Duck Hatching?!

[IsbelAcresTN]

Yes, let them go... It is hard to wait, but the more you help them, the worse it will be for them in the long run. The little guys need to do the work of hatching in order to gain strength. I allow 24 hours to lapse from the pip until I help. If I see that the shell is broken and the membrane is not, I will take some tweezers (clean), and pull back a bit of the membrane gently, just enough to allow the chick to breathe. As srpaint said, the zipping will go fast so dont worry about that part.

It sounds terrible but natural selection seems to play a role here... sometimes chicks that cannot hatch by themselves are weak or have a disability (leg splay, curled toes, wry neck) and do not fair well after being helped. I try to let nature take its course as much as possible.

Good luck!!!

 

[srpaint]

I know that feeling!!! lol

 

[beckstar]

Still no progress.... they are both cheeping and tapping and pushing but haven't broken through yet. I guess I'll wait until the morning...

 

[Tracy the chick]

Ok Thank you!! I will wait a little longer. I am so not going to sleep tonight.....

Hi whats your temprature? Ducks can be incubated the same temp as chicks 99.5. But make sure when they start pipping to drop your temp to 97.5. Your vent half way open and when they hatch open your vent fully. The baby can pip through the internal air sack and then up to 2 days later then pip through the shell.. Keep us posted hun

 

[adrian]

Just wanted to say I have waited as long as three or so days for ducks and geese to hatch. They are slow. Allow one day for internal pipping and one day after the first external pip before you expect any zipping. Once they internally pip they need to breathe and then the gasses build up in the egg due to their breathing and they begin to spasm, which is what causes external pipping. Then they take quite a break, sometimes pipping a few more times in around the same spot, before they'll actually try to get out. I'm sure you know this, but it takes sometimes a lot longer for ducks and geese from my experience. For me, when I had babies drown in their eggs, it was as they internally pipped and not after an external pip. I would suspect extreme temperature spikes or something that was just out of your control, so long as their air cells are nice and big and they are internally pipping properly.

Good luck.

 

[beckstar]

Okay so I have one that has completely externally pipped and I can see it's little beak moving. No zipping yet. The other one is still the same - no visible hole in the membrane but is still pushing.

My temp is now 97.4F since last night, it was 99F prior. Humidity is jacked up to 80%-84%.

I knew these guys take longer than chickens in all respects but I didn't realize it would take so long between internal pip and all the rest!

Thanks for all the help and support! I need it!

 

[beckstar]

Ok the one is zipping! The other is still the same

I think I will have at least one baby real soon!! Hopefully the other follows quickly!!

 

[adrian]

If one is starting to zip now, that's good news. It means the humidity is probably high enough to prevent them from getting stuck, so they will more than likely hatch when they are ready. They will know when they are ready... If conditions are right it is always best to let them decide when to come out, because that mostly ensures that their yolk sacs will be absorbed. Good luck!

 

[beckstar]

Wooo!! One baby hatched completely while I was at work and the other is zipping! YAY!!

Sadly my other two eggs matured but failed to pip at all. One of them was oriented the wrong way in it's shell.

Yay for duck babies!! Pictures will follow.

 

[beckstar]

"Thunder" & "Lightning"