emergency duck egg rescue incubation

[WVduckchick]

Update on my eggs and a question, I candled again last night, day 21 both eggs still show movement but one is almost completely dark and the other has clear spots below the air cell where the duckling is, I can see a lot of veins around the top in this one still and lots of movement, why would one be almost solid dark and the other not? Does it mean one egg is not doing so well and the other is fine? Or maybe they are both fine and just differently positioned in there? I am very nervous that if o my one hatches he or she will be lonely any advice or words of wisdom on this?

This is the hardest part, the waiting near the end. Mine did that too. One could be a little behind the other, or they could have just been in different positions when you candled. Movement is good and you still have a ways to go, so dont panic. I know easier said than done. Kinda like a human baby, some take longer to position than others. Nothing to worry about yet since you still have several days to go. There is nothing you can do at this point, so keep up the good vibes and hang in there!

 

[WVduckchick]

Hi im also after a bit of advice... my call duck was sitting on a clutch of 15 eggs and walked away from them on day 25... un prepared for this I brought them into my house and have been looking after them since.. to begin with they were under a heat lamp in a cardboard box.. and not turning them... i struggled to get the humidity and temp right and maintained... i finally got them into an incubator on day 30... and was advised to turn them for a couple of days which I did do then stopped on day 32.. im now down to 4 eggs.. on day 33/34 they started to wiggle.. their now on day 37/38.. their still wiggling and the eggs are literally rolling over .. but they still don't seem to of pipped through into the air sac that alone the shell.. im getting worried now... i don't want to loose them.. if anyone can advice it would be greatly appreciated...

Wow that's an odd situation and I'm not at all sure what to say. 37 days is amazing, but if they are still moving, they have a chance. I don't have calls but know they are very difficult to hatch. If you haven't gotten an answer anywhere else, search for a thread called "Call ducks finally hatched". Lacrystol is the call duck expert and may be able to help. Its probably time for you to help them out of there, if you are prepared to do so.

 

[WVduckchick]

Ahsley -ducks can easily take 36-48 hours from initial pip to fully getting out so I think you are fine!

And betty I somewhat agree. I think there are some definite wrongs (way too high temps, etc) but you can still do everything "right" and still things go wrong. So there is alot of gray. I think the different stages come from shell quality, egg age, size, several factors... Humidity is a huge area of gray! What works for some doesn't work for all, so I think it all comes down to what works for you!

 

[Kaessa]

Well everything has stopped bleeding by my poor lone duck is 3 days before anyone else is due to hatch and he seems lonely and won't eat or drink... I'm really scared of losing him now he's come so far, any suggestions on helping him to eat and drink?

Try dipping his bill into the water so he knows it's there. Mine started drinking right away once I showed them.

 

[dirtychick]

99.5 like chicken in air type. if they hatch great if not don't matter kind. I'd worry more about game laws ? run higher humidity on them . good luck .

 

[Orca5094]

Have you candled the eggs to see if they're still alive in there? If your incubator has a fan you typically incubate at 98.5 degrees. If it doesn't have a fan, it's around 101 degrees.

Wild duck eggs all pretty much look the same, just size differences really. Not sure if they can be identified by sight like that. What species do you typically see in that area?

 

[Ashleyponygurl]

Well its a park around the pond I think the ducks there are ones sadly dropped off by people, they looked like huge mallards but with a white chest, which ive never seen before ( I'm outdoors A lot) which is why I don't think they are a native species. It is still air and I really wasn't trying to break any rules by taking the eggs, I just found out I'm pregnant and hormones are kinda crazy but when I saw the smashed eggs I almost cried, it looked something done by some punk *** teens and I felt so bad if a human messed it up maybe a better person should save the day... My hormones made me feel like I was being heroic but now I don't know if I did the right thing... I just couldn't leave them I felt it was my duty as a mom to help the mmama duck whose home was wrecked

 

[WVduckchick]

Have you candled any of them yet?

Also did you look around for momma duck? Maybe she was just hiding from the meanies.

 

[Ashleyponygurl]

I don't think she had sat on them yet the ones that were smashed were not chicks but still white and yolk, all the ducks were out on the water the time we were there at least round on our side, being that the nest area had been trampled I knew if I left those eggs there exposed another kid would have come along and smashed them, I mean who knows maybe they were smashed by kids that thought they were easter eggs (they are green) and there were a lot of little kids still at the park and where the eggs were they were 10 feet or from a concrete strusture picnic area where they hold annual kids fishing events I was just so scared these eggs would have the same fate as the smashed ones anyways I'm not giving up yet, eyve been in the bator for about 24 hours at what point should I candle them to see if any are even viable eggs? They were pretty spread out as though tey had been kicked or rolled around a bit and some were rolled into the water (2 were submerged) so I'm not getting my hopes up too high but I figure I should at least give them a chance...

 

[Ashleyponygurl]

Thank you so much! Its a surprise blessing this time we weren't trying because our son turns a year in 2 weeks, but god gives us surprises at crazy times, literally my husband was laid off a week before we found out and the next day he got his job back (miracle) so we took his last day off to go fishing and found the mess so I thought maybe I can help there were so many other nests I could see with eggs right there I only hoped they weren't found and smashed as well thank you again that candling chart is a great help I will check them in about 3 days and post again if any look good