Ill take all the help I can get

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newbie duck momma

Chirping
Apr 26, 2023
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Hello All! I've been looking through forums on this site for years... I started with chickens and tried to learn all I could from the experienced. Last year my kids talked me into ducks, and we ended up with 4 (3 khaki Campbell's, and 1 Pekin), I fell in love! Tragedy hit 22 days ago and we lost our feathered friends. They had just started laying eggs again (they stopped during winter), and I decided to try to incubate their eggs that had been collected. Ive never incubated any eggs before and now I am on day 22. I shouldve read more before putting them in the incubator, but it is what it is. I have the temp between 99.5 and 100 and have tried to maintain 55% humidity. I have multiple thermometers with the humidity levels in my incubator, just in case. My eggs started rocking yesterday (day 21), and I would love to hear any tips, tricks, suggestions, anything from others who have hatched duck eggs, especially ones that could be different kinds (pure khaki campbells and 50/50 khaki/pekin)
 
Welcome to BYC!
Janie has given you a link to a very helpful article. Stop turning the eggs and bump the humidity to 60-70% during lockdown (which is three days before hatch day). One thing to note is that ducklings like to take their sweet time when hatching. It can take 48-72 hours for them to completely hatch after the initial pip, so try not to worry or rush them if they seem to stop for a few hours. Let us know how it goes and if you have any questions!
 
SilverBirds said:
Welcome to BYC!
Janie has given you a link to a very helpful article. Stop turning the eggs and bump the humidity to 60-70% during lockdown (which is three days before hatch day). One thing to note is that ducklings like to take their sweet time when hatching. It can take 48-72 hours for them to completely hatch after the initial pip, so try not to worry or rush them if they seem to stop for a few hours. Let us know how it goes and if you have any questions!
Click to expand...
Thank you SilverBirds! I do have some questions... first one is I have seen people talk about shadowing and internal pipping... my question is how do I know the difference? I have one egg that I see a shadow coming into the airsac area but its not all of the way to the shell, is that what the shadowing means? Also I have one egg that will not stay still, it rolls all over the place and bumping the other two eggs, should I be concerned or do something to prevent this?
 
newbie duck momma said:
Thank you SilverBirds! I do have some questions... first one is I have seen people talk about shadowing and internal pipping... my question is how do I know the difference? I have one egg that I see a shadow coming into the airsac area but its not all of the way to the shell, is that what the shadowing means? Also I have one egg that will not stay still, it rolls all over the place and bumping the other two eggs, should I be concerned or do something to prevent this?
Click to expand...
Shadowing is the chick pressing against the membrane in attempts to internally pip. The internal pip is when the chick has successfully pierced through the membrane and into the air cell to receive oxygen. You will hear the baby chirping when this has happened.

I'd leave the eggs alone for now. They're just trying to position themselves for hatching so moving them may confuse the pip.
 

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