Duck egg help! I'm so nervous.

[DuckMom888]

I'm half way through day 28 with 14 eggs in my incubator. My eggs have been looking amazing all the way through but before they got put in lockdown they still hadn't internally pipped and now there is no peeping and no rocking eggs but I finally caved and as fast as I could, I candled one this morning and they are still moving in there. This is just heart wrenching to watch and think that none will hatch.

 

[nuthatched]

What type of ducks?

 

[DuckMom888]

We have a male Welsh Harlequin that mated with our khaki Campbells

 

[HoneyBeeHomestead]

Hello. There are a lot of different factors that can affect when the eggs hatch. What temperature/humidity is the incubator? A lot of incubator thermometers are inaccurate, so if you have a second you can stick in there, it would be a good idea to double check. What breed of ducks are they? Some will take longer than others. Sometimes they will just take a bit longer and it's hard to pin down an exact reason. I wouldn't worry too much yet!

 

[DuckMom888]

We did test the temp and it was a tad low reading 99.2-99.3 for the whole duration. Yet some of my air cells seem small. Humidity was set between 48 to 50 now I have it at 71. I'm terrified to open it and check them, so I'm just patiently dying inside lol

 

[DuckMom888]

I just thought by now I would see the eggs moving a bit more like they are at least attempting to get out. But since yesterday morning I have caught to movement. I have been candling them through the incubator, but all I see is a clear beautiful looking air sac. But I can't with my incubator see the bottom part of the air sack which I believe is where they seem to be.

 

[Yardmom]

I know some people see their eggs wiggle before hatch. I have hatched several dozen eggs and have only seen a couple who wiggled. When I hear peeping before hatch, it is usually from one who is struggling to hatch. It is always after internal pips

Be patient, your temp was a bit low. Your ducklings will hatch when they are ready.

 

[DuckMom888]

Thanks! I will update if I finally get a pip

 

[HoneyBeeHomestead]

I second what @Yardmom said. In all my experiences hatching, the large majority don't wiggle/I don't catch them wiggling. I'd just keep the incubator closed and try to be patient. The first pip is always so exciting! Please keep us updated!

 

[DuckMom888]

Well nevermind I messed up the whole batch. My thermostat was off and my electric thermostat I used. Put a different one in and it was at 96.8 wow
I feel terrible... I literally had to jack my machine up to 101.6 in order to get it to 99 now. I'm guessing this hatch is not going to be great. I did candle 2 real quick and they are still moving little shadows at the membrane. Just praying some turn out. So mad at myself for not checking this sooner I just thought they were looking amazing so I didn't worry until now.