Duck eggs late hatching?

[Newbie_Hatcher]

ANOTHER UPDATE!!!!!!

A lot more hopeful now!! Whilst me and my mother were talking and looking into the bator suddenly we could hear the occasional very faint cheep from one of the eggs! Now, we know there are no external pips, and when we candled we could see they hadn't internally pipped, but surely if its cheeping it must be breathing air? I also saw the same egg rock slightly. It's definitely given me more hope

I'll keep you posted and any more advice would be most welcome, thanks

 

[duckyfromoz]

Glad to read you have seen some more positve signs. If you can hear it- it may have just broken through the membrane too. Now is the time that you can start planning what you might need to do to assist if things start to go backwards. If you dont see that they have definately got their beaks into the airsacs within a few hours- It could suggest that the membrane is very dry and restricting their movement. It could also mean that they are in the wrong position and wont pip into the airsac either- so while you wait a few hours to see what they are doing you could do a search on here about intervening with eggs, when to help, if you should help at all, and how much help you should give.

Making a small hole in to the airsac is possible without making it impossible for them to hatch on their own - or killing the baby. What I do is get a very small drill bit and carefully twist it with my fingers. You need to be careful when it gets close to going through so you dont loose control of it and have it poke the baby inside. You can then use tweezers to remove a little shell from the area of the air sac only - until you can shine a torch inside and see if you can locate the beak and what the membrane looks like. At least then you could up the humidity or spray the eggs to allow them to be able to start moving again.

 

[tia]

Keep us posted.

 

[Newbie_Hatcher]

Okay guys this is possibly the most important update!

So we made a small hole in the air cell end of the egg, and we shone a torch in and could see the baby breathing, but could not see the beak. So my questions are: should there have been blood veins at the air cell end? (the membrane was comepletely dry and I wasn't sure whether there would have been veins there?) and more importantly what should I do now? It made the occasional very weak cheep and I'm desperate to keep it alive. Should I pick the shell on the other end and locate the beak? Thank you all so much.

 

[FunnyBunnies12]

IMHO I would help it hatch, it's in trouble now and it's been way to long. Slowly peel away the shell and membrane. From what I've read by others keep a moist washcloth or cotton ball on hand for any dry patches that get stuck. Or at least peel away by the head zip it open I guess and see what it will do on it's own, it needs to be opened up more or you will lose it. Good luck!

 

[duckyfromoz]

If you can still see fairly large veins leave it alone, apart form wetting the membrane. Do you think it could be in the wrong position at all?? You said you can see it breath...did you see movement like a beak going up or down at all???

 

[Newbie_Hatcher]

There are no veins we can see, but we could make out a leg - making it look as though it has tried to pip at the wrong end. We think it might be stuck, as it tried to move, but it looked like it couldn't shift itself around, there was no sign of a beak. It looks pretty compact in there, and it seems very weak. We've upped the humidity and dampened the membrane. When it breathes it looks as though the membrane is stuck to its body. Gosh, I feel like a nervous wreck. I'm so glad I found this site, everybody's so helpful

 

[duckyfromoz]

OK...so no veins is good. It means that the blood has mostly been absorbed into the body. Peeling shell shouldnt be done unless the blood has been mostly absorbedas it is too easy to pierce the vein and cause a bleed that could be fatal in some cases. It has most likely absorbed most of the yolk too then. You can peel more shell off- but finding where the beak is to start with may be easier. You might be able to make out a small area of discoloration on the shell where the duckling is pressing the beak against the shell. If not - you may be able to pin point the area by holding the egg to your ear and listen for where any tapping or peeping noise is coming from. Try to keep the shell around the sides intact while you take the shell off - aiming for the area where you think the beak is. Try to pick the shell off in a way that it doesnt poke into the membrane too much. It could still poke into a vein further up where you havent seen yet and cause a bleed. If you do get any blood coming out- you may have to leave it few a few hours before trying again. Even though the duckling may not have the beak in the airsac- because you have opened the egg- there is now some degree of oxygen exchange which will give the little one a bit more time.

 

[Newbie_Hatcher]

Thanks so much for the help, so we took a little more shell off of the air cell end, and managed to locate the beak near the pointy end of the egg. We picked some away - the poor little guy looks like he's very tired, but he's hanging in there. When looking through the air cell end again we could see what looked like a very thin vein, so we decided to wait- the beak still isn't free. It's trying to push itself through the membrane, but I don't feel comfortable making a hole for it just in case. It's still quietly cheeping ever now and again, and if I talk to it it seems to try and push out more. I think I'll start again in a couple of hours if it hasn't manage to break through at all itself. I've wet the membrane a bit more, fingers crossed

I'll keep you all posted.

 

[duckyfromoz]

You have done well, stopping when you arent sure is sometimes better than going ahead and causing other problems for the little one. It will be able to move a little more too now some of the shell is removed. Just keep the membrane moist- and it should be able to make some progress on its own. I really hope the little one makes it. Any signs from the other egg??