Duck egg pipped internally last night, ( about 16 hours ago ) now rapid breathing and no external pip. Is it distressed , should i help ?

[New duck mommy 2021]

Can you get a photo? Sometimes it looks like they're starting to zip but actually aren't really there yet. If it is in fact zipping, you'd be able to go ahead and help. But a picture would be good to see first.

If the membrane is dry, you can moisten it, but it's probably fine if the humidity is up.
If the shell is broken, the membrane should be too.
@New duck mommy 2021

They can take 24-48 hours to zip out fully
A picture would really help

 

[Nicky1]

Discolouring round pip and membrane also discoloured now , I did put some oil on it earlier , can still hear duckling inside , membrane definitely intact. Had to open to lid to take pictures , humidity is 71.

 

[Nicky1]

Second egg pipped but shell remains on the pip , a bit fell off the other one. Don't want to keep opening the incubator but the design is awful , dark lid and no viewing pane

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Discolouring round pip and membrane also discoloured now , I did put some oil on it earlier , can still hear duckling inside , membrane definitely intact. Had to open to lid to take pictures , humidity is 71.

Bsby looks pretty low. I would take a tac or something like it and poke through that membrane
Don’t remove any shell
We don’t want a huge hole just making sure the air gets in
You can also candle the side of the egg above the air cell
I’m able to see veins once baby moves into the air cell
That way I know if I should start ti help or leave then be
I ti have some hatching now that are 36 hours since external pip
Some just take longer to hatch it all

 

[Nicky1]

Made a hole in membrane , felt quite crisp , duckling peeping like mad , tried to candle but it's obviously alive, should I keep moist or leave alone now

 

[Davisgamebirds]

Discolouring round pip and membrane also discoloured now , I did put some oil on it earlier , can still hear duckling inside , membrane definitely intact. Had to open to lid to take pictures , humidity is 71.

What kind of oil did you put on it? Can I ask why?

Also how many times have you opened your incubator since putting it into lockdown? You mention a crunchy sound and I wonder if your internal membrane has shrink wrapped and dried up on the chick.

It's really hard to stay patient during lockdown but changing your humidity levels and or spiking your temp up or down, even briefly can give you problems during hatch. All that said, I've rescued a couple shrink wrapped birds by now, it's just really hard to know when to step in. I can't remember if you have other eggs running too but if one of them has started popping, and you go to help this one, you risk causing problems for that one too.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Made a hole in membrane , felt quite crisp , duckling peeping like mad , tried to candle but it's obviously alive, should I keep moist or leave alone now

I would leave it be for now
So you have a calibrated hygrometer in there it going by the bator one ?
Often they are wrong
You could add a little more water to help keep it from drying out

 

[Nicky1]

I put coconut oil on to stop it drying out , I don't think it's shrink wrapped, I do have one other egg in there that has pipped , tbh the incubator has been at 70 humidity pretty consistently and yes I have a hygrometer in there , will increase it a little now. Its a terrible design so you have to open it to put water in. So just leave now ?

 

[Davisgamebirds]

I put coconut oil on to stop it drying out , I don't think it's shrink wrapped, I do have one other egg in there that has pipped , tbh the incubator has been at 70 humidity pretty consistently and yes I have a hygrometer in there , will increase it a little now. Its a terrible design so you have to open it to put water in. So just leave now ?

I'm still learning, and it'd be tough call, but I personally wouldn't break lockdown again until I'm either pulling out birds or going into rescue mode.
Does your incubator have vents for airflow? It should, and those can be used to help with humidity control. A quick and dirty method that worked for me when I still used a foam incubator was so have a tall glass of water next to it, with a shoestring submerged in the water and going in through an air vent hole of the incubator. It acted like a wick, and could raise or lower depending on how much I fed in.

 

[Nicky1]

Thanks , raised humidity and will leave for 24 hours I think , egg wobbling so still alive