Emergency-Hatched duckling with abnormal stomach

[darkavenger454]

My first ever incubated egg just hatched. I am new to this but there seems to be something wrong with my duckling. Is it an unabsorbed yolk sac? Do I need to worry about it or just leave it alone?

 

[Pyxis]

That is an unabsorbed yolk sac. Did it hatch naturally or did you assist it?

What you want to do is keep it in the incubator in a bowl or cup lined with paper towels to keep it from dragging the sac around and rupturing it. Keep everything very moist because you do not want it to dry out. If you happen to have coconut oil you can very carefully apply some to the yolk to keep it moist.

 

[darkavenger454]

Thank you for the advice! I assisted the duckling because it was in the same place between pip and zip for 24 hours. I didn't know if that was normal or not. I did as you suggested, in a bowl lined with a paper towl and coconut oil. The duckling seems to be doing much better. It is more active, trying to stand up and walk, and the size have the sac has decreased. The sac is hardly visible now! Hope that did the trick, I don't want it to die!

 

[Pyxis]

Yeah, that's normal for ducks - they can take up to 48 hours between external pip and zip. Glad to hear the baby is progressing well!

 

[darkavenger454]

Just wanted to give an update. The duckling was doing well it seemed but after only a few hours in the brooder, it layed down and never woke up. Now the 2nd duckling is looking for its friend and cherping loudly.

 

[Applejax83]

Just wanted to give an update. The duckling was doing well it seemed but after only a few hours in the brooder, it layed down and never woke up. Now the 2nd duckling is looking for its friend and cherping loudly.

We just had one of these. Died in its shell.