Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is barkway, the person who posted the messeges below this one about the muscovy eggs that were abandoned and I brought them in to try to hatch them....but in my update I said it looked like they weren't gonna make it. Well one just hatched!!! I thought for sure they were gone (I'm past 35 days waiting) and I was about to get rid of them this weekend (because some smell). Now I'm gonna stay up all night to see if any others make it. The one that hatched is out, fluffing up, in a box with towel and warming light. If any of these others were GOING to hatch, is there a deadline on how many hours (days?) after this first one I can expect them to hatch? Now I don't know whether to get rid of the rest or not! Help.

Hey,

It's good to hear you've got one thats finally hatched
Now that one has hatched it'll give you a rough guide as to when the others should hatch.

Eggs that are due to hatch would normally have 'pipped' for approx. 2 - 4 days before they actually hatch. You can feel a duckling 'pipping' inside the egg if you gently hold it, you can also sometimes see the egg move if it's lying in the nest.

After the 2 - 4 day period of 'pipping' the duckling(s) will then begin hatching - this itself can then take a day or so to fully hatch. It's a very stressful time and is a lengthy process.

So if any other eggs are moving or when candled are dark inside, theres a strong chance you may have others that are ready to hatch.

Any eggs that have dark blue/black patches, or ones that smell are normally bad eggs.

Good luck,
Mel x

That's what was so odd about this one: I never saw it pip, not a crack, not a hole, never moved at all...and I was checking them at least once a day as we were planning on burying all the eggs this weekend because they all appeared to be not viable or dead. We are past the 35 days for muscovy eggs and at least one if not more must have ben rotten because we could smell it....we just weren't able to tell which ones. I candled them adn compared what I saw to pictures on the net of candled egges but honestly, I couldn't tell what was good and what was bad.
We don't know whether to give these others 24-48 hours, or go ahead and dispose of them so they don't explode in the incubator. I would feel awful if I disposed of them and any of them were still alive (none have pipped, they never move, most have something dark inside, 2 have a veil of dark seemingly on the shell or just beneath it).

DON'T throw them away yet, give them atleast a couple more days. It took my muscovy eggs 41 days to hatch. Let us know if anymore hatch though, ok?

Hey,

I wouldn't throw them away either - although Muscovy eggs have an incubation period of 35 days, it can vary due to the humidity and temperature in the incubator. I'd give it a few more days, and see if you get any developments.

Mel x

Hi,
Sorry to have missed all the excitement over the past couple of days. It sounds like Muscy Mel has given you the best info I could on the eggs and whether to see what happens with the others. I don't have Muscovy's, but my Pekin eggs were a little late as well in hatching.

Is the first little one, getting along okay? Let us know if others hatch.

Best of Luck!
GrammaDuck