First time incubating - so excited!!

[Xmasbaby75]

The ducklings can go a couple of days with nutrients they got from the yolk. I recommend leaving them as you don't want to break the lockdown humidity. If/When you do decide to intervene I would move them to the brooder then.

Leave them in there at least until the zipping one hatches, or until you decide to assist it. You don't want air to dry out that zip. If you decide to assist that one, you can pull the hatched ones then.

Also, if you have a fine mist spray bottle, (warm water) I'd have it handy. Any time you open the incubator, you can do a quick squirt (NOT ON THE EGGS, just inside the bator) to keep the humidity from dropping too drastically. Even then, do it as quickly and safely as possible.

**disclaimer.... if you have humidity problems, or have trouble keeping humidity up, I wouldn't open it at all!!!

I will try and hold back! I know it is still breathing, because I can see the beak come out for air every so often. I will only intervene if I think he won't make it, or if he stops moving, but I will wait a little longer and give him some time. So nerve-wracking! Thank you both for your responses. I just don't want to mess this up.

 

[WVduckchick]

I will try and hold back! I know it is still breathing, because I can see the beak come out for air every so often. I will only intervene if I think he won't make it, or if he stops moving, but I will wait a little longer and give him some time. So nerve-wracking! Thank you both for your responses. I just don't want to mess this up.

Good idea. Really... going in too soon is almost always recipe for disaster. Not going in can indicate that it shouldn't have made it anyway. Things happen. So you really have to weigh your expectations and also the consequences of your actions. Do you want to nurse a deformed baby? Some say yes.... I say I don't.. So its a personal decision that you have to make on your own. We can only help with guidance.

 

[WVduckchick]

Update?

 

[Xmasbaby75]

Update?

I have an update! Well, as the hours ticked by we realized we were going to have to intervene as much as we did not want to. The poor little guy was really stuck, and was ready to come out - no blood, the yolk was all absorbed, and he was drying out fast. The membrane became very dry and actually kind of glued itself to the duck's back. We were able to get most of it off, but he actually has a couple of bald spots were it was stuck - no pin feathers grew there. We were very careful. He is still okay, but after about 12 hours, he still looks a little wet, where as the other ones fluffed up fully in that amount of time. So, two ducklings are in the brooder, and two more in the incubator drying off. So far, there's no other signs of hatching on any of the other eggs, but we are still watching them.

 

[WVduckchick]

I have an update! Well, as the hours ticked by we realized we were going to have to intervene as much as we did not want to. The poor little guy was really stuck, and was ready to come out - no blood, the yolk was all absorbed, and he was drying out fast. The membrane became very dry and actually kind of glued itself to the duck's back. We were able to get most of it off, but he actually has a couple of bald spots were it was stuck - no pin feathers grew there. We were very careful. He is still okay, but after about 12 hours, he still looks a little wet, where as the other ones fluffed up fully in that amount of time. So, two ducklings are in the brooder, and two more in the incubator drying off. So far, there's no other signs of hatching on any of the other eggs, but we are still watching them.

Well done!

 

[Xmasbaby75]

Thank you! It was so nerve-wracking! It's so hard to make a decision like that, but it looks like we made the right one. Here are the first two to hatch.

 

[PotatoWaffles]

I have an update!  Well, as the hours ticked by we realized we were going to have to intervene as much as we did not want to.  The poor little guy was really stuck, and was ready to come out - no blood, the yolk was all absorbed, and he was drying out fast.  The membrane became very dry and actually kind of glued itself to the duck's back.  We were able to get most of it off, but he actually has a couple of bald spots were it was stuck - no pin feathers grew there.  We were very careful.  He is still okay, but after about 12 hours, he still looks a little wet, where as the other ones fluffed up fully in that amount of time.  So, two ducklings are in the brooder, and two more in the incubator drying off.  So far, there's no other signs of hatching on any of the other eggs, but we are still watching them.

Maybe try giving a warm bath to the one that hasn't dried yet? I had a duckling like that in the last batch I hatched. The membrane hardened on her side and wing and face. After sitting in the brooder for about 14 hours, it was clear she wasn't going to fluff up on her own. And I noticed that the hardened membrane on her face was preventing her from closing her outer eyelid! She could only close the inner one. She would fall asleep with her eyes open. It was kind of creepy and very worrisome.

So I was forced to give her her first bath very early. I filled the bathroom sink about an inch with warm water and made sure she got all good and soaked completely. And I gently used q-tips to get the rest of the membrane off of her. Rubbing them carefully around her eyes was the hardest part because she was so squirmy. After about 15 minutes, I wrapped her up in a towel, and in about an hour she was as fluffy as could be, and could close her eyes and sleep normally.

Here she is before her bath. Note: she is completely dry, but not fluffy due to the hardened membrane

Here she is about and hour after her bath. She has a boot on because she had curled toe pretty badly as well

And here she is a couple day as later all healthy as can be

 

[Xmasbaby75]

Maybe try giving a warm bath to the one that hasn't dried yet? I had a duckling like that in the last batch I hatched. The membrane hardened on her side and wing and face. After sitting in the brooder for about 14 hours, it was clear she wasn't going to fluff up on her own. And I noticed that the hardened membrane on her face was preventing her from closing her outer eyelid! She could only close the inner one. She would fall asleep with her eyes open. It was kind of creepy and very worrisome.

So I was forced to give her her first bath very early. I filled the bathroom sink about an inch with warm water and made sure she got all good and soaked completely. And I gently used q-tips to get the rest of the membrane off of her. Rubbing them carefully around her eyes was the hardest part because she was so squirmy. After about 15 minutes, I wrapped her up in a towel, and in about an hour she was as fluffy as could be, and could close her eyes and sleep normally.

Here she is before her bath. Note: she is completely dry, but not fluffy due to the hardened membrane


Here she is about and hour after her bath. She has a boot on because she had curled toe pretty badly as well


And here she is a couple day as later all healthy as can be

Thank you, we may try that. We wet him down with warm, wet, paper towels while trying to remove the membrane last night, because it was virtually impossible without wetting it down, It is possible there's a little more stuck to his back. Thanks for this suggestion. Do you have pictures of the duck with the curled toe without the boot on? I think ours may have a curled toe as well, but I really don't know what's normal - these are our first ducklings!

 

[WVduckchick]

Thank you! It was so nerve-wracking! It's so hard to make a decision like that, but it looks like we made the right one. Here are the first two to hatch.

So cute!!

Isn't it just adorable the way they cock their little heads at you? Just warms my heart...

I'm really glad your first intervention was successful!

 

[Xmasbaby75]

Thanks I just love the way they respond to my voice ... and I have a guard dog too, LOL, this is Gellica the Yorkie who has taken on the role of duck Mommy. She wants in there, because she thinks she has to feed them, She is having flashbacks to when she had puppies (in that same playpen).