Duckling knocking over upright, unhatched eggs. What to do?

[TXChookstead]

I have 5 out of 8 duck eggs pipped, with one already hatched. Because the eggs were shipped and had pretty messed up air cells, I incubated upright and am hatching them upright as well.

Our first duckling has just knocked over his egg carton buddy, who had been positioned with the largest part of the air cell up previous to the topple. Should I be concerned or try to pick it back up? With all the pips, I'm thinking no, but ugh.

It probably wasn't the best idea to cut the carton into segments of 2 each because of the stability issue....

Scene of the crime

 

[TXChookstead]

Ok, removed the ducking to the brooder before it knocked more over (it was dry), and was able to give a quick squirt of distilled water into the incubator that kept humidity where it should be. All done in seconds.

Did not pick up the egg...thought getting knocked over again by another duckling might mess it up more than laying on its side. Praying for the little guy or gal inside.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

I think you did the right thing. Well done! If it’s already externally pipped it shouldn’t make a big difference if it is on its side or upright.

 

[TXChookstead]

I think you did the right thing. Well done! If it’s already externally pipped it shouldn’t make a big difference if it is on its side or upright.

Hi! Thank you.

It hadn't pipped yet, sadly, and now a second unpipped egg is down (overnight). Would it be wiser to leave them as is, or try to put them both upright? All the others have pipped but these two, and all the others are still upright.

 

[TXChookstead]

Well, I put them both upright. Hope I didn't totally confuse them, and that they make it OK.

If I ever need to incubate upright again, I will definitely ensure the eggs are more secure at lockdown.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

You’ve entered the grey area of hatch. Less about right, wrong and hard science. It becomes going with your gut and instinct. Personally I’d put them upright for now. However, when other eggs hatch they’ll be tipped over again for sure. I wouldn’t do it every time. Just until they, hopefully, pip.

 

[TXChookstead]

Ack, down again...but one has pipped, and I'm not sure if it happened when it was horizontal or vertical! Leaving that one alone this time. I'll decide on the other one when I pull the newest duckling out. Thank you for the words of wisdom. This isn't my first hatch, but it seems there are different variables every time that are challenging, and I am so grateful for the input!

 

[TXChookstead]

In then end, of the 8 I locked down, 7 hatched. Of those, 6 are male, and 1 is female. (The reason for my second hatching is the outcome of the first: 3 males and 1 female. These are not the ratios I was hoping for! Is it typical for more male ducklings to hatch from shipped eggs? I am really wondering if somehow the females are more fragile and susceptible to the abuse the postal service dishes out?) I would really like to know the answer to this question!

I say 6 males hatched, but my last little boy didn't make it to a complete hatch. His first pip barely made a divot in the eggshell, and when I checked up on it hours later, I discovered that he had not punctured the membrane. I made him an emergency air hole, which he enlarged slightly, but he did not progress past that point. I opened the shell some more to make sure he could breathe, but stopped when there was bleeding and let him sit. I checked numerous times, coated the intact parts of the membrane with coconut oil, and kept waiting because it looked like he wasn't done absorbing the blood. Sometime in the early hours of the morning he died. I was heartbroken to find him that way. When I peeled away the shell, I discovered that he still had a large portion of unabsorbed yolk ballooned out from him. Not normal, of course, for the amount of hours it took. I suppose that if I had removed the shell earlier and found that, and he had died, I would have blamed his death on intervention that was premature.

Perhaps more quickly breaking him out of the shell might have saved him, but there is no way of knowing. He looked perfect in every way except for the yolk. I can say that if this sort of scenario happens again, I will be more quick to fully assist. There are risks both ways, but it is possible that a more cautious approach did harm in this case. Again, it's impossible to know for sure.

He does have five bouncing brothers and one sister growing in the brooder now. I am not sure what I am going to do about the unbalanced ratio, as I now have 8 drakes and 2 hens from the last two hatches combined! Dear heavens, if it had only been reversed. Guess I'll have to figure that out in the next couple of months, but I am NOT keen on hatching shipped duck eggs again. Just too hard on them.