Good article, but there are a few things I'd like to address.
"My motto with helping an egg hatch is this. If you think you need to help, you don't. When a bird, any brid, hatches eggs, she doesn't help her eggs hatch at all. And neither should you."
If this were to be applied to hatching Calls, hatch rates would be very low, Calls have been bred to have short bills, and in return often aren't able to break through the shell, after the internal pip which often leads to suffocation, safety holes are often needed during lockdown to ensure this doesn't happen.
." When a bird, any brid, hatches eggs, she doesn't help her eggs hatch at all. And neither should you. If a duckling isn't strong enough to hatch on its own, and you help it, it probably won't be strong enough to live anyway. "
Many mothers will help assist there baby out of the shell, I've witnessed it several times. The last statement is False, I have to assist with almost all of my Calls, and they turn out to be healthy/happy ducklings.
":When you open an incubator with pipped eggs, it causes a rush of cooler drier air that can shrink wrap the ducklings in their eggs and kill them."
I open the incubator several times during lockdown with no problems, as long as you get the humidity back up, the ducklings will be fine.
