Day 23 duck egg air cell

[CluckNDoodle]

Well, we go into lockdown this afternoon. Little baby is still moving this morning! He/she is such a trooper!! I can’t believe how little the air cell grew, even running at 16% humidity the last several days. There is still so much fluid left in that weird fluid sack. I’m so afraid that when it internally pips all that fluid will flood the air sack and it won’t be able to breathe. So I’m thinking once I turn up the humidity for lockdown I can make a safety hole so the fluid can leak out? I can’t imagine that membrane can get dried out with all that fluid in the egg before it internally pips? And the increased humidity in the incubator should help prevent this? I don’t know. Any suggestions?

I'm rooting for the little one!

Don't put any holes through the shell where you see the fluid. There could be blood vessels in the membrane down there and you don't want to puncture them. The air cell is the only area you should put a safety hole.

 

[CB81]

I'm rooting for the little one!

Don't put any holes through the shell where you see the fluid. There could be blood vessels in the membrane down there and you don't want to puncture them. The air cell is the only area you should put a safety hole.

Thank you!! Yes I will make the safety hole in the air cell only. But I’m going to do it before the internal pip, once humidity is up. I’m thinking that once it does the internal pip, if there is a rush of fluid into the air cell, I’m hoping it will drain. It may not work, but it’s the only think I can think of.

 

[CindyinSD]

It can still dry out. I would not make that safety hole until I saw an internal pip. Ducks differ in their incubation periods from one variety to the next. The time you see the most change in the air cell's size will be just before hatch... but do you really know when that can be expected? The duck will "draw down" into a compact dark mass just prior to it's starting work on that internal pip. When this happens, the air cell expands--a lot.

Use a nice sharp wood screw--a new one. Twist it in with your fingers. You only need to barely breach the shell. If the membrane is still intact or you fear that it might be, poke a toothpick, pin... (or similar) through it a tiny bit to break it or confirm that it's broken. You are done.

 

[CB81]

Tomorrow is day 28, still no internal pip, but there is still movement. Is it ever acceptable to help with an internal pip?

 

[CindyinSD]

If you decide you want to assist, here's an article that will help guide you: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

 

[TomCahalan]

It looks really small. Are you sure that your duckling is almost ready to hatch? Maybe it is just really slow to develop. I ran my forced-air incubator at 99.6, and if you have a still-air incubator you would need to run it several degrees hotter. Low temperatures can delay development.

Running it at very low humidity doesn't seem to be helping with the air cell, but it might be causing the membrane to dry out. If you think that hatching will occur soon, then you will want to have high humidity, something like 70-80%

 

[CB81]

It looks really small. Are you sure that your duckling is almost ready to hatch? Maybe it is just really slow to develop. I ran my forced-air incubator at 99.6, and if you have a still-air incubator you would need to run it several degrees hotter. Low temperatures can delay development.

Running it at very low humidity doesn't seem to be helping with the air cell, but it might be causing the membrane to dry out. If you think that hatching will occur soon, then you will want to have high humidity, something like 70-80%

Oh ok! Thank you! I didn’t have a fan initially but installed one later. Humidity right now is 72%, day 27. Perhaps it is developing slowly. The air cell has moved A LOT the last couple of days. I can’t tell what is going on with the weird fluid sack, baby is occupying the lower part of the egg and I don’t want to turn it around to view the fluid sack better because I don’t want to jostle it out of position. Guess I will just be patient and wait!

 

[Isaac 0]

Best of luck with your hatch! You've been given wonderful advice

 

[CB81]

Today is day 29 and it stopped moving. It never made the internal pip. I opened up the air cell real quick to make a hole in the membrane but I was too late. It was already gone it is perfectly formed, but looks like it was mal positioned, because the beak was on top of the wing. I’m so mad at myself for not going in to make a hole in the membrane sooner. But I never heard it tapping so I thought it wasn’t ready. I’m sure it would have made it if it had air and more time . It wasn’t sticky, that weird fluid sack went away, it was just perfect.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Today is day 29 and it stopped moving. It never made the internal pip. I opened up the air cell real quick to make a hole in the membrane but I was too late. It was already gone it is perfectly formed, but looks like it was mal positioned, because the beak was on top of the wing. I’m so mad at myself for not going in to make a hole in the membrane sooner. But I never heard it tapping so I thought it wasn’t ready. I’m sure it would have made it if it had air and more time . It wasn’t sticky, that weird fluid sack went away, it was just perfect.

I'm so sorry it didn't make it!