Advice on duck egg not internally pipped

[Duck Witch Farm]

Thank you! I have done assisted hatching before on button quail eggs and they all did well but I don’t want to unless I have to. Fingers crossed he decides to external pip on his own but since he is so far behind the others I am concerned.

 

[WVduckchick]

Yes 24 hours is kind of a general guideline for making a safe hole after an internal pip. (For future reference, there is zero benefit to making a safe hole prior to internal pip). Hopefully it will externally pip on its own shortly.
-As far as the delay, I assume you set the eggs at the same time. Are you positive on the day count? Maybe the others were a bit early? (Don’t mean to sound rude, I’ve miscounted more times than I’d admit. Lol)
-Is there any possibility a hen jump-started the eggs by sitting on them any length of time?
-any temp fluctuations to the eggs prior to putting into the incubator? Excess cold/warm temperatures outside, etc.
- possible warm/cool spots in the incubator.
- just natural egg variations.

So many possibilities! Lol
Don’t count it out until you are absolutely positive it is dead, no matter how late it may be.

Good luck!

 

[Duck Witch Farm]

Thank you. Not rude at all. I used a tracker app so I would not forget. There was some variance since one that did already hatch was stored on the counter for a couple of days prior, so I expected it may hatch first, which it did. The other 2 were laid and collected the same day and the other hatched less than 12 hours after the first one. I am sure my incubator does have variances based on other hatches. I will wait it out for the 24 hours before looking at making a safety hole. Thank you for the confirmation on not doing it before it internally pips.

 

[DuckyDonna]

Normally they say wait 24 hours before making safety holes
Have you helped do assisted hatch before ? If not it’s really good to read the guide ahead in case you do need to
If you make a safety hole there is a high chance baby may not feel the panic and urge to external pip leaving you to do a full assist
But in some cases they do still make it and hatch on their own
Because this baby is past due abd all others hatched days ago I want to get advice from some others
I’m going to tag a few others as @DuckyDonna and @WVduckchick have both assisted and made safety holes as well as know where to find the guide

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

 

[Duck Witch Farm]

Excellent article. Thank you!

 

[Duck Witch Farm]

Thank you for the advice on waiting. It has an external pip! I swear I could hatch a thousand eggs and still learn more.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Thank you for the advice on waiting. It has an external pip! I swear I could hatch a thousand eggs and still learn more.

Can’t wait to see pics of the baby

 

[WVduckchick]

Thank you for the advice on waiting. It has an external pip! I swear I could hatch a thousand eggs and still learn more.

Fantastic! Any update today?

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

@Duck Witch Farm
How is the baby doing ?

 

[Duck Witch Farm]

Still waiting for her to hatch. I am giving up to the 48 hour mark and then will see if I need to assist.