i broke egg with live baby duck HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

[chickel]

I built Miss Prissy's bator and had 10 duck eggs in it for my first hatching experience. I hadn't seen movement for some time. Some of the eggs started to turn black and smelled terrible. I decided throw them out and start over because I read that they can explode. I opened one end to see if i could see how far they got before dying. One was disgusting black ooze. Then next one had a baby in it still alive. the hole is too big to use wax and there's a tiny hole in the membrane. I've been keeping it moist and have the hole covered with part of a sandwhich bag taped over it. It is still moving after 8 hours. Today is day 23.
Please tell me the best way to keep this moist and how often i should moisten the membrane. I don't want to drown it. Please don't tell me to throw it away. My 4 kids would freak out!
Any advice at all would be appreciated. I have certainly learned my lesson and will wait the full 28 days next time!

 

[Luvducks]

There is a post above yours called Assissting a Hatch - Duckling. Maybe that will help. It helped me.

 

[Luvducks]

And you do need to wait At Least 28 days. I did open mine after 31 and they were not alive but we need to give them a chence. Good Luck!

 

[Shared Acres]

Not sure, but good luck! Let us know how it goes.

 

[kinnip]

That's a toughy. I'm not sure the plastic is a good idea. The niblet needs oxygen, but I too would be worried about the exposure. I can't tell you the 'best' course of action here, but were it me, I'd leave it alone, keep the humidity high and wait it out.

 

[chickel]

Thanks for all your help. I kept the membrane moist but the little guy died anyway. He was perfectly formed, but hadn't absorbed the yolk yet.

I had another egg pip this morning. It is only day 25, but I hope this one makes it. It will be a long day of watching and waiting!

Thanks again,
Kelly

 

[Luvducks]

Good Luck with this one. It is sad when they are formed but do not make it. I feel like I failed them. This is my first hatch and I had 3 like that. I am helping the last one I have left and so far so good. Head is out and it is resting. I do not think it could have finished pipping alone. I let it go for 2 Looooong days. Read the post I suggested earlier from Sundown Waterfowl. VERY Helpful. Let me know how your day goes.

 

[Luvducks]

Post is called "assisting a hatch - duckling"

 

[chickel]

Thanks!
All this reading is helping to pass the time. It is very helpful as this is my first hatch too. I am so hooked.

Now and then i see something pushing throught the pip and back in again.
I don't think I was this nervous when I was in labor!

Kelly

 

[chickeepoo]

SO sorry you went through this- it is hard to know when to open or toss, when to leave or assist. I helped my first ducklings over my grandmothers objection, only to lose the first two. She then told me to just to make a little hole in the air-sac end of the shell (normally the round end, but sometimes they're backwards) and wait to see if they could work their way out over 2-10 hours… I guess if they're strong enough to get out, they'll build up their muscles and be able to stand, run and eat. I did help out one chick out of a batch I incubated for a friend; the other eggs were empty, and this little chick was in the egg backwards. After opening the round end and seeing the wrong end of the bird, I made an air hole in the other end and assisted just a little here and there as it slowly struggled over a couple of hours. It was spraddle legged and needed its legs band-aided closer together, plus weak and needed a little sugar water, but it survived the hatch. QUESTION FOR THE EXPERIENCED HATCHERS: I remember having a cracked egg once in the incubator and taking the white film from inside the shell of an egg from the 'fridge to dampen and paste in a couple of layers over the crack/hole in the damaged one until it could hatch… would you recommend that as a fix? Or is there something else non-toxic that could be "paper-mached" over the damaged area to hold in the moisture?