Duck egg shrink wrapped?

[Fianna]

Rescued a duck egg found in a river. Had him under our broody hen but her chicks hatched so moved him to makeshift incubator.

He pipped nearly 24 hours ago, i know it can take a long time so don’t want to intervene if he’s not ready. We’ve had trouble keeping the humidity consistent and had to make a breathing hole because he couldn’t get through the membrane when he pipped.

Is he shrink wrapped? If he is will we need to assist in hatching? we have hatched bantams chicks before but this is our first duck!

 

[ronott1]

Yes, the chick is or will be shrink wrapped with that huge hole in the egg. If you did that, do not do that again. The bigger the hole in the egg the worse things will be.

Use some oil to moisturize the membrane. You may need to assist but the duckling might become unstuck with the oil