Assist hatching....

[kferguson]

Hello all,
I had to make a few safety holes on my kakhi Campbell eggs tonite, they were all through the air sack, but the humidity took a dive for some unknown reason and dropped to 40% so I knew I had to help. Good thing I did, they were shrink wrapped in there...so I made a hole the size of a nickel, and moistened the membrane with coconut oil, and got humidity up to 65%.
My question is......should I wrap moist paper towels around them loosely? And how long does the coconut oil last? Should it be replied??

 

[Droneandchicken]

I'm completely new to hatching I've done 2 rounds of incubating myself with chicks and had a heck of a time with humidity. I'm certain I lost some chicks to shrink wrapping. I did however decide to assist 2 chicks in hatching they had piped but then couldn't get out. I careful broke off pieces of the shell without tearing the membrane and left some shell on the bottom so they wouldn't stick to the floor then I took damp paper towels moistened the membrane and put them back to do their thing. They got out just fine then and I used a damp paper towel to help remove anything stuck to them and allowed them to dry in the incubator.

 

[JaeG]

I wouldn't use damp paper towels on the eggs as the water can actually end up drawing more water from them, rather than helping to keep the membrane moist. You could wet some and bunch them up, placing them near the eggs to bump the humidity up a bit more.

Ducks take forever to hatch so I'd keep an eye on them and make sure you can still hear them peeping. The coconut oil does start to dry out after awhile so just make sure the eggs are placed so that you can see what's happening and see if/when it needs to be reapplied.

 

[kferguson]

I wouldn't use damp paper towels on the eggs as the water can actually end up drawing more water from them, rather than helping to keep the membrane moist. You could wet some and bunch them up, placing them near the eggs to bump the humidity up a bit more.

Ducks take forever to hatch so I'd keep an eye on them and make sure you can still hear them peeping. The coconut oil does start to dry out after awhile so just make sure the eggs are placed so that you can see what's happening and see if/when it needs to be reapplied.

Thanks so much for your reply....that's what I wanted to make sure, is that it can be reapplied...I didn't want to O.D. the little guys on it

 

[kferguson]

I'm completely new to hatching I've done 2 rounds of incubating myself with chicks and had a heck of a time with humidity. I'm certain I lost some chicks to shrink wrapping. I did however decide to assist 2 chicks in hatching they had piped but then couldn't get out. I careful broke off pieces of the shell without tearing the membrane and left some shell on the bottom so they wouldn't stick to the floor then I took damp paper towels moistened the membrane and put them back to do their thing. They got out just fine then and I used a damp paper towel to help remove anything stuck to them and allowed them to dry in the incubator.

Thank you so much for your advice...Ugh, that's what happen to me...I lost 3 to shrink wrapping last time...didn't have the confidence or knowledge at that time to do rescue holes, etc....so fingers crossed!! They all are peeping, and yawning sometimes....little chewing and tongues going...cutest sight in the world!!!!!