Black wiggly things in the eggs

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Hanlills777

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Hello,

I candled the eggs today at 19 days with the children and was concerned to find some little black wiggly things in a few of them that were not moving but were not there last week. They were not attached to the duckling embryos. The ducks in these eggs are still alive but are not very active at all and in one egg the duckling was barely moving. Does anyone have any idea what these are? In one egg the black thing moved when I moved the egg, it wasn't attached to anything but in another egg it just stayed still. I'm thinking maybe it's a vein that's detached (if this happens?) but as the ducklings in these eggs are barely moving, is this a sign that they're dying? I can still see all 14 moving but like I said, some ducklings are wiggling a lot and these ones with wiggly vein looking things are not (there's 4 like this)

Also, one of my eggs is standing point down whilst the other 13 are lying on their sides and my upright egg has the most active duckling that's the most visable and can be seen clearly (head, body, feet etc) In the other 13 I can see movement but I cannot make out features in these ones. The air sacks seem a lot bigger, as do the ducklings so I know they're developing but does it make a difference as to what position their egg is in? My incubator is in a cradle which turns them automatically but one black mass (duckling) moved today but wasn't able to move from the side I saw it on (I'm hoping it wasn't stuck to the side of the egg) I have since stood this egg up point down, not sure if I should have or not but my standing up egg seems to be doing better than the others. Is it advisable to stand them all up point down this late in the game or just leave them alone?

Sorry, know it's a big big post but I'm so concerned that I'll only have one hatch and also concerned that the black wriggly line things are a sign that some ducklings are dying :(
 
They're not pulsing or moving, one of them moved when I moved the egg, one didn't. They're just there. One egg had about four of them and the ducklings in those eggs were barely moving. I would try showing you a picture but everytime I try uploading one it tells me the file size is too big.
 
Think the black wiggly things may be blood vessels visible because they are not so fully developed and haven't absorbed the sac. Standing eggs upright, point down, is commercial practice with a complex occillating motion instead of simple rocking. This is to get the maximum number of eggs into the minimum space. In nature the eggs lie under mummy on their side and hatch from the rounded end where the air sac forms naturally due to the shape. All small incubators have the eggs on their side, their natural position as you will see during hatching- the best way to get out of the egg is to wriggle sideways not climb out the top.
Don't move the eggs this late. They should not be touched in the last three days as the chick is orientating itself ready for hatching and to move it into another position will mean it has to re-orientate thus using up the energy it needs to break out of the shell.
 
Will the non developed blood vesssels mean the ducklings are dying? Thanks for the advice on the eggs' position, I'll move the one I moved to upright baack to lying on it's side tomorrow. Sorry, I know I'm a worry wart!
 
Hi,
One of my eggs had a black"wormy blood vessel" that I spotted floating around in the fluid-not moving as such just floating about. I saw this about day 15ish and did worry about the development from then on.This was the same duckling I mentioned in an earlier post which hardly moved at all and I was convinced it wasn't going to hatch but she did. She is smaller than the other female I have but that may just be coincidence. She is healthy and very noisy certainly no ill effects from the "wormy black vessel"
Jo
 
Thank you Jo :) puts my mind at ease a little bit, I'm still hoping for a good hatch rate from my 14 little embryos and will keep an eye on my blood vessel babies
 
hi....I just candled my duck eggs at day 17 and both of them have the black wormy things you said you found. They seem to be at the top of the egg in the clear bit i can see near to the air sac. They aren't moving and the embryos are quite active so I don't think its actually worms. It just looks like large blood vessels that are darker than the rest. It's also my first time hatching duck eggs so I am also a bit wary but seeing as the ducklings are wriggling well it puts my mind at ease a little :D
 
Mine too, although I'm now starting to panic less about the wiggly things and now more about the hatch as it seems we can get them all through the incubation, only to fall at the last hurdle? I currently have 14 active embryos and am hoping for a good hatch, but even a few would suffice so as not to disappoint my class of 3 year olds. Is it just nature taking it's course in determining how many actually hatch or is there anything I can do (like the perfect humidity) to ensure that at least some ducklings come out? Their 28th day is weds 7th so I'm hoping for some activity then or Thursday :)
 
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