Call duck eggs: Day 3 of lockdown, no progress

[FreeRanginChick]

Hi everyone. I have searched and read everything I could related to my issue before resorting to posting.

I am on day 3 of lockdown (Day 25 of incubation) with my three remaining call duck eggs. They were shipped eggs, I lost five in early stages due to broken air sacs.

Anyways... All three were moving well the past few days, and now I only see one is wiggling around. No one has externally popped and I have not checked to see if they are internally pipped for fear of opening the incubator.

Should I go ahead and open the incubator to candle them and see if they have internally pipped, or just leave them?
I want to be patient but also don't want them dying if they need to be assisted as call ducks seem to notorious for with their small bills.
For reference, I have a nurture right 360 incubator set at 99.5 and I upped the humidity to 75.


Any help is tremendously appreciated.
Thank you so much.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

You need to open the incubator and check if any have internally pipped.
Call ducklings rarely externally pip on their own in the incubator.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/assisting-call-duck-hatches.76507/

 

[FreeRanginChick]

Thank you so much for the article. It looked like all three had internally pipped, so I made safety holes yesterday. They are still no external pips at 20 hours post safety hole, so I went ahead and widened the safety hole on one of the eggs.
The opening I made is about dime sized... and from what I can see inside the duckling is totally wrapped in white membrane. I'm not sure if it is shrinked wrapped in there and I should try and make an opening for its bill, or if it was too early yet. I don't see veins in the white membrane and the membrane is protruding well into the air cell, just does not look like the little thing can get out of it. He is moving quite a bit but not to the point of wriggling the egg around. Trying to decide if I do the same on the other two.

Ugh this is hard, I'm caught between not doing too much and not doing enough(like many before me have experience when hatching poultry!), as it is now day 27. I will update this thread with the outcome so if anyone else has such issues they can reference my experience.

Thanks again.

 

[FreeRanginChick]

I know I opened it too much, I feel awful. I should have just waited but reading about how calls struggle to get out I felt like I had to act since it's been three days, almost four, of lockdown.​

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It hasn't internally pipped yet. Not going to mess with the other two until tomorrow...​

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I don't know if he's behind in developing or if he is shrink wrapped. Humidity has been on the high end at 75% since Friday and it has been humid in the house as well. Not really sure where to go from here but I am going to let him rest and I just pray he doesn't dry out before he has a chance to get himself out.. He's moving around quite a bit but I have no idea what part of his body is facing the aircell at this point. Hopefully I'll have a positive update later or at some point tomorrow.​

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I know I opened it too much, I feel awful. I should have just waited but reading about how calls struggle to get out I felt like I had to act since it's been three days, almost four, of lockdown.​

​

It hasn't internally pipped yet. Not going to mess with the other two until tomorrow...​

​

I don't know if he's behind in developing or if he is shrink wrapped. Humidity has been on the high end at 75% since Friday and it has been humid in the house as well. Not really sure where to go from here but I am going to let him rest and I just pray he doesn't dry out before he has a chance to get himself out.. He's moving around quite a bit but I have no idea what part of his body is facing the aircell at this point. Hopefully I'll have a positive update later or at some point tomorrow.​

Too bad it hadn't internally pipped before you opened it. Put some water with a qtip on the membrane so you can see where the bill is.
When you locate the bill, cut open the membrane a tiny bit so the bill will be exposed. It will bleed for a little bit hold a DRY paper towel on it until it stops bleeding.

 

[FreeRanginChick]

Too bad it hadn't internally pipped before you opened it. Put some water with a qtip on the membrane so you can see where the bill is.
When you locate the bill, cut open the membrane a tiny bit so the bill will be exposed. It will bleed for a little bit hold a DRY paper towel on it until it stops bleeding.

Thank you so much for being here to help me. The egg I posted a picture of is breach, she had pipped on the small end of the egg. So the aircell opening is basically her abdomen. She made her own progress on the small side so I'm working to enlarge the hole slowly and keeping the membrane moist with a little Vaseline. She is lively and I am hopeful she'll make it. She is a fighter!!!!

The other two had started to tap and chirp yesterday early evening. Woohoo! I have been helping them slowly as well. Their holes are large enough to get out of now (I hope). I had put two of my chicken's eggs in there and they are also hatching! Fortunately I can be home with them and monitor. Thank you so so much again! Hopefully my next post is some pictures of them out in the world

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Sounds like you should have some ducklings running around soon! You're doing a great job.

 

[FreeRanginChick]

I'm back. So I had two of three call ducklings hatch. Unfortunately the reverse pip duckling passed before making it out of its egg
One of the remaining two is premature. She is half the size of the other and has what I believe is unabsorbed yolk sac (pic attached). I left her in the egg in the incubator for around 20 hours, hoping it would absorb-but she pulled herself out before that occurred. Once out of the egg I left her in the incubator hoping it would dry up or absorb. It has not. She wasn't drying properly in the incubator and started running around like crazy so I moved her to the brooder with the other duckling and my two Chicks.

She is insanely active-she eats, drinks and poos just fine. But that mass is not making any progress and I fear it will get infected. Ugh! I'm very attached to her but I fear infection will get her
Have you ever dealt with this? Is there anything I can do to help it detach?

I've certainly learned a lot during this hatch, and if my little premie passes I will apply that knowledge to another batch of eggs (since I will definitely need companions for the healthy duckling).

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your knowledge and for the moral support! I aim to be active on here to pay it forward

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

You can leave it to dry up and fall off on its own or you can tie it off like an umbilical cord.

 

[FreeRanginChick]

Unfortunately she passed last night. She was doing so well but on my third nightly check, she was gone. I'm completely shattered... even though I knew this outcome was likely since the odds were so heavily stacked against her I'm thinking she had more wrong than just the unabsorbed yolk, she was just so incredibly small. And her eyes almost looked like they had cataracts or something - when she was under the light there was a grey color reflected back. Nature can be so cruel and it makes me realize just how fragile life is.

I'm very grateful for my surviving duckling, she feels like a miracle at this point.

The good news is I found a lady locally who has call eggs, so I won't have to worry about shipping damage. I'm going to be far more conservative if I have to hatch assist, and also candle less during incubation.

Thank you again. I'll hopefully be back in a month with a more successful hatch.

Take care and have a wonderful holiday weekend