Duck egg fluid near air sac

[That crazy duck lady]

I have a duck egg I took from a broody hen because I thought it was rotten.

When I candled it again, I saw movement, but there is liquid around the air sac. I placed it in my incubator to see if it would set and this morning I checked on it again.

There is A LOT of movement, the duckling is moving around quite a bit. But there is still liquid.

These eggs belong to my first duck ever…I won’t be devastated if the little one won’t make it but I am invested now. Is there a chance it will survive? Should I do anything to help it along?

It’s moving more that the other eggs the broody hen has and I fear it’s trying to pip but maybe has too much room due to the liquid and may be flipping around in there. I’ve hatched call duck eggs and know a decent amount about assisting in a hatch and I am not sure if I should intervene.

Anyone with experience or advice on a similar situation, your help will be greatly appreciated!

 

[sourland]

Depending on how long the egg has been incubated, a certain amount of fluid around the air sac is completely normal.

 

[That crazy duck lady]

Depending on how long the egg has been incubated, a certain amount of fluid around the air sac is completely normal.

The little one pipped on the tip of the egg overnight, away from the air sac and prematurely. I don't think it was intentional. Yellow fluid came out and some blood but not a lot. Somehow still alive and barely large enough to fill the shell. My guess is it cracked the shell while doing the acrobatics I saw? When I found it like that this morning, it has its tiny little beak tucked back in, is breathing and still moving but definitely not ready to be hatching, at least not for another 24-48 hours. I cleaned up around the broken membrane and now I guess I wait!