Why are my duck eggs dying on day 28?????

[Donna R]

I am trying to hatch duck eggs for my friend and the last 2 batches are dying in the shell on day 28. I can here them cheep- and see them move on day 27 and the next day they start dying. What am I doing wrong??? Please help.

 

[Goat_Walker]

Im sorry. I have no idea why hey are dying but i hope we find out.

 

[DuckLady]

That is so frustrating!

How is the humidity in the incubator?

Are you leaving the lid on the incubator closed th e last few days of incubation?

If the membrane dries out it is almpost impossible for hte duckling to get out.
And if there is too much humidity they can drown trying to hatch.

Other than that, I can't think of why they would die like that.

 

[Donna R]

The incubator is a cabinet model. I take them out once a day, put the eggs in the tray in the tub and put a warm soaked towel over them for about 20 minutes ( i refresh the heat every 5 minutes or so) and then put them back in the incubator. I have had no trouble hatching checkens or geese.

 

[rainplace]

what sort of ducks are they?

 

[Dances with Ducks]

Quote:
But the last few days you don't open them up do you? Or is there something about a cabinet model the requires you to?

 

[FenDruadin]

Hmmm... What is the humidity in your incubator? Ducks require higher humidity than chickens. I've never heard of the wet towel treatment--not saying it's wrong--just that I've never heard of it. I spray my duck eggs with warm water once a day, except during lockdown (the last three to four days). I've had decent success with this method.

Which direction are the eggs sitting in your bator? (I know, it's an elementary question, but thought I'd cover the bases...) What kind of ducks are they? Call ducks are notoriously hard to hatch.

Hmmm... let me give it more thought. More information would be helpful--temp, humidity, incubation practices (opening the bator during hatch, etc).

 

[CindyS]

sounds to me like a ventilation problem.

 

[FenDruadin]

CindyS--Now, why didn't I think of that? I think you may be right--if they are pipping through the membrane (which is why the cheeping), and then dying--it could very well be that they're fine as long as they don't have to breathe, but once they take that first breath and the oxygen runs out--they die. Makes sense to me.

 

[Donna R]

What can I do to correct the ventilation problem? why is it bad to open the incubator the last 3 days? I candle them to see if they are OK because I lost them the last time and put the towel on them once to twice a day. I feel so bad because they are not my eggs but someone else's. Luckily she had a duck sitting on more eggs so we will see how that goes. I think I like hatching chickens better. Last night 1 still was cheeping, but now I am afraid to open the incubator and check.