DUCK EGG HATCHING! SHOULD I ASSIST?

[KaylaLee]

this my first time hatching a duck egg. yesterday morning i found that the egg started cracking. there was a small hole in it. i could hear it pipping inside. i left it in the incubator and this morning the hole was only a little bit bigger. there has been lots of popping and movement inside the egg. i can see the beak of the duck now. it’s been trying to hatch starting yesterday morning, almost 35 hours ago. i read online that you aren’t supposed to assist the hatch, and that it should take 24-48 hours for it to fully come out of the egg. i can still see the duck trying to poke through the membrane and the shell, but it has not made any progress at all. should i help it? thank you!

i’ve attached a video and a photo of the egg.

 

[JaeG]

The unzipping part comes right at the end and happens reasonably quickly compared to the rest of the hatching process. What's your humidity? The shell membrane does look like it is drying out a bit as it has gone yellow. I'd put a little coconut (or any cooking oil) on the membrane to keep it supple. Add a wet sponge or cloth to add to the incubator to raise the humidity but don't let it touch the egg as it will actually draw moisture away from it.

Is the duckling still gasping every now and then? That means it is still absorbing the remains of the yolk and it's very important that it does that before it hatches out. I'd wait the full 48 hours before trying to help but it does depend on if you think the duckling is still absorbing the yolk.

This is an excellent thread that applies to any incubated egg. It has all the information in the first part so that's the only bit you need to read but it's full of excellent information and also explains how you can candle to see if any yolk remains if you are thinking of assisting:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed.491013/

Good luck and let me know how you get on.

 

[Michelle 0831]

this my first time hatching a duck egg. yesterday morning i found that the egg started cracking. there was a small hole in it. i could hear it pipping inside. i left it in the incubator and this morning the hole was only a little bit bigger. there has been lots of popping and movement inside the egg. i can see the beak of the duck now. it’s been trying to hatch starting yesterday morning, almost 35 hours ago. i read online that you aren’t supposed to assist the hatch, and that it should take 24-48 hours for it to fully come out of the egg. i can still see the duck trying to poke through the membrane and the shell, but it has not made any progress at all. should i help it? thank you!

i’ve attached a video and a photo of the egg.

I would help or it could die, lost a couple that way myself. But if you help you may have to fix the feet so they aren't club footed. Its easy fix but you gotta do it like almost right away. Incubators tend to dry out the membrane and they can't break through. Gets rubbery.

 

[Michelle 0831]

FYI...you can encourage the chick with talk. Mama hen usually does...your mama now. It really can make a difference. They try harder when they hear you rooting for them.

 

[KaylaLee]

I put 2 damp towels in the incubator to help the mebrane, and wet a q-tip to put on the membrane. I can still hear it pipping. I can tell the duckling is trying to come out of the egg. I think by tomorrow afternoon it will be fully hatched, but it still has not made a lot of progress.

 

[Michelle 0831]

I had one do that same thing. Just a hole. It died overnight. The second night. After that we started rescue operation . It should be making some progress, cracking....chipping along the zip line. Id keep a close eye...are the others doing ok?

 

[JaeG]

If it has stopped gulping then it will have finished absorbing the yolk. When you wet the membrane did you see any blood in the veins of the membrane still? No blood remaining in the veins is another indication that the duckling has absorbed everything it needs to and is ready to hatch.

 

[KaylaLee]

I had one do that same thing. Just a hole. It died overnight. The second night. After that we started rescue operation . It should be making some progress, cracking....chipping along the zip line. Id keep a close eye...are the others doing ok?

I only have one duck egg left. I started with two but the other one died.

 

[KaylaLee]

If it has stopped gulping then it will have finished absorbing the yolk. When you wet the membrane did you see any blood in the veins of the membrane still? No blood remaining in the veins is another indication that the duckling has absorbed everything it needs to and is ready to hatch.

I don't see that much blood, but there was a little yesterday, but I think it dried and stopped bleeding.

 

[KaylaLee]

hi everyone - thank you for the suggestions. I posted this thread yesterday around 6 pm, this morning at 7 am I checked on the egg again. it did not make much progress. I can't see the beak now. I only see some feathers and what looks one of the wings? I'm not sure what it is. it's still pipping, but I don't think the hole got any bigger.