggs can be left untouched?

 

[sumi]

Not turning them for 10 or 11 hours should not harm them. Turn them just before you leave and again as soon as possible once you are back and then turn as usual afterwards. They will be fine.

 

[BantamLover21]

i have to drive 4 to 5hrs to another town and back. will my eggs be ok if i dont turn them that long? itll be like 10 to 11hrs round trip. i also usually cool them down. but i think that part will be ok. whats the longest amount of time duck eggs can be left untouched?

I think that they will be fine if not turned for 10-11 hours. Just turn them before you leave, and then when you get back. Not being cooled won't hurt them, either.

 

[Sphinx]

It'll be fine.

I did a school hatch in which there was no automatic turner. I had the teacher turn the eggs at 8am when she got in, 12, and 4pm when she left. The school was locked over the weekend, so they went unturned from Friday at 4pm to Monday at 8am. Granted, our hatch wasn't the best, but we also had temp spikes. We ended up with 7/18 hatching.

 

[jenbell83]

Thats good for not turning them for a few days

 

[gimmie birdies]

I had a batch of eggs, stopped turning them on day 15 because I was going to be out of town, set up the incubator so they were under the light, but food and water to the sides, since I was coming back a couple of days after they were due to hatch. I had 11 chicks, 7 hatched while I was gone. they helped themselves to food and water. the other 4 must have gotten pushed away from the heat as the hatching happened but it was neat that they hatched on their own.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

The last batch of eggs I incubated were SEVERELY staggered. My first batch had 10 eggs all due the same day. Then I added 3 more eggs over the next 3 days. So, once my first batch hatched, there was a 3 day span for those other 3 to hatch (if that makes sense, after lockdown started for the first eggs I didn't open the incubator for 7 days). However, a week after I set those I put 20 more eggs in. So, that first batches lockdown prevented me from turning that last batch for their entire last week of incubation.
That second set of eggs, the ones I didn't turn for that last week whole week (which I've read is when turning is most important) hatched better than the first batch which I turned 3x's a day for 18 days. I don't use my incubator very often since I have lots of broodies to do that job, but I really think that if they're meant to hatch they will. I've read lots of posts where folks have temp spikes, the bator gets turned off, crazy hatching methods are used, ect and their chicks/ducklings/poults made it. They're alot more resilient than we give them credit for! Good luck!

 

[gimmie birdies]

well- I have heard the first 11 days is important. I had one batch I was turning alot and candling and moisture in the bator the whole time they didn't do well. but a batch I didn't play with and dry hatched until the end turning just 2x a day were 100%.

 

[jenbell83]

Some of my eggs look like a few of the veins are turning black. all still alive but it looks weird. anyone ever heard of this before??!

 

[gimmie birdies]

yes I have that in one of my eggs right now. I am on day 5/6 it still has movement and red veins, so it might have been a twin that died. It will probably resorb- by the other chick as long as you still see strong veins don't worry. I will post again soon as I plan on watching this egg.