Hi there,
I have been reading through all the great tips and tricks on this site for the past 11 days. There is so much information and support on this site, it is really wonderful!
I am hoping for some advice and direction.
My kids and I were watching a mother and her eggs that nested in the school parking lot. On Monday the 19th when we went to check on her we found her dead and partially decomposed a few feet from her nest of 9 eggs. I called the DNR, and three area wildlife shelters and they all did not rescue eggs. They advised I leave them as it would be unlikely any would survive having been in the cold (50 degree) weather for an unknown amount of time. Well, I am an avid animal lover and I couldn't leave them with no chance. I did quick research, bought a still air Styrofoam incubator and went back to get the eggs.
In the past 11 days I have read and researched so much about hatching duck eggs. At this point only 2 are still alive. I made some rookie mistakes, like rinsing them off when I bought them home and float testing an egg with a spider crack on the side. I also thought they were further along in development until they didn't hatch so I had stopped turning 6 days ago. I bought a hydrometer 5 days ago when the 2 survivors started wobbling because WI air humidity varies so much this time of year from 40% to 60% and I learned from this forum that humidity is terribly important for hatching I have kept the humidity at 60-65% until external pip when I upped it to 70-80%.
About 36hours ago the 2 survivors piped internally. They were wobbling and cheeping. As time went on my husband and I were getting worried that they weren't externally piped and that they were becoming quieter.
While I was at work late last night my well-meaning husband gently poked tiny holes in the air sac section of the shell. He says the ducklings were moving and chirping like crazy when he did it around 8pm. When I came home at midnight they were pretty quiet. I stayed up until 330am watching them and ensuring that the humidity got up to 75% and the temp stayed at 97. This morning both eggs were still quiet. Enough movement to know they are still alive, but no progress.
At 7am I gently opened a larger section of egg. The inner membrane was a little dry so I used a q tip dipped in warm water to wet the membrane. The ducks were moving around and opening their mouths and made a few cheeps. They still seem lethargic overall.
I wrapped their shells loosely in wet paper towel and the humidity is back up to 75% +
My questions are, am I doing the right thing for these ducks? Do I need to continue to assist them? Is there a time period of rest to give them and when should I intervene next?
I really love these little guys. They were getting so wobbly every time they heard my voice! I know that they had low probability of survival to start with, I just need to know that I gave them their best chance.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Thank you,
Liz
I have been reading through all the great tips and tricks on this site for the past 11 days. There is so much information and support on this site, it is really wonderful!
I am hoping for some advice and direction.
My kids and I were watching a mother and her eggs that nested in the school parking lot. On Monday the 19th when we went to check on her we found her dead and partially decomposed a few feet from her nest of 9 eggs. I called the DNR, and three area wildlife shelters and they all did not rescue eggs. They advised I leave them as it would be unlikely any would survive having been in the cold (50 degree) weather for an unknown amount of time. Well, I am an avid animal lover and I couldn't leave them with no chance. I did quick research, bought a still air Styrofoam incubator and went back to get the eggs.
In the past 11 days I have read and researched so much about hatching duck eggs. At this point only 2 are still alive. I made some rookie mistakes, like rinsing them off when I bought them home and float testing an egg with a spider crack on the side. I also thought they were further along in development until they didn't hatch so I had stopped turning 6 days ago. I bought a hydrometer 5 days ago when the 2 survivors started wobbling because WI air humidity varies so much this time of year from 40% to 60% and I learned from this forum that humidity is terribly important for hatching I have kept the humidity at 60-65% until external pip when I upped it to 70-80%.
About 36hours ago the 2 survivors piped internally. They were wobbling and cheeping. As time went on my husband and I were getting worried that they weren't externally piped and that they were becoming quieter.
While I was at work late last night my well-meaning husband gently poked tiny holes in the air sac section of the shell. He says the ducklings were moving and chirping like crazy when he did it around 8pm. When I came home at midnight they were pretty quiet. I stayed up until 330am watching them and ensuring that the humidity got up to 75% and the temp stayed at 97. This morning both eggs were still quiet. Enough movement to know they are still alive, but no progress.
At 7am I gently opened a larger section of egg. The inner membrane was a little dry so I used a q tip dipped in warm water to wet the membrane. The ducks were moving around and opening their mouths and made a few cheeps. They still seem lethargic overall.
I wrapped their shells loosely in wet paper towel and the humidity is back up to 75% +
My questions are, am I doing the right thing for these ducks? Do I need to continue to assist them? Is there a time period of rest to give them and when should I intervene next?
I really love these little guys. They were getting so wobbly every time they heard my voice! I know that they had low probability of survival to start with, I just need to know that I gave them their best chance.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Thank you,
Liz
