So sorryUnfortunately I am the bearer of bad news. I followed the instructions in the article and opened up the air cell just a tiny bit to see if it had pipped. Sadly, I don't think the little guy made it. It hadn't internally pipped, which was strange because I was sure I thought I heard it chirping, and it looked pipped last night when I candled. I also didn't see any motion. I gently poked the chick with the Q-tip and it had no response. I couldn't tell if it was a duck or silkie, but I think duck. It had yellow feathers, darker yellow than my white silkies, and the skin was not very black. I know I originally planned on opening it up to see what had gone wrong, but now that the time has come I'm a little squeamish about it. I've never been very good at those things, and have done it in the past, but I don't think I can stomach it today. I might tomorrow morning when it is light outside, so I can do it outdoors. From what I can see now, it seems that it made it pretty far, with almost all of the veins absorbed. We'll see tomorrow what it actually turned out to be.
However, this little journey has inspired me to maybe get a pair of female call ducks sometime in the spring or near future. I might order a half dozen call duck eggs from Ruby sometime in the future, and if I do, I will notify you all on this thread. I'd like to do a bit more research so I'm not as unprepared, and finish building my run first, so there will be more room.
Thank you to everyone who pitched in and helped along the way. It was a lot of fun talking to everyone on here, and I learned a lot more about ducks as well.
silkies and call ducks are very difficult. quality silkies have a vaulted skull which can cause them to get stuck, not pip, etc call have short little bills and necks which makes it difficult to turn around in the eggs and zip
