- Jun 10, 2013
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Hello,
I am new to this forum, although I have referred to this site many times for information. My daughter joined the 4H last year and we have expanded our family tremendously since. We have had our first duck hatchlings yesterday and more that should finish today.
I will give some history...
Originally, our two bantam chickens were sitting on the duck eggs, but somehow a few were smashed and two of the four we brought in were cracked. We were not equipped to hatch ducklings and we grabbed a sand bucket and some straw then placed the four eggs under the heat lamp. We had them this way for approx. two-three weeks. We added water to the bottom of the bucket and misted the eggs, rotated them, and they continued to grow nicely. That was until two days ago, when we noticed that two internally pipped and the other two, which were the cracked two, were not moving that much. We moved the eggs into a clean tub and laid a clean towel down across the bottom. We also placed a humidifier next to the tub, with the lid of the tub directing the steam above the tub.
I decided to open the shell where the beak was for the first egg that internally pipped. When I did this I noticed it was surrounded by the interior lining, with the veins, of the shell which was white. I immediately dampened the lining and continued to help that duckling. That duckling finished hatching yesterday afternoon.
While I was working with duckling 1, I decided to open duck 2 and again this duck was worse off. I helped this one and decided to look at the other two with a flashlight. At this time, both the cracked eggs internally pipped. My daughter was worried that those two were worse, so we decided to open both of them. They were much worse, I think because of them being cracked.
Okay, now I am getting to the area I need some guidance. The two I opened last (cracked eggs), I left all day yesterday in their shell, but with the air pocket of shell gone. I used a q-tip to keep the yolks moist. One of them, what seems to be the weaker of the two, popped its head out late evening, which exposed its yolk more. I dampened it before bed around 11:00pm and again around 4:00 am and again around 5:30am and since then I have been keeping their yolks wet.
My question, can I keep the yolk too wet? Other question, should I keep their bodies a little wet? Their hair keeps drying up stiff-like because of them not being clean and the heat lamp combo.
Thank you in advance!
I am new to this forum, although I have referred to this site many times for information. My daughter joined the 4H last year and we have expanded our family tremendously since. We have had our first duck hatchlings yesterday and more that should finish today.
I will give some history...
Originally, our two bantam chickens were sitting on the duck eggs, but somehow a few were smashed and two of the four we brought in were cracked. We were not equipped to hatch ducklings and we grabbed a sand bucket and some straw then placed the four eggs under the heat lamp. We had them this way for approx. two-three weeks. We added water to the bottom of the bucket and misted the eggs, rotated them, and they continued to grow nicely. That was until two days ago, when we noticed that two internally pipped and the other two, which were the cracked two, were not moving that much. We moved the eggs into a clean tub and laid a clean towel down across the bottom. We also placed a humidifier next to the tub, with the lid of the tub directing the steam above the tub.
I decided to open the shell where the beak was for the first egg that internally pipped. When I did this I noticed it was surrounded by the interior lining, with the veins, of the shell which was white. I immediately dampened the lining and continued to help that duckling. That duckling finished hatching yesterday afternoon.
While I was working with duckling 1, I decided to open duck 2 and again this duck was worse off. I helped this one and decided to look at the other two with a flashlight. At this time, both the cracked eggs internally pipped. My daughter was worried that those two were worse, so we decided to open both of them. They were much worse, I think because of them being cracked.
Okay, now I am getting to the area I need some guidance. The two I opened last (cracked eggs), I left all day yesterday in their shell, but with the air pocket of shell gone. I used a q-tip to keep the yolks moist. One of them, what seems to be the weaker of the two, popped its head out late evening, which exposed its yolk more. I dampened it before bed around 11:00pm and again around 4:00 am and again around 5:30am and since then I have been keeping their yolks wet.
My question, can I keep the yolk too wet? Other question, should I keep their bodies a little wet? Their hair keeps drying up stiff-like because of them not being clean and the heat lamp combo.
Thank you in advance!
