Duckstable
Chirping
- Jan 24, 2022
- 11
- 66
- 69
hi everyone. I found this forum a few days ago while i was desperately looking for the best way to manage a catastrophic hatch. without some of the advise i found here (and other places, but mostly here) i dont doubt i would have lost all the chicks. I'm going to lay it all out here in the hopes that it might help someone else out in the future.
i usually let my ducks sit on their own eggs so this is only the second lot ive had in the incubator (the first lot were only in for the last week and there were no issues). i've mainly used the incubator for quail back when i had them and always had good hatches then too. I got 12 cayuga eggs just after Christmas and no one to sit on them so into the incubator they went.
Unfortunatley, this time i had a humidity issue. I'm not sure how it happened, maybe my husband was also adding water to the incubator, maybe i was just doing too much after xmas and new years, maybe i was just careless because i thought i knew better than i did... either way too humid. i didnt pick up on it until they started hatching as i dont make a habit of candling the eggs.
All chick's were very sticky. most where malpositioned.
I lost the first two chick's through inaction because I waited to see and didnt realise what i was dealing with at first. Theyd pipped and made decent holes but couldn't finish zipping. In hindsight I would have assisted them earlier and dealt with the shrink wrapping.
The next 3 i assisted early. As soon as they started zipping because they clearly couldn't do it themselves and by this time i knew i'd had a humity issue. in the effort to save them (which involved opening the incubator) they became shrink wrapped. So that had to be dealt with but everyone made it. I added a tiny about of blackstrap molasses to their water and it really helped them pick up. all three needed to be hobbled and one was very curled up, had a wry neck. it was strong but just sort of flopped around. I spent the first day hand watering and feeding and gently stretching it out. its been about 36 hours and all three are hobble free and look like happy little ducklings.
The forth is still touch and go. i started to assist 24 hours after pipping. It was malpositioned and just clearly not doing great. I worked on the assumption this guy wasn't going to make it but I'd give it the best chance I could. On assistance the yolk was visible but we didn't have a bleed. I left him in a half shell (supported so it wouldnt tip if he moved) and we waited. 12 hours later the yolk was absorb as far as i could tell but the naval is still large and bald (but no bleeding). he was covered in a slowly drying VERY thick snotty membrane. he couldnt get out of the egg alone so i finished stripping it off him and cleaned him up as best i could. he didnt have the same fight as the others but i gave him a drink and stuck him back in the incubator to rest.
this morning, incubator duckling is still alive. the navels a little better but not great. one wing is incased in hard membrane that im slowly trying to remove. hes got more energy and can hold his head up to eat (tiny amount of molasses in water and mashed egg yolk) but cant walk. I'll keep hand feeding him in the incubator until he dies or is ready to join the rest.
the other 6 eggs never pipped, chirped or shook. i might investigate them later to see what exactly went wrong but i suspect they died earlier on though im not ruling out that in opening and closing the incubators to help the four i have i killed them.
i usually let my ducks sit on their own eggs so this is only the second lot ive had in the incubator (the first lot were only in for the last week and there were no issues). i've mainly used the incubator for quail back when i had them and always had good hatches then too. I got 12 cayuga eggs just after Christmas and no one to sit on them so into the incubator they went.
Unfortunatley, this time i had a humidity issue. I'm not sure how it happened, maybe my husband was also adding water to the incubator, maybe i was just doing too much after xmas and new years, maybe i was just careless because i thought i knew better than i did... either way too humid. i didnt pick up on it until they started hatching as i dont make a habit of candling the eggs.
All chick's were very sticky. most where malpositioned.
I lost the first two chick's through inaction because I waited to see and didnt realise what i was dealing with at first. Theyd pipped and made decent holes but couldn't finish zipping. In hindsight I would have assisted them earlier and dealt with the shrink wrapping.
The next 3 i assisted early. As soon as they started zipping because they clearly couldn't do it themselves and by this time i knew i'd had a humity issue. in the effort to save them (which involved opening the incubator) they became shrink wrapped. So that had to be dealt with but everyone made it. I added a tiny about of blackstrap molasses to their water and it really helped them pick up. all three needed to be hobbled and one was very curled up, had a wry neck. it was strong but just sort of flopped around. I spent the first day hand watering and feeding and gently stretching it out. its been about 36 hours and all three are hobble free and look like happy little ducklings.
The forth is still touch and go. i started to assist 24 hours after pipping. It was malpositioned and just clearly not doing great. I worked on the assumption this guy wasn't going to make it but I'd give it the best chance I could. On assistance the yolk was visible but we didn't have a bleed. I left him in a half shell (supported so it wouldnt tip if he moved) and we waited. 12 hours later the yolk was absorb as far as i could tell but the naval is still large and bald (but no bleeding). he was covered in a slowly drying VERY thick snotty membrane. he couldnt get out of the egg alone so i finished stripping it off him and cleaned him up as best i could. he didnt have the same fight as the others but i gave him a drink and stuck him back in the incubator to rest.
this morning, incubator duckling is still alive. the navels a little better but not great. one wing is incased in hard membrane that im slowly trying to remove. hes got more energy and can hold his head up to eat (tiny amount of molasses in water and mashed egg yolk) but cant walk. I'll keep hand feeding him in the incubator until he dies or is ready to join the rest.
the other 6 eggs never pipped, chirped or shook. i might investigate them later to see what exactly went wrong but i suspect they died earlier on though im not ruling out that in opening and closing the incubators to help the four i have i killed them.
