Hands on hatching and help

[aart]

Do you know why?

Hard to say, but I'd guess it was just not a 'good egg'.
It developed too slowly and not well, they don't all make it.
How many others hatched and on what day?
Were all the eggs from the same parents?

 

[PrincessKiara]

The chick died, I was too slow to do something about it.
Do you know why? Pics below after I penetrated membrane since it died
View attachment 2275832View attachment 2275834View attachment 2275836View attachment 2275838

I'm sorry! It may be that something was wrong with it to begin with hence why it never pipped or absorbed the blood. There's nothing you could have done. Baby does seem to have been in the correct position...

 

[Morgans7]

Hello, my duck eggs started external popping over night, I saw them at 7:45 this morning. There are 4/10 so far. 2 of those have popped on the small end of the egg, one of those looks like it may have blood around it. This is my first time hatching anything or seeing it hatch so I'm trying to figure out if I should and how to assist them

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Hello, my duck eggs started external popping over night, I saw them at 7:45 this morning. There are 4/10 so far. 2 of those have popped on the small end of the egg, one of those looks like it may have blood around it. This is my first time hatching anything or seeing it hatch so I'm trying to figure out if I should and how to assist them

I hope you haven’t.yet. In my experience ducks take forever to hatch. I had five hatch yesterday even though they pipped on Monday. 24-48 hours after pipping is not unusual. An upside down duckling may need assistance but not yet!

 

[LynnaePB]

Hello, my duck eggs started external popping over night, I saw them at 7:45 this morning. There are 4/10 so far. 2 of those have popped on the small end of the egg, one of those looks like it may have blood around it. This is my first time hatching anything or seeing it hatch so I'm trying to figure out if I should and how to assist them

This is a really good article to read in case any do need assistance (it has lots of good information on how to tell when they actually need help and how to determine when they are ready). I've also always heard ducks take a long time to hatch. The ones that pipped on the narrow end may take an especially long time before they actually are ready to come out. This is because their external pip acts as both an internal and external because they don't have the air cell to pip into. Be prepared for a bit of a wait. Good luck!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar... is a process that,before it can hatch safely.

 

[Star2014]

I have a chick who pipped in the wrong end of the egg, it seems to be malpositioned as well. The membrane was drying out but it was still acting as is it wanted out. It has been 26/27 hours since it pipped. I didn't open the incubator until just now I pulled it out for about 3 minutes and gently chipped off a couple very small pieces of shell around the hole it had made to assess if was indeed shrink wrapped. It looks as if it isn't actually shrink wrapped. Should I wait? I'm not sure whether or not to assist. It keeps cheeping often. I'm panicking a little bit, I don't want to wait if it's in trouble but I also don't want to do anything drastic.

 

[Star2014]

Here is a picture I took right before I put it back.
It pipped more towards the small end than the large end and away from the air cell. It’s been doing alright I guess? Could be now. I’m not sure. It seems to be my only BCM that has made it to hatching, it’s a shipped egg.
It doesn’t seem to be yawning or chewing anymore I can only see its breathing moving the bit of membrane and its body.

 

[WVduckchick]

I have a chick who pipped in the wrong end of the egg, it seems to be malpositioned as well. The membrane was drying out but it was still acting as is it wanted out. It has been 26/27 hours since it pipped. I didn't open the incubator until just now I pulled it out for about 3 minutes and gently chipped off a couple very small pieces of shell around the hole it had made to assess if was indeed shrink wrapped. It looks as if it isn't actually shrink wrapped. Should I wait? I'm not sure whether or not to assist. It keeps cheeping often. I'm panicking a little bit, I don't want to wait if it's in trouble but I also don't want to do anything drastic.

Here is a picture I took right before I put it back.
It pipped more towards the small end than the large end and away from the air cell. It’s been doing alright I guess? Could be now. I’m not sure. It seems to be my only BCM that has made it to hatching, it’s a shipped egg.

Looks fine for now, it has plenty of breathing room. You could moisten the membranes, so they don't start sticking to the chick. It could hatch on its own now, or it may still need some help.

If you want to help further -- and I don't think you really need to at this point -- but the next step would be to remove more of the shell at the pointed end of the egg (shell only at first, leave the membrane), then moisten the membrane, and get a good look for blood vessels. I don't see any prominent ones in the pic, but there could still be some there. Just don't rip through any. The key here is making sure it can't rotate down inside there, and suffocate itself. Not likely to happen, but its possible.

 

[Star2014]

Looks fine for now, it has plenty of breathing room. You could moisten the membranes, so they don't start sticking to the chick. It could hatch on its own now, or it may still need some help.

If you want to help further -- and I don't think you really need to at this point -- but the next step would be to remove more of the shell at the pointed end of the egg (shell only at first, leave the membrane), then moisten the membrane, and get a good look for blood vessels. I don't see any prominent ones in the pic, but there could still be some there. Just don't rip through any. The key here is making sure it can't rotate down inside there, and suffocate itself. Not likely to happen, but its possible.

Ok, thank you! It seemed to be moving up a little bit and I was worried it would suffocate itself so that was another reason I took a little shell off. I’ll let it be for now! I tried to put a tiny bit of warm water on the membrane but is there something that would work better?

 

[WVduckchick]

Ok, thank you! It seemed to be moving up a little bit and I was worried it would suffocate itself so that was another reason I took a little shell off. I’ll let it be for now! I tried to put a tiny bit of warm water on the membrane but is there something that would work better?

Water dries out too fast. Use Vaseline, or coconut oil, or even something like antibiotic ointment. Something oily that will stay moist.