Duckling hatching at wrong end.....Has pipped, we have assisted a little to get him/her oxygen. But now it's been nearly 2 days....

[Lucy O]

Yes, it was a long couple of days, but now we have a gorgeous active little bundle of fluffy gorgeousness!! And 4 siblings too

 

[Isaac 0]

Congrats, glad to hear she's doing well.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

I just had the same thing happen on Thursday! Mine bruised the shell on the small end so I started assistance. Mine has a bad leg but is doing all right. Glad to hear your duckling is well!

 

[Lucy O]

Thanks all for your well wishes! We now have 5 gorgeous little ducklings, who are providing hours of entertainment and joy
The last viable egg is very late and was from an egg that my son accidentally dropped very early on in incubation so we taped it up. I gave some assistance after I panicked because the temp had gone way too high in our home-made incubator, and she was looking a little shrink wrapped from what I could see inside. So I helped and used coconut oil as per advice on another thread, but now I can also see that the yolk has hardly been ingested as it looks really big, and I'm not sure what to do next. Do I leave her overnight (it's 1:20am here in Victoria, Australia right now) Or do I try and massage it so that she'll properly ingest it and then the hole can heal up, thus lowering risk of infection. Any advice greatly appreciated

 

[Banty crazy]

I’m so happy your wrong end duckling is doing well!! I’ve had eggs take 72 hours to hatch after external pip but that’s not normal for ducks, but still possible. For now I’d moisturize it with mineral oil and let it sit over night. Sometimes when the heat gets too high or too low it stresses the chick and it can weaken them. I hope it survives but you’re doing a great job.

 

[Lucy O]

I used coconut oil, and this morning it had ingested the yolk. But it is really weak still, having trouble holding its head up, and when it tries to move it kind of goes in circles, I think its feet are still curled up a bit. Any advice? I've heard about people making splints etc. I'm just not sure how long I should wait before trying something like this. It's cheeping at the other ducklings, and I've given it some sugar water and regular water but it doesn't really try to take it. I really hope it makes it, the temp did fluctuate towards the end unfortunately for this little one, as I was removing the others who started hatching out earlier in the week, at one point I set it too high, and at other points it dropped too low. I hope I haven't given it brain damage Anything I could/should be doing right now??

 

[Banty crazy]

When I’ve hatched out weak chicks I use a product called, Nutri-Drench and it normally works well. It a nutrient rich formula to rapidly deliver energy and essential nutrients! If you’re going to hatch eggs, it’s something to keep on hand. I got mine from the tractor store.

 

[Lucy O]

Thankyou for that. I will definitely get some if we do hatch again. This poor little soul passed in the night. My husband was very upset as he'd been nursing him and really connected with it. I hadn't been able to get onto the computer to read your message, otherwise I would have tried to get hold of some, but I'm not sure it would have helped. We did try vegemite and water at someone else's suggestion. But it wasn't to be. All the other ducklings were huddling around him when we put them to bed. My husband thought they may have smothered him, but I like to think they were trying to protect him and keep him warm. They had a heat pad as well. He was found half under it this morning by my husband. It was a tough morning. But all the others are doing well and thriving so we have to look at the positives. Thank you for your advice. And I'll definitely get some for next time.

 

[Isaac 0]

So sorry.

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

I hope it makes it!!!