😢 WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?! Another duckling hatched too early and yolk sac is still full! 💔

[AmyA248]

Hi everyone,

I honestly believe I’m cursed!
I learned my lesson and DID NOT intervene this time except for a safety hole.
My duckling internally piped and made no progress for over 48 hours, so I made a tiny safety hole and 48 hours later she zipped and hatched halfway out. She was 5 days early.
I quickly grabbed her and saw that her yolk sac is still intact and quite full with some fluid around it. So I immediately put her in a little cup with a paper towel and left her bottom in the egg and put her back in the incubator.
She’s small and weak and of course I’m heartbroken because this has happened before and I lost 2 due to this issue and 2 others made it.
I absolutely cannot figure out what I’m doing wrong! My incubator is calibrated, the temperature and humidity is stable and I have the incubator right in my living room so someone’s always there to keep watch.
I feel like a complete failure even though I try to do everything by the book.
I’ve made many mistakes by assisting too early due to my nerves, but this time I did not intervene.
They are Muscovy’s and take 38 days to hatch, but this little one was malpositioned and wanted OUT!
I know she’s not going to survive, I just feel it because she’s so tiny!
It breaks my heart every time I lose one because I always feel like there is something more I can do or what I did wrong.
Am I doing the right thing by putting her in a cup and making her comfortable or is there anything else I can do to save her?
And does anyone know why this keeps happening to us?
We love our ducks and it devastates us each time we lose one.
Should I have her with me and talk to her and comfort her so she’s not afraid and alone? Or should I keep her in the incubator to likely die alone?

Kindly,
Amy

 

[casportpony]

Can you post a picture of her belly and the yolk?

 

[MGG]

Hi everyone,

I honestly believe I’m cursed!
I learned my lesson and DID NOT intervene this time except for a safety hole.
My duckling internally piped and made no progress for over 48 hours, so I made a tiny safety hole and 48 hours later she zipped and hatched halfway out. She was 5 days early.
I quickly grabbed her and saw that her yolk sac is still intact and quite full with some fluid around it. So I immediately put her in a little cup with a paper towel and left her bottom in the egg and put her back in the incubator.
She’s small and weak and of course I’m heartbroken because this has happened before and I lost 2 due to this issue and 2 others made it.
I absolutely cannot figure out what I’m doing wrong! My incubator is calibrated, the temperature and humidity is stable and I have the incubator right in my living room so someone’s always there to keep watch.
I feel like a complete failure even though I try to do everything by the book.
I’ve made many mistakes by assisting too early due to my nerves, but this time I did not intervene.
They are Muscovy’s and take 38 days to hatch, but this little one was malpositioned and wanted OUT!
I know she’s not going to survive, I just feel it because she’s so tiny!
It breaks my heart every time I lose one because I always feel like there is something more I can do or what I did wrong.
Am I doing the right thing by putting her in a cup and making her comfortable or is there anything else I can do to save her?
And does anyone know why this keeps happening to us?
We love our ducks and it devastates us each time we lose one.
Should I have her with me and talk to her and comfort her so she’s not afraid and alone? Or should I keep her in the incubator to likely die alone?

Kindly,
Amy

Did you assist the other ones that had the same issue in any way? If she was malpositioned you're supposed to wait way longer since the yolk is usually squished in an unnatural position, making them take longer to absorb it.
I would try to avoid helping at all. Unless you really know what you're doing you'll lose a lot less by not "helping" than you will "helping". It's hard to know when they're really ready unless you've had that experience.
I'm sorry about the ducklings you lost, hopefully this one makes it. I agree with Kathy, pics would help.

 

[AmyA248]

Can you post a picture of her belly and the yolk?

Absolutely.

Can you post a picture of her belly and the yolk?

 

[Oob Child]

The poor baby! I honestly have no idea what's happening, but hope this little baby makes it. Not sure if you are able to give this to them this early, but do you have any NutriDrop? I think you should let it be in the incubator, at least it might have a chance in there.

Hope it makes it please keep us updated!

 

[AmyA248]

The poor baby! I honestly have no idea what's happening, but hope this little baby makes it. Not sure if you are able to give this to them this early, but do you have any NutriDrop? I think you should let it be in the incubator, at least it might have a chance in there.

Hope it makes it please keep us updated!

She is still alive this morning but the yolk sca isn’t absorbed! She’s chirping but very weak and her bottom is of course still in the shell.
I do have Nutra Drench but I’m not sure if I should give her anything by mouth when she’s still absorbing.
I’m actually shaking as I’m typing because I’m so concerned.
Our incubator has a low top and with her being in the cup her little head is just about touching the top. I feel so helpless..

 

[Debbie292d]

She is still alive this morning but the yolk sca isn’t absorbed! She’s chirping but very weak and her bottom is of course still in the shell.
I do have Nutra Drench but I’m not sure if I should give her anything by mouth when she’s still absorbing.
I’m actually shaking as I’m typing because I’m so concerned.
Our incubator has a low top and with her being in the cup her little head is just about touching the top. I feel so helpless..

She's probably going to need those five days to catch back up to when she SHOULD have hatched. I have horrible luck trying to hatch duck eggs as opposed to chicken eggs so to me, that's wonderful she's still trying to survive and I bet she will!

 

[AmyA248]

Did you assist the other ones that had the same issue in any way? If she was malpositioned you're supposed to wait way longer since the yolk is usually squished in an unnatural position, making them take longer to absorb it.
I would try to avoid helping at all. Unless you really know what you're doing you'll lose a lot less by not "helping" than you will "helping". It's hard to know when they're really ready unless you've had that experience.
I'm sorry about the ducklings you lost, hopefully this one makes it. I agree with Kathy, pics would help.

Hi,
I learned my lesson regarding assisting. And I did not assist except with the safety hole that I had to make a bit bigger to make sure she was malpositioned. It was foot over head and her head was in the middle.
I posted pictures last night.
This morning the yolk sac is still not absorbed but she’s alive and I honestly don’t know what to do.
Here is a pic of her in her cup, her little head almost touches the top of the incubator and it really upsets me!
What do I do? I’m scared..

 

[AmyA248]

She's probably going to need those five days to catch back up to when she SHOULD have hatched. I have horrible luck trying to hatch duck eggs as opposed to chicken eggs so to me, that's wonderful she's still trying to survive and I bet she will!

Good morning,

Thank you for your reply. 5 days? Can she survive 5 days in that little cup?
I talk to her and let her know I’m here. Someone mentioned giving her Nutra Drench but I don’t know if she can have anything by mouth while absorbing. I did give her a drop of water with a sterilized paintbrush.
I’ve had TERRIBLE luck with my Muscovy’s and never one issue with chickens.
I’ve had to assist (with the help of this wonderful group) because they just don’t hatch no matter how closely I follow the instructions and calibrate my incubator.
I promised myself I would never incubate again, but my female just “dropped” 5 eggs all over the coupe and of course my little girl found them and my neighbor begged me to try because she wants to start her own flock.
So here I am again, a nervous wreck!

 

[Debbie292d]

Good morning,

Thank you for your reply. 5 days? Can she survive 5 days in that little cup?
I talk to her and let her know I’m here. Someone mentioned giving her Nutra Drench but I don’t know if she can have anything by mouth while absorbing. I did give her a drop of water with a sterilized paintbrush.
I’ve had TERRIBLE luck with my Muscovy’s and never one issue with chickens.
I’ve had to assist (with the help of this wonderful group) because they just don’t hatch no matter how closely I follow the instructions and calibrate my incubator.
I promised myself I would never incubate again, but my female just “dropped” 5 eggs all over the coupe and of course my little girl found them and my neighbor begged me to try because she wants to start her own flock.
So here I am again, a nervous wreck!

I think you're doing the best any of us could by doing that. Keeping her humidity up too is important. I know some chicks still can be thirsty even after they hatched, but you're right, she's getting what she needs from that yolk. A bit of diluted Nutra Drench when you give her a drop of water wouldn't hurt though and might help. Nutra Drench is more "instant" than Poultry Cell or others, so it would be good for it I'd think.