Duck can’t walk

[rayndance]

I made another post before this one. I can hear the baby tapping on the shell. I have it in the bathroom with the shower on in a cardboard box with a space heater and a meat thermometer. This is all I have.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I suppose no broody bird of any species available?
Let me see if I can help.
Do you have a human fever thermometer? They are possibly more accurate than the meat thermometer which could be off by at least two degrees and likely more. Too cool is better than too hot.
Likely the most important points now are temperature and humidity.
A meat thermometer is unlikely to be accurate enough if you can't verify it. I would take it down to about 98.5-99 F. Or about 37C.
This is because the embryo is generating some heat of it's own now and cool is better than too hot in case the meat thermometer is off.
Keep it as humid as possible.
Had you candled to judge the air pocket size? Put the egg on a solid flat surface and let it roll. The light side will end up on top. This will insure the drawn down air pocket will be on the high side. Mark that with a pencil or marker so if you have to move the egg you can make sure that side is up.

 

[rayndance]

I suppose no broody bird of any species available?
Let me see if I can help.
Do you have a human fever thermometer? They are possibly more accurate than the meat thermometer which could be off by at least two degrees and likely more. Too cool is better than too hot.
Likely the most important points now are temperature and humidity.
A meat thermometer is unlikely to be accurate enough if you can't verify it. I would take it down to about 98.5-99 F. Or about 37C.
This is because the embryo is generating some heat of it's own now and cool is better than too hot in case the meat thermometer is off.
Keep it as humid as possible.
Had you candled to judge the air pocket size? Put the egg on a solid flat surface and let it roll. The light side will end up on top. This will insure the drawn down air pocket will be on the high side. Mark that with a pencil or marker so if you have to move the egg you can make sure that side is up.

I can see them moving in there. I was using a human thermometer and a website recommended a meat thermometer.

 

[rayndance]

And the only broody bird I had (the mother) unfortunately killed the first egg that started to hatch for unknown reasons. It was pipping early this morning and I debated on bringing it inside but decided to leave it with her. I checked it 5 hours later and it was 1/4 of the way hatched and dead. She pushed it out of the nest.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I see.
Oh yeah, you can see in there really well. I always had eggs virtually too dark to see much.
I suggested the fever thermometer to verify the accuracy of the meat one.
Where are you located?
Good Luck.

 

[rayndance]

I see.
Oh yeah, you can see in there really well. I always had eggs virtually too dark to see much.
I suggested the fever thermometer to verify the accuracy of the meat one.
Where are you located?
Good Luck.

In Texas, DFW. Seems like the thermometers are with a degree of each other. Is it bad that they seem to be struggling to breathe in there? It seems like they're breathing fast I can see them taking breaths. The other chick tried to hatch this morning and these guys haven't pipped yet but I could hear one tapping on the shell earlier but stopped. Should I poke a tiny hole in the shell? I know that sounds bad but I've never hatched eggs and it's hard to watch the rest possibly not make it.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Don't worry about that. Trust nature. Know that birds eggs have been hatching without intervention for millions of years.
The less you handle them and try to manage the process, the better off they are.
If you don't know exactly what day incubation commenced, you can't know how far along they are. I was curious about location trying to determine why the other embryo failed.
Also understand that just because an egg is laid and embryo development commences, it doesn't mean a live bird will be the end result. Just as over 20% of human pregnancies don't survive (miscarriage). Just because one tried to hatch and failed doesn't mean the broody killed it.
There are just too many things that can go wrong. I can think of about 20 reasons an embryo that begins to develop may not survive.
Now, if you really have the egg in a 99F humid environment, leave it be, sit on your hands and read a book, take a long walk or a long nap. You can't rush things and interference doesn't help.