About to put day 34 Muscovy egg in lockdown and there is ANOTHER bruise! I just lost a duckling this morning and now this AGAIN! 💔

[AmyA248]

here are some pics
The hole is how it will stay till I don’t see anymore veins
He made the darkness around the bruise as when they hit the wrong end they usually hit a bigger vein
But they often chew and get it under control
If we hit them we don’t get as lucky
That’s why wrong end babies are the most risky to assist
I won’t be enlarging his hole until I see zero veins and that could be anywhere between 48-72 hours from the first hole I made.
Hope this makes sense

Yes, it makes total sense. Thank you.
So, there are no veins at all and no chewing.
I’m afraid to enlarge the hole any more because now I’m scared to do anything at all.
I know he’s going to need assistance, but when will I know when it’s time.
I allowed the last one to starve because I didn’t assist on time and I couldn’t bear to lose another one.
Tomorrow will be day 37, and I’m getting worried..

Thank you as always

 

[BelovedBirds]

Yes, it makes total sense. Thank you.
So, there are no veins at all and no chewing.
I’m afraid to enlarge the hole any more because now I’m scared to do anything at all.
I know he’s going to need assistance, but when will I know when it’s time.
I allowed the last one to starve because I didn’t assist on time and I couldn’t bear to lose another one.
Tomorrow will be day 37, and I’m getting worried..

Thank you as always

Wait for @New duck mommy 2021 to reply, she'll talk you through the next steps if it's time to take them.

Just want to mention here again, that the previous babies didn't starve. They had yolk left/just finished absorbing, and would be fine without food for a couple days after that. The yolk is all they need, once that's gone they don't need to eat for a while.

 

[AmyA248]

You haven't commented on the other information yet I think, is your plan to keep incubating/hatching eggs, or will it just be these upcoming babies, and no more?

My apologies, very busy day!
We are trying to grow our flock and would like to have about 12 Muscovy’s. 2 females to each drake I believe is correct.
After this batch we are hoping she’ll go broody the next time.
Incubating staggered ages of eggs is VERY stressful.
We plan to have our female looked at by a vet very soon, as I want to make sure she is healthy and ask about why there was issues with all her eggs.
If she starts laying again I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do.
I’m one of those people who try to save everything! I’m a rescuer/rehabber as well.
We absolutely love animals of every kind.

 

[AmyA248]

Wait for @New duck mommy 2021 to reply, she'll talk you through the next steps if it's time to take them.

Just want to mention here again, that the previous babies didn't starve. They had yolk left/just finished absorbing, and would be fine without food for a couple days after that. The yolk is all they need, once that's gone they don't need to eat for a while.

Ohh, I wonder why he died?? I’m just still broken hearted about it. I wish I knew what happened. He didn’t bleed out because there was just a little dried blood inside the shell..

 

[BelovedBirds]

Ohh, I wonder why he died?? I’m just still broken hearted about it. I wish I knew what happened. He didn’t bleed out because there was just a little dried blood inside the shell..

Which baby? The most recent bled quite a bit, and was a little premature

 

[JacinLarkwell]

My apologies, very busy day!
We are trying to grow our flock and would like to have about 12 Muscovy’s. 2 females to each drake I believe is correct.
After this batch we are hoping she’ll go broody the next time.
Incubating staggered ages of eggs is VERY stressful.
We plan to have our female looked at by a vet very soon, as I want to make sure she is healthy and ask about why there was issues with all her eggs.
If she starts laying again I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do.
I’m one of those people who try to save everything! I’m a rescuer/rehabber as well.
We absolutely love animals of every kind.

She's young. There's a reason why people say not to hatch eggs from young layers. They have kinks to work out.

 

[BelovedBirds]

My apologies, very busy day!
We are trying to grow our flock and would like to have about 12 Muscovy’s. 2 females to each drake I believe is correct.
After this batch we are hoping she’ll go broody the next time.
Incubating staggered ages of eggs is VERY stressful.
We plan to have our female looked at by a vet very soon, as I want to make sure she is healthy and ask about why there was issues with all her eggs.
If she starts laying again I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do.
I’m one of those people who try to save everything! I’m a rescuer/rehabber as well.
We absolutely love animals of every kind.

There's nothing to save
The eggs are empty when laid, there are no babies in those eggs, no life there to save
You grow that life when you incubate the egg

If you keep hatching every egg, Amy, you won't be able to keep every baby and they won't all end up cared for
I don't want to sound harsh but it is so, so incredibly important. Fertilised eggs are not alive until they are warmed up in the incubator. There's no baby, no heartbeat, no life. Until incubated.

Simply feed the eggs back to the ducks, if you don't want to eat them.
But there is nothing wrong in eating them- if you eat store bought eggs, some of those may be fertilised too. And I'm sure you know that those eggs have no babies in. Nor do your duck's eggs

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Hi my friends,

So, I’m still very emotional about losing my beautiful baby duckling this morning, and I got the lockdown incubator cleaned and ready for my 34 day old.
Upon candling for the last time I now see this bruise that was not there on Monday.
I can’t win!
Obviously, yet another baby is malpositioned and I don’t know if I can go through this again.
All who have been following me know of my struggles.
What now???

Thank you all,
Amy

Oh no what duckling did you lose?!!

 

[Farmgirl283420]

This whole thing seems sooooo stressful but really are you going to hatch every single egg???? That's a lot of babies I'm also a huge animal lover i'de love to have tones of chickens but that might not be a option also the more you have the harder it is to bond still I think it's amazing how you are helping all these ducks hatch!!! I don't know how you do it I would of hatched all the eggs then not started any more still I understand where your loves coming from good luck!!!!

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I agree with everything others are saying
There is no life in the eggs till you start to heat them
I have 11 girls who house with boys
Could you imagine if I incubated every egg I collected
In a month I would have over 300 ducks.
For the baby that died it wasn’t starving
Babies hatch under mom over 48 hours before she leaves the nest
First born could could be waiting 47 hours and be fine
The yolk keeps them full and hydrated
I don’t want to sound harsh or mean as that is not my intent
But that baby died cause you opened way to much egg way to early causing him to bleed
This is why I stress on time and waiting
I myself lost my first one doing the same thing and I’m okay to admit it was my fault but I learned from that
I found help on here and listened to what I was told
I know can hatch any baby that needs full assists and feel confident
How is the baby doing now ?
Did you candle his egg again ti look for veins ?
Can you post pictures of doing so and I can help you to decide if it’s time or more waiting