Chook Me!

How long should it take or a Muscovy duckling to hatch from the time it pips externally?

We had a pair of Muscovys sitting on a shared nest, last wednesday was when the eggs were due to hatch but by Saturday there were still no signs of life. When I came back from work on Sunday afternoon I saw that the 2 ducks had left the nest and were in the yard but as I walked past the chicken house I thought I heard faint cheaps. I went in an took a look at the eggs, there were no duckings or hatching eggs but I could hear cheaping! So I rushed inside and turned on the incubator, alerted my brother who said the ducks had been off the eggs for almost 3 hours! We put all 20 eggs in the incubator and by the monday morning there were a few that had pipped externally. Now on Tuesday afternoon there are still no hatched ducklings, none are even close, but these eggs are almost a week over their due date! I am worried about exaustion and suffocation, does anyone know if Muscovys are very slow at hatching? Or do I have a problem, should I help them out?

Public Comments

1. Muscovies take 35-37 days to hatch. You still need to turn them until day 34 of incubation. DO you have lots of water for humidity in incubator? water helps soften the shell up to hatch easyer.Whats the temp on, it needs to be between 98-100 degrees. DO NOT help them out, you could of miscounted the days, if you help it out, it could be too early and it will cause it to die and if you help them they will be too weak to hatch, them hatching makes them stronger. need help or anyhting email me bethbethani@yahoo.com