Worried about air sac size of mallard duck eggs

[FrostLay]

I am currently incubating mallard duck eggs and are at day 24, their air sacs match around day 21. Should I be worried when going into lockdown tomorrow?

I am also curious about how the air sacs grow in the last days before hatching. Since the humidity is increased for the last 3 days what happens within the egg to allow the air sac to increase in those conditions.

And advice would be extremely helpful since this is my first hatch.

 

[BelovedBirds]

I am currently incubating mallard duck eggs and are at day 24, their air sacs match around day 21. Should I be worried when going into lockdown tomorrow?

I am also curious about how the air sacs grow in the last days before hatching. Since the humidity is increased for the last 3 days what happens within the egg to allow the air sac to increase in those conditions.

And advice would be extremely helpful since this is my first hatch.

hey, sorry you didnt get a reply yet. So the air cells are a little small?
Could you get a photo?
If there is too much liquid in the egg still, I would try spraying the eggs with water once or twice a day until internal pips, this actually helps the eggs to lose moisture.
@WVduckchick

 

[WVduckchick]

You could also wait until you actually see an internal pip before you increase the humidity, if you are able to watch them close enough to catch it.
But if they aren’t super small, I wouldn’t worry too much.

In the final 2-3 days, the duckling will shift into hatching position, and cause the air cells to stretch before they actually break into the air space. We call this “drawdown”.
These 2 pics were taken on consecutive days, notice how the air cell is shaped differently after the duckling gets into position. Internal pip happens shortly after drawdown.

Good luck with your hatch!

 

[FrostLay]

hey, sorry you didnt get a reply yet. So the air cells are a little small?
Could you get a photo?
If there is too much liquid in the egg still, I would try spraying the eggs with water once or twice a day until internal pips, this actually helps the eggs to lose moisture.
@WVduckchick

I marked the air sacs with a pencil and then saw that the air sacs grew a little bit more over the day. When I candled them I also saw them pressing against the membrane a little so I increased the humidity. They are in lockdown now and it seems that they are getting into position.
Thank you for your advice! Next time misting/ spraying them with water will be a lot of help.

 

[FrostLay]

You could also wait until you actually see an internal pip before you increase the humidity, if you are able to watch them close enough to catch it.
But if they aren’t super small, I wouldn’t worry too much.

In the final 2-3 days, the duckling will shift into hatching position, and cause the air cells to stretch before they actually break into the air space. We call this “drawdown”.
These 2 pics were taken on consecutive days, notice how the air cell is shaped differently after the duckling gets into position. Internal pip happens shortly after drawdown.

Good luck with your hatch!
View attachment 3143889View attachment 3143890

Thank you for explaining "drawdown" since I was curious about how that works as I was comparing egg candling charts.
Thank you for your pictures! I compared them to my mine and I feel much better and now just patiently waiting.

 

[WVduckchick]

Did they hatch yet?

 

[FrostLay]

Did they hatch yet?

Yes! 5 out of the 10 that externally pipped are drying off and getting fluffy. I am very excited for them. Here's a picture of them resting, they are so cute together.