Call ducks pipping upside down

I have call duck eggs on day 26 in the incubator. The first pip yesterday was at the small end of the egg. Another pip this morning, same thing. What causes this? Did I do something wrong or is this common with ducks? Brinsea incubator with rails and auto turn, lockdown on day 23 and layed on their side. This is the same way I treat chicken eggs and I don't get upside down chicks.

I'm trying to help the first one out but it isn't going well. Yolk isn't absorbing so I'm going to leave the other one alone and hope for the best. I hate this part, don't help and it might die or help and it might die.

See if you can contact @Lacrystol @Amykins or @Orca5094

It is not uncommon for Calls to need some help, but you are correct - we can sometimes "help" too much. I am not a hatcher, I just read through some of the threads.

Were the eggs shipped? Sometimes the rough shipping can cause malpositions. At any rate, I would prop them up so the pips are higher than the rest of the egg so they will not drown. When they hatch from the wrong end they do not have the luxury of an air cell to pip into, which leaves them vulnerable to drowning in the remaining fluid inside the egg.

Have you read through Sally Sunshine's guide to assisted hatching? It is very helpful with these situations and tells you exactly what to do for malpositions and when/if you need to help: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

I had one pip the wrong end, but then she got stuck and could not turn in there to finish hatching. Sometimes they can still make it out on their own, just have to be patient and look closely for the signs they are ready to hatch (you can read more in the above link). But basically, once all the blood has drained from the vessels in the inner membrane of the egg, they are ready to hatch. Before that they are still absorbing the yolk and you would risk causing a bleed from broken blood vessels as well. My girl made it out after a very long, slow assisted hatch from me (which is how it should go, no need to rush as rushing things is never good in these situations). She is a year-and-a-half old now and my favorite duck ever.

I don't have any experience with Call Ducks specifically, but they do sometimes require assistance due to their short bills. So yours probably will since they are also malpositioned. Just take things easy and slow.

Only advice I can give is be sure that the baby doesn't dry out in the egg

Where are you at right now, Give me temp humidity and do you have a fan? Also, TO avoid Upside downers, it's best to lay them with the larger end up higher then the smaller end, this gives them a Direction to aim for...

DoubletakeFarm said:

I have call duck eggs on day 26 in the incubator. The first pip yesterday was at the small end of the egg. Another pip this morning, same thing. What causes this? Did I do something wrong or is this common with ducks? Brinsea incubator with rails and auto turn, lockdown on day 23 and layed on their side. This is the same way I treat chicken eggs and I don't get upside down chicks.

I'm trying to help the first one out but it isn't going well. Yolk isn't absorbing so I'm going to leave the other one alone and hope for the best. I hate this part, don't help and it might die or help and it might die.

Click to expand...

CAN YOU SEND me a pic of the one that you were helping??

Upside downers take longer to Absorb because they aren't in the correct position to do so, LOTs of patients and time. Please give me a status report on the one that you have already helped. I'm thinking it's too soon from what I have read already, he would need more time. Hopefully it's not to late.

Not shipped eggs.
Temp is 99.5 humidity is 60% yes there's a fan
The one I helped is still alive but the sac still isn't absorbed as far as I can tell. I don't want to open the incubator and look for fear of drying out the one that's pipped.
And no more pips since this morning, just the two upside downers. I find that odd. Maybe they just need more time? At this point I'm just trying to NOT TOUCH ANYTHING and hoping there's progress without me interfering.

Have you read through Sally Sunshine's guide to assisted hatching? It is very helpful with these situations and tells you exactly what to do for malpositions and when/if you need to help: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

Click to expand...

Thanks for that link. I've read it before but not focused on the malposition (there's so much info there!) I just finished reading it again and I feel much better informed now