Duck egg day 27

[JRozak10]

Hello!
This is my first time hatching ducks, or anything for that matter. I had one duckling hatch today (day 27). The other one internally pipped early yesterday but had yet to externally pip today. It isn’t moving as much as it had been so I decided to provide an air hole - this is where I messed up. I watched a video about how to do this and my google search took me to a part in the video that was further along than I was and I heard her say to make a dime size hole. That’s what I have done. I can’t see the beak (as far as I can tell) and I am panicking on what to do. I don’t want to over handle it, but I also want to prevent it from dying if possible. I had 5 eggs to start and only 2 will end up
Being successful. Please help me! Thank you so much!!

 

[cheezenkwackers]

It’s ok. You haven’t killed him. You gave him oxygen. You might want to cover the hole with a small piece of damp paper towel. Then, sit on your hands and be as patient as possible. Btw, I screwed up way worse on my first hatch and my duckling still hatched and I had him for many years.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

@New duck mommy 2021 can you advise, please.

 

[Cheems]

Hello!
This is my first time hatching ducks, or anything for that matter. I had one duckling hatch today (day 27). The other one internally pipped early yesterday but had yet to externally pip today. It isn’t moving as much as it had been so I decided to provide an air hole - this is where I messed up. I watched a video about how to do this and my google search took me to a part in the video that was further along than I was and I heard her say to make a dime size hole. That’s what I have done. I can’t see the beak (as far as I can tell) and I am panicking on what to do. I don’t want to over handle it, but I also want to prevent it from dying if possible. I had 5 eggs to start and only 2 will end up
Being successful. Please help me! Thank you so much!!

So in my experience this isn’t really a big problem. Basically the reason you might not want to make the hole very big is because the egg will loose some moisture a bit faster than it should, causing the membrane to become a little tougher to break out due to loosing more moisture than usual. especially if your incubator is at a low humidity.

However you luckily can adjust how much moisture is in the incubator by adding water, a slightly damp towel, OR… you can do what I do when I do an assisted hatch for my call ducks who are difficult to hatch and sometimes need help. Sometimes when I’m assisting a hatch the membrane in the air cell gets a little dry so I use a q-tip and gently apply some petroleum jelly to the membrane, not much, but it helps moisten it. However you need to be very careful and not clog the nostril of the duckling when it has internally pipped

Some people use water or coconut oil if I remember correctly. but water doesn’t keep it moist as long and I’ve just personally never used coconut oil


BEFORE YOU DO THIS:
Don’t do this unless absolutely necessary and the membrane is drying out, you can tell by using a gentle flashlight to look through the hole and see if it’s somewhat clear or if it’s getting rough and leathery

 

[JRozak10]

It’s ok. You haven’t killed him. You gave him oxygen. You might want to cover the hole with a small piece of damp paper towel. Then, sit on your hands and be as patient as possible. Btw, I screwed up way worse on my first hatch and my duckling still hatched and I had him for many years.

That is probably the nicest reply I could have received. Thank you so much. I have been applying Vaseline to the hole to keep it moist (I read that on another post here)

 

[Cheems]

That is probably the nicest reply I could have received. Thank you so much. I have been applying Vaseline to the hole to keep it moist (I read that on another post here)

Oh good, the duckling should be fine then. Just keep an eye on it!

 

[JRozak10]

So in my experience this isn’t really a big problem. Basically the reason you might not want to make the hole very big is because the egg will loose some moisture a bit faster than it should, causing the membrane to become a little tougher to break out due to loosing more moisture than usual. especially if your incubator is at a low humidity. However you luckily can adjust how much moisture is in the incubator by adding water, a slightly damp towel, OR… you can do what I do when I do an assisted hatch for my call ducks who are difficult to hatch and sometimes need help. Sometimes when I’m assisting a hatch the membrane in the air cell gets a little dry so I use a q-tip and gently apply some petroleum jelly to the membrane, not much, but it helps moisten it. However you need to be very careful and not clog the nostril of the duckling when it has internally pipped Some people use water or coconut oil if I remember correctly. but water doesn’t keep it moist as long and I’ve just personally never used coconut oil BEFORE YOU DO THIS: Don’t do this unless absolutely necessary and the membrane is drying out, you can tell by using a gentle flashlight to look through the hole and see if it’s somewhat clear or if it’s getting rough and leathery

So in my experience this isn’t really a big problem. Basically the reason you might not want to make the hole very big is because the egg will loose some moisture a bit faster than it should, causing the membrane to become a little tougher to break out due to loosing more moisture than usual. especially if your incubator is at a low humidity. However you luckily can adjust how much moisture is in the incubator by adding water, a slightly damp towel, OR… you can do what I do when I do an assisted hatch for my call ducks who are difficult to hatch and sometimes need help. Sometimes when I’m assisting a hatch the membrane in the air cell gets a little dry so I use a q-tip and gently apply some petroleum jelly to the membrane, not much, but it helps moisten it. However you need to be very careful and not clog the nostril of the duckling when it has internally pipped Some people use water or coconut oil if I remember correctly. but water doesn’t keep it moist as long and I’ve just personally never used coconut oil BEFORE YOU DO THIS: Don’t do this unless absolutely necessary and the membrane is drying out, you can tell by using a gentle flashlight to look through the hole and see if it’s somewhat clear or if it’s getting rough and leathery

So in my experience this isn’t really a big problem. Basically the reason you might not want to make the hole very big is because the egg will loose some moisture a bit faster than it should, causing the membrane to become a little tougher to break out due to loosing more moisture than usual. especially if your incubator is at a low humidity.

However you luckily can adjust how much moisture is in the incubator by adding water, a slightly damp towel, OR… you can do what I do when I do an assisted hatch for my call ducks who are difficult to hatch and sometimes need help. Sometimes when I’m assisting a hatch the membrane in the air cell gets a little dry so I use a q-tip and gently apply some petroleum jelly to the membrane, not much, but it helps moisten it. However you need to be very careful and not clog the nostril of the duckling when it has internally pipped

Some people use water or coconut oil if I remember correctly. but water doesn’t keep it moist as long and I’ve just personally never used coconut oil


BEFORE YOU DO THIS:
Don’t do this unless absolutely necessary and the membrane is drying out, you can tell by using a gentle flashlight to look through the hole and see if it’s somewhat clear or if it’s getting rough and leathery

Thank you so much. I have been applying Vaseline but I was scared to put the q tip inside the hole so I definitely wasn’t doing anything .
It has since externally pipped a bit higher than where I made the hole. I’m assuming the hole I made won’t be an issue?

Thank you again!

 

[cheezenkwackers]

That is probably the nicest reply I could have received. Thank you so much. I have been applying Vaseline to the hole to keep it moist (I read that on another post here)

Thank you so much. I have been applying Vaseline but I was scared to put the q tip inside the hole so I definitely wasn’t doing anything .
It has since externally pipped a bit higher than where I made the hole. I’m assuming the hole I made won’t be an issue?

Thank you again!

That is great! Yes, the hole should not be an issue. I personally would not use the Vaseline. They breath through that moist membrane. I am not sure if they can if it is greasy. Regardless, the little bit you have done should not matter. As suggested, keep the humidity up in the incubator. Hopefully, he will hatch in the next 24-48 hours. Most of the time they rest after pipping and finish absorbing the yolk sack for the next day. Then, they zip. Only thing I would watch for is if tomorrow or Thursday he seems to be only making the pip hole larger and not zipping, it could indicate being stuck. You know he has oxygen so wait as long as possible before intervening. You do not want to help a duckling hatch who hasn’t finished absorbing his yolk. Prayers!

 

[Cheems]

That is great! Yes, the hole should not be an issue. I personally would not use the Vaseline. They breathe through that moist membrane. I am not sure if they can if it is greasy. Regardless, the little bit you have done should not matter. As suggested, keep the humidity up in the incubator. Hopefully, he will hatch in the next 24-48 hours. Most of the time they rest after pipping and finish absorbing the yolk sack for the next day. Then, they zip. Only thing I would watch for is if tomorrow or Thursday he seems to be only making the pip hole larger and not zipping, it could indicate being stuck. You know he has oxygen so wait as long as possible before intervening. You do not want to help a duckling hatch who hasn’t finished absorbing his yolk. Prayers!

Just wondering but what do you mean they breath through the membrane? From what I’ve seen and heard they break a hole in the membrane so they can breath the air cell and then once they externally pip, breath through the hole. I’ve seen many people use Vaseline and it is a pretty common practice I’ve never had any issues with personally

If that membrane isn’t kept moist it can cause shrink wrapping

 

[Cheems]

Thank you so much. I have been applying Vaseline but I was scared to put the q tip inside the hole so I definitely wasn’t doing anything .
It has since externally pipped a bit higher than where I made the hole. I’m assuming the hole I made won’t be an issue?

Thank you again!

And you’re welcome! Hopefully the little duck makes it but it seems fine so far! The hole you made won’t be an issue and now the duckling will most likely just resume normal hatching