Baby ducks just hatched and not doing well...

[rodandbrandy]

I have 4 baby cayuga ducklings that are just not doing well. After having small pips for 2 days and no hatch I finally tried to help, humidity was to low I think and the membrane was to tough for them to break. Three I helped are doing fine up and walking in the brooder, there are 4 however that just don't seem to be doing as well. They are still attched to the yolk, they seem smaller but make noise when you touch them. I have tried to dropper in some sugar water but I guess my question is how long do I give their cord to dry up on it's own, and what else can I do to help? How long can they go without food and water? It's been about 20 hours since I helped them hatch. If you have any advice let me know, this is the first bad hatch I have had, all my other duckling have been healthy.

Thanks

 

[NYREDS]

A good example of why "helping" is a bad idea. These embryos probably were flawed in some way and nature said no to their hatching.

 

[Crazy4Chicks]

sorry to hear about your ducklings -- I hatched out 3 ducklings that are almost 2 weeks old now - 2 of them were very tiny and still had the yoke attached - all I did was cut away most of the egg shell so there were no sharp egdes I left them in the bator, but I opened both vents on top to allow fresh air flow and to keep them from getting to hot in there. I also keep the yoke moist that way it would not get sticky and stick to the bator floor.
after the first night the yoke looked like it had gone down at least by half the size the cord looked pretty small so I cut the egg away from the baby leaveing ALOT of room between the yoke and where I cut it so the baby would not bleed out.

I left them in the bator for about 1-2 days till the yoke was totally gone - they did not move much, did not eat or drink while in the bator -

and all 3 survived and are happy healthy cayuga mixed babies

good luck with your babies I hope I was some help - maybe someone who has more knowledge will come along soon

Julie

 

[rodandbrandy]

Thanks so much

 

[Crazy4Chicks]

how are the babies looking now? is the yoke getting any smaller ? I really hope the little ones can pull through this - when I saw my first one born and noticed it was still attached I cried so hard and than the 2 was fine and the last was still attached I thought I would be losing them both - but I just did the best I could for them and they made it fine.

how big was the yoke when they hatched?


Julie

 

[rodandbrandy]

The yolks were on the larger side, they are smaller now but I think still to big to cut, the ones that are doing well were the same way but they dried up and came off. Should I be keeping them moist and humid or trying to dry them out? The babies look tired, they are lying on a towel I put in the bator, they still make noise if I touch them and they do wiggle a bit.

 

[Crazy4Chicks]

I kept the yokes moist while the baby's were resting - I was afraid of them getting them stuck the bator flooring --

here is my baby when he hatched out - both these two had the yokes attached ...

and here he is about a day later - still not dry and he still had a little of the yoke attached ( just harder to see it )

all he did was lay there not moving and he would make noise when I touched him or held him but for the most part he laid like this for about 2-3 days

good luck

Julie

 

[babyboy1_mom]

Hi rodandbrandy. I hope that your babies are alright.

I have 9 runners in the bator, due to hatch Sunday. This is the first time that I have tried to hatch ducklings. Reading these postings have really made me Very nervous.

Dorothy

By the way, for those reading this: Just because someone does something different than you do, doesn't make it the wrong way of doing it.

 

[Crazy4Chicks]

this was also my first time hatching ducklings ( well it was my first time hatching anything ) - my babies are doing great getting big and went for the first swim a few days ago..

Good luck with your runner ducks

Julie

 

[rodandbrandy]

I think you will be fine hatching your ducks, I think my only advice is to keep the humidity up, I had water and wet sponges in the bator but I just don't think it was enough, their membranes were really dry. We just lost one baby, all are out except one and so far they are okay.