Egg incubating fiasco - advice please! *New Pictures!*

[AdamD77]

Hehe you were! Thanks again for all your advice!

After a while he made a few pushes and managed to get his whole body out of the egg. After scuttling round on top of the other eggs he's now been settled in the corner of the "incubator" for a couple of hours just snoozing, peeping and preening slightly. How long before we should introduce food and water? A day or so?

I assume it's okay to remove the egg shell now? I wanted to carefully move one of the eggs over slightly so we can have a clear view of all the eggs and to make some more room in their "nest".

Ah okay, so far I can only see the pip on #13, but like I said if I move one of the others over I'll be able to see if anything else is happening with the other two

Thank you, I will!

 

[FenDruadin]

No problem.

When the little one is up and about, moving around like a normal duckling, you can reach in very quickly and pull him & the shell bits out all at once, and quickly rearrange anything you need to rearrange. Be sure the brooder is already warm. It doesn't have to be perfect, because the little one will move around to get comfortable and will let you know if it is not comfortable.

Go ahead and put food and water in the brooder now. The little one can go up to 48 hours without food and water, but will start eating six or eight hours after hatch if it has access, and will benefit from it. Make sure the food and water are not directly under the heat, ESPECIALLY if you're using metal feeders, but if not, it's still good for the little ones to get exercise going back and forth between food, water, and sleeping area.

Enjoy.

 

[AdamD77]

Forgot to mention, when #14 was scrabbling on top of the other eggs, he knocked one of the loose pieces of shell off of #13's pip and seemed to make a small hole in the membrane probably with his teeny tiny claw. Should I worry about that?

Okay, I'll wait a while then

Here's the annoying bit, I forgot to write this the other day but the desk lamp I had been using the whole time broke the other day! Luckily we have another but that was going to be my brooder lamp! We don't have any baby food at the moment (I didn't wanna be too optimistic and buy any before they hatched!

), so maybe if we take a trip to get the food I'll get a proper heat lamp, annoying though cos they're so expensive!

 

[FenDruadin]

Once again, no worries.

It's normal for the babies to mess with the other eggs and they rarely cause significant harm. Sounds like he helped out a bit.

However, this is the reason I don't leave them in the incubator more than a day at most, because they *can* cause the other eggs problems.

If you go to a hardware store, you can buy a cheap "shop light" for under $10 and a pack of cheap incandescent bulbs for a dollar or two more. That's really all you need for the brooder. Have fun!

 

[AdamD77]

Okay, thought it should be okay but just wanted to check

We did see movement against the membrane, but no major developments for #13 at the moment.

Oh right, by shop light you meannn...?

I'm working tomorrow, so maybe will try and go this afternoon. Must go and take care of those big ducks of mine now though!

Will inform Phoebe and Olive that they are now parents! I'm sure they'll say quack

 

[featherfinder]

Congrats on the duckie!!! Very cute. Glad everything is going good and that you are makeing great progress!

 

[FenDruadin]

A shop light is just a metal hood with a light fixture in the middle. If you ask at the hardware store, just tell them you're looking for a cheap shop light, and they'll know what you mean. Unless they call it something different there...

 

[gofasterstripe]

Congratulations Adam on your new baby. I dont know whats all been said or advise has been given I wanted to skim down to see if you have a baby yet. Leave him in there, it will bounce of the eggs and stimulate the others to get a wriggle on. OK...let me go read what everyone has said

 

[AdamD77]

Okay, I'll have a look and see what I can find

Thank you! Yes hopefully he will spur them on haha. We'll probably move him out this evening, but we'll probably put the brooder right next to the eggs so they'll still be able to hear each other

He's already managed to get fluff everywhere! It's making it hard to see what is a crack in the eggs and what is a piece of fluff!

I did want to ask about bedding - my mum doesn't want to use towels because she hates washing pooey towels, so she wants me to use straw in the brooder instead, is that okay?

He's sleeping on top of the other eggs at the moment looking absolutely adorable!

 

[FenDruadin]

I always use straw. Wood chips work fine too, but go with aspen (NOT cedar or pine), and larger chips are better than smaller (reduces the amount they end up eating).

If he's sleeping on top of the eggs, then he is coordinated enough to come out when you're ready. But get the brooder set up and warm first. Enjoy!