Egg Emergency! *update* all died :(

[FenDruadin]

Yes, I agree with katharinad! Now that you know at least one is living, it's best to try to let them get out on their own. Good luck!

 

[duckluck]

I don't want to sound bossy, but IMO, you need to get some air holes poked into the air cells at the tops of those eggs ASAP. If your avatar picture is one of your ducks, you have some very nice Calls here and the nicer they are, the more help they tend to need in hatching. The round bills make it almost impossible for most of them to hatch. They will simply give up and die in the shell. And, the nicer they are, the less time they tend to take in incubation...I haven't had a single duckling this year be in the shell for longer than day 28; they are usually out by day 25 or day 26 at the latest. I know a lot of people believe in natural hatching but we have to bear in mind that this breed was developed and bred for by people and so some of those "natural" rules aren't going to apply if we want to have live ducklings.

IMO, your drake was clued in to what was going on and was trying to give the baby an air hole. It's possible he could have heard the duckling making distressed noises in there and was stimulated by that to try to do something.

If you get the holes poked and want further advice on hatching them further, PM me and I'll go now and try to make sure I have space in my PM box. I *don't* think you've done anything to make the process worse.

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

Quote:
Sounds like an experienced voice and good advice to me.

 

[katharinad]

Call ducks are notorious hard to hatch. So you may have to talk to someone who is really experienced in call ducks. My specialty is Saxony ducks and they tend be difficult when it comes to membrane shrink wrapping at hatching time. I had to help most of mine, even with the humidity being very high. I was late on one of mine and it died in the shell after pipping. I now mark mine when they internally and externally pip. It's easier with a small amount of eggs and gets harder with more eggs. Some people prefer not to help that way only the strongest birds will make it. There is a valid point to this, but I have to say even with helping I have very strong birds. It is not just the helping part, but also the care and nutrition provided while they are in the brooder and growing up.

 

[duckluck]

Quote:
Sounds like an experienced voice and good advice to me.

Very! I may be fairly new to the duck hobby but I was off all winter last year and made good use of my time at home here by reading everything I could about ducks in general and Calls in particular, and I have spent much time since then calling around the country and attending shows and talking to some of the top hands with this breed, and it has paid off good dividends in my hatches; I have a very high hatch rate for Calls and have gotten pretty good at being able to "read" my eggs. I also have the benefit of having a friend close by who has midwifed all manner of eggs, from guineas to emus, and she got me started as well as loaning me her machine that she has used for the past 15 years. Had a few tricks up my sleeve from 20 years ago when I spent time as a wildlife rehabillitator as well...a few things I have learned about wild waterfowl have helped with these Calls. One thing I have learned is, there is no such thing as too much knowledge when it comes to the animals; you never know when you might have to pull some obscure bit of knowledge or trick out of your sleeve. The best piece of advice I have gotten about doing this came from someone who has spent the better part of 6 decades hatching but has never had a Call duck, mostly geese. You just never know.

 

[FenDruadin]

Oh dear--I am so sorry--I missed the breed of duck you were dealing with, which you stated in your very first post, but I didn't read carefully enough. Please listen to the voices of folks experienced with calls. Mine are all runners..... GOOD LUCK!!

 

[obsidianembrace]

Okay we decided that we're going to poke holes.

duckluck, how do you go about poking holes? We have this boiled egg poker thing





Do you think that would work? And then, where do we poke them? In the air bubble right? our eggs are pretty discolored and the air bubble is really outlined.

Updated pics. plus, where to poke?

Egg 1-this one was tapping at me



Egg 2



Egg 3



Egg 4-this one looked weird but got a second chance



Egg 5



See how dark they are? Opinions?

 

[FenDruadin]

Okay, NOT an expert on calls, but I can answer this with good confidence. You will definitely poke the hole into the air cell--otherwise you risk hurting the baby. Choose a location close to the boundary with the bottom portion, but far enough up that you can confidently poke it without injuring the duck.

You can use any clean, sanitized tool. Run it under super hot water or alcohol before doing it. You can use a pair of tweezers, scissors, even a pen with the ink removed. Your egg poker thing looks fine, but make sure it's sanitized! Then you'll just make a quick, sharp jab, controlling the depth carefully. You can carefully expand the hole to get a look inside and see if it needs more help.

Someone else will have to take you from there. Good luck!

 

[Sweetfolly]

Quote:
I use a seam-ripper - you know, out of a sewing kit. The shape of it allows me to carefully and slowly bore a small hole, rather than jabbing quickly. Just a thought. I've had to help a LOT of chicks and ducklings out this year. I have a Runner that never externally pipped herself. I listened to all her siblings peeping in the shell and then go quiet, and I got to her just in time - I bored a hole into the air-cell (she was internally pipped), I zipped around the shell for her, and because of the time all of that took, the membrane went all nasty and gummy, so I had to carefully peel the membrane away too. She's happy and healthy today.

 

[duckluck]

I personally use the head of an eyeglass screwdriver, but whatever works for use. Be sure to use sanitization, like Iamcuriositycat said.

If you get the hole bored, use whatever you are using for candling and see if you see the bill. If it is pipped, it should be breathing or maybe yawning, peeping or hopefully something when it takes the first few breaths of fresh air. If not pipped, at this point you will have to strip away as much shell as you can *carefully* with your fingernails to be sure not to tear the membrane...the membrane can be stretched but you want to avoid tearing it if possible. You can even very gently pull and break some shell off away from the membrane if you are super careful.

If not pipped, try to locate the point of the bill and *very gently* use a pointy end of your tool (this is why I like the flathead end of the screwdriver) to tear just enough hole for the beak to be able to breathe. You should definitely know by now if the baby is still alive...if you touch it gently and it does nothing but sit there stuffly, it is dead. It should move, peep, yawn or click its beak.

Let me look at the rest of the thread now and my PMs and see if there is anything else.