Hands on hatching and help

I just want some reassurance that I’m doing the right thing! Sorry if this ends up long I just want to get all the info I can in once.

A little background, I got 7 eggs from a neighboring farm who keeps several breeds separated in order to have specific breeds available for hatching eggs. I got 3 first but only one seemed to be developing so she gave me 4 more. Then suddenly right as I was about to give up on them the other two kicked into gear and started growing! So now I had two batches going at different times, which was fine because I had a second incubator.

Of the 7 four of them were normal sized duck eggs and have done well on their own. The last one of those is hatching now.

The other three were chocolate runner ducks and they were small small. Chicken egg sized. She told me it wasn’t an issue so I carried on. The first batch had one of these and the second had two. They all developed right on time with everyone else and were very active in their little eggs.

In the first batch the two larger eggs started hatching at day 23. I quickly checked the runner egg and it showed no signs of hatching I could see some breathing but that was it. I popped it in with my second batch and let the other two do their thing before I checked it and put it back in it’s own incubator and followed the timeline normally. But it never hatched. It was moving all the way up until lockdown day but after several days I finally opened it up and it had passed. It’s head was in the proper place but there was no pip of any kind. Fully formed little buddy but very little room in there for sure.

Now I’m hatching the last 4. Again the two large ones are great. One is out and the other is just unzipping. I first realized there was again an issue with the runners when I saw a dark mark forming on the wrong end of one. I found the file explaining what to do and first opened up the air sac side (there was a lot of pink and some yellow which I assumed was veining and the yolk? It didn’t look quite like the picture because its pretty pinkish red instead of the brown/black but the yolk is pretty obvious. Then I carefully opened up the other side, managed to avoid any veins and made sure I found its beak so it could breath. Baby was yawning and breathing so I covered it in coconut oil front and back side and put it in its own incubator so I wouldn't have to worry about anyone stepping on it while they dried.

I thought I should check the other runner who I knew had externally pipped last night/was moving then and found it not moving. Not breathing from what I could see and just all around motionless. I had given it a safety hole already along with everyone else so I finally broke down and chipped away some more and found it had definitely passed for some reason after internally pipping.

So all of that to say, I am very anxious about my little sole runner survivor and want to be sure I do everything right for it. Give it the best shot I can. It does look itty bitty in there just like the other two did. Obviously with a smaller egg they don’t have the ability to grow as big which makes sense.

The front end where it’s face is looks good and not dry at all anywhere I can see but the air sac side is starting to look drier in some places and the red/pinkness has me nervous because I can’t find many pictures of what it should look like and what I do find isn’t pinkish/red at all. I definitely didn’t run into any veils when I was slowly chipping away although I did see some when I gently moved membrane to check under it. I went the other way when that happened

Do I need to be spraying/re-moistening anything as it’s absorbing? Does the humidity need to be even higher than usually? I just don’t know if it hardening at all could hurt the yolk/prevent anything from absorbing? If there’s anything I need to do I just want to be sure I’m doing it!

Pictures are a bit hard to get accurate coloring of but this is the closest I could get. The part that I’m worried about drying is the outer edges closest to the shell. It was hard to get coconut oil on the edges because I was worried about puncturing through and I wasn’t sure what would happen if I did.

I appreciate any help!
 

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I just want some reassurance that I’m doing the right thing! Sorry if this ends up long I just want to get all the info I can in once.

A little background, I got 7 eggs from a neighboring farm who keeps several breeds separated in order to have specific breeds available for hatching eggs. I got 3 first but only one seemed to be developing so she gave me 4 more. Then suddenly right as I was about to give up on them the other two kicked into gear and started growing! So now I had two batches going at different times, which was fine because I had a second incubator.

Of the 7 four of them were normal sized duck eggs and have done well on their own. The last one of those is hatching now.

The other three were chocolate runner ducks and they were small small. Chicken egg sized. She told me it wasn’t an issue so I carried on. The first batch had one of these and the second had two. They all developed right on time with everyone else and were very active in their little eggs.

In the first batch the two larger eggs started hatching at day 23. I quickly checked the runner egg and it showed no signs of hatching I could see some breathing but that was it. I popped it in with my second batch and let the other two do their thing before I checked it and put it back in it’s own incubator and followed the timeline normally. But it never hatched. It was moving all the way up until lockdown day but after several days I finally opened it up and it had passed. It’s head was in the proper place but there was no pip of any kind. Fully formed little buddy but very little room in there for sure.

Now I’m hatching the last 4. Again the two large ones are great. One is out and the other is just unzipping. I first realized there was again an issue with the runners when I saw a dark mark forming on the wrong end of one. I found the file explaining what to do and first opened up the air sac side (there was a lot of pink and some yellow which I assumed was veining and the yolk? It didn’t look quite like the picture because its pretty pinkish red instead of the brown/black but the yolk is pretty obvious. Then I carefully opened up the other side, managed to avoid any veins and made sure I found its beak so it could breath. Baby was yawning and breathing so I covered it in coconut oil front and back side and put it in its own incubator so I wouldn't have to worry about anyone stepping on it while they dried.

I thought I should check the other runner who I knew had externally pipped last night/was moving then and found it not moving. Not breathing from what I could see and just all around motionless. I had given it a safety hole already along with everyone else so I finally broke down and chipped away some more and found it had definitely passed for some reason after internally pipping.

So all of that to say, I am very anxious about my little sole runner survivor and want to be sure I do everything right for it. Give it the best shot I can. It does look itty bitty in there just like the other two did. Obviously with a smaller egg they don’t have the ability to grow as big which makes sense.

The front end where it’s face is looks good and not dry at all anywhere I can see but the air sac side is starting to look drier in some places and the red/pinkness has me nervous because I can’t find many pictures of what it should look like and what I do find isn’t pinkish/red at all. I definitely didn’t run into any veils when I was slowly chipping away although I did see some when I gently moved membrane to check under it. I went the other way when that happened

Do I need to be spraying/re-moistening anything as it’s absorbing? Does the humidity need to be even higher than usually? I just don’t know if it hardening at all could hurt the yolk/prevent anything from absorbing? If there’s anything I need to do I just want to be sure I’m doing it!

Pictures are a bit hard to get accurate coloring of but this is the closest I could get. The part that I’m worried about drying is the outer edges closest to the shell. It was hard to get coconut oil on the edges because I was worried about puncturing through and I wasn’t sure what would happen if I did.

I appreciate any help!
I would put a good amount of Vaseline on the air cell end and cover with plastic wrap
We don’t want that membrane to dry to the yolk sac
Up humidity to 75%
As for the end baby is in you did the right thing with the bruise but much to big of a hole as I only make tiny pin hole and leave the egg he for 48 hours. Then check for veins with my candler.
Wrong end babies take longer
You need to add the 24 hour time of air cell pip to the external ( bruise )
Baby will take 48-72 hours to be ready to hatch
Don’t open anymore of the egg as the longer baby stays in to absorb the better
I have hatched small eggs and they can’t turn to get out properly and need assisting but my crew will be 2 in December and all healthy happy ducks. So don’t worry !!
Just be patient and don’t rush this baby out to soon
You can use Vaseline on the end the beak is as well but be careful not to get it onto the beak
 
I would put a good amount of Vaseline on the air cell end and cover with plastic wrap
We don’t want that membrane to dry to the yolk sac
Up humidity to 75%
As for the end baby is in you did the right thing with the bruise but much to big of a hole as I only make tiny pin hole and leave the egg he for 48 hours. Then check for veins with my candler.
Wrong end babies take longer
You need to add the 24 hour time of air cell pip to the external ( bruise )
Baby will take 48-72 hours to be ready to hatch
Don’t open anymore of the egg as the longer baby stays in to absorb the better
I have hatched small eggs and they can’t turn to get out properly and need assisting but my crew will be 2 in December and all healthy happy ducks. So don’t worry !!
Just be patient and don’t rush this baby out to soon
You can use Vaseline on the end the beak is as well but be careful not to get it onto the beak
Thank you for the response! The picture is actually the air cell end. When I read the file that brought me to this thread it said to open the air cell side enough so you could see the yolk and monitor it’s absorption. The side with the face is much much smaller. I only chipped away until I found the beak to be sure it could breath and then stopped completely and covered all the membrane with coconut oil! I’ll do another coat on this air cell side and then cover it with plastic wrap.

I definitely expect it to take several days to be ready to come out and I’m hoping it makes it the rest of its way on its own!

Thank you!!
 
Welcome to BYC!
Prepare yourself. This egg is not ready to hatch and may not make it.
The yellow is the unabsorbed yolk.
 
Thank you for the response! The picture is actually the air cell end. When I read the file that brought me to this thread it said to open the air cell side enough so you could see the yolk and monitor it’s absorption. The side with the face is much much smaller. I only chipped away until I found the beak to be sure it could breath and then stopped completely and covered all the membrane with coconut oil! I’ll do another coat on this air cell side and then cover it with plastic wrap.

I definitely expect it to take several days to be ready to come out and I’m hoping it makes it the rest of its way on its own!

Thank you!!
That’s why I say cover that air cell end with plastic wrap just to help keep it moist and not drying out
My fingers are crossed
Keep us updated please
How long has it been since you found the bruise ?
 
Won't that suffocate the chick?
The baby is in the wrong end
So no it won’t
The air cell end has the yolk
Babies beak is in the pointy end and has a hole made there for it to get air
Normally one wouldn’t do this but we can’t have that membrane dry out that’s keeping that yolk moist
 

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