baby duckling struggling, help?

[dlw]

i'm new on here so sorry if this is in the wrong section but i really am worried about a little duckling we have,
we have fifteen others that have hatched outside in our garden from our pet ducks
so this is the first time we've had to bring one in. the egg was pipped and we kept the egg warm for hours hoping the duck would hatch alone but it didn't,
we tried taking some of the shell away to find the duckling was in a really odd position and didn't seem to be able to move
we put him with a heat pad and a damp towel (i've never incubated a duck before in my life so sorry if this is the wrong way to do it) and this morning i woke up to see him lying out of the egg but still attached by the cord
he is now unattached but there is still a gooey thing in the egg which i am guessing is the yolk? i could be wrong but, if he is unattached and hasn't absorbed it, is there any hope for him?
thank you for your help

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
There is always hope. He is probably really tired from trying to hatch out. Make sure you dip his beak in water get him some electrolytes in him and baby him bigtime. I never thought my call duck would make it from the state in which he was born but after a few days of constant care and such he is a sweet loving loving call duck running around at 8 weeks old!!!

 

[FenDruadin]

It sounds like he just had a tough hatch. It is normal for there to be goo left in the bottom of the egg--it's like afterbirth, just the stuff left over after the baby is done with it. But if he hatched out on his own, then he will probably be just fine. When you say he was in an odd position, what do you mean? If you've never seen one in the egg before, it looks really weird the first time--the head is turned upside down and tucked under a wing, and it looks very strange.

Based on your description, he sounds like he's just fine, so there's definitely hope. I would be surprised if he isn't just fine--usually if they hatch on their own they are. Oh, and the cord still being attached isn't ideal, but it's not unusual in a difficult hatch, and it will fall off on its own. If you hold him and look at his belly, you can tell if the yolk is absorbed--probably in his case you'll see a large "belly button" that looks weird but is just the place where the yolk absorbed and it's still working on closing up. If the yolk were unabsorbed you'd be able to tell--it would be attached to his belly and squishy and yellow.

Anyway--just wanted to let you know that everything sounds about right to me, and CONGRATS!!

 

[Denninmi]

If there is unabsorbed yolk it would be attached to the duck at his navel and would stick out as a yellow lump covered with red blood vessels. Probably what you are seeing is the normal "afterbirth" type stuff -- usually some gooey clear, white, and brown stuff. Generally the thread that runs to his navel from the egg membrane is totally dead tissue by the point the bird hatches, and you can usually safely trim it off. But, if it doesn't seem to be dried up and look like it is dead, you should tie it off about 1/2 inch from the navel with some clean dental floss, then trim it beyond the floss. Treat the navel and cut with styptic powder and powdered tetracycline to be safe.

I hope it makes it for you. Good luck.

 

[dlw]

thank you for the replies, he doesn't seem to be able to move much, he's chirping and trying to lift his head but he can't walk yet, is this normal?

 

[dlw]

Quote:
his foot was above his head and he was sort of wrapped around backwards, it's hard to explain but he basically couldn't move at all

 

[Denninmi]

Probably normal if it just hatched in the early morning hours. It takes them about 4 hours or so to really start to perk up. They will sort of crawl around before they begin to walk.

If it's weak, make sure you are doing all of the following:

1) Temperatue -- should be between 95 and 97. I'd be really concerned that a heating pad is either too warm or too cold. If you have an accurate thermometer set it right next to the bird and see what it reads. You might do better with a 40 watt lightbulb -- hang it about 8 inches over the bird, then go from there and see what temp range you get.

2) Water -- the MOST important thing right now is to get it drinking. It will die quickly of dehyrdration if you don't. I would recommond that you take a pint of lukewarm water, add about a teaspoon of sugar, a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, and a pinch of salt to it to make an electrolyte solution. Or, you could use gatorade or pedialyte if you have it. But, whatever you use, try to get the bird to drink.

3) Food -- this can wait for up to 24 hours, and water is more important at this point. But, when the duckling gets enough strenght to start pecking, give him something to eat.

 

[sonew123]

I literally put my guy by himself-he was days later than the others to hatch and so physically exaughsted from trying to hatch that I hatched him out my self-he was a good 4-5 days late hatching. It was pathetic. He couldnt lift his head -couldnt walk let alone eat and drink-round the clock for 3 days we fed him with a Tsp-polyvisol drops mixed with wet mash. He barely took any but enough to sustain him. On the 3rd day I thought I was going to put the little guy down. He could even pick up his head-he just laid on his side for 3 days:-( It was so so sad. Then rounding into the 4th day-he picked up his head! I held him up like I was his legs and walked him around to get strength in his muscles I walked him to his food and water-he would eat and drink after about a week-he was stable but wobbly enough to manage to get to the food and water solo. within another week that little bugger was running like the wind! Its all hard work for both-but my little sweet call duck "muffin" is now the biggest little love bug from being handeled so closely so much-I love it. I hope yours pulls through and sometimes they just need a helping hand because there's seem broke!

 

[dlw]

the baby just died, little bit heartbroken poor little thing, but i suppose it can't be helped.

 

[Kedreeva]