Eggs not pipped yet. Is it too late?

[New duck mommy 2021]

Congrats

 

[ProudRedneck]

So I checked again this morning, no pips, no sounds, no movement from the 4 eggs remaining to hatch. I made the decision to remove them so Daffy could focus on the 8 she has.

My curious brain wants to know explanations of things & events all the time so, I opened up the remaining four to answer some questions.
Why didn't they hatch?
How far along were they when they quit?
How many would I find that looked like Daffy vs Daisy when they were babies?

The last question intrigued me because of Daffy's first brood, out of the ones that made it, the two that looked like Daisy as a baby (Appleyard) turned out to be males. The one that looked like Daffy as a baby (Muscovy) turned out to be a female.

I am going to include pictures while I was opening the eggs, pictures of the dead still in the eggs and then pictures of them out of the egg.

A few things I found interesting:
* 4 Dead out of 12 total
* All were fully formed
* No malformations (at least to my untrained eyes)
* 2 looked like Daffy when she was a baby
* 2 looked liked Daisy when he was a baby
* All eggs were laid on 4/1-4/12, of those, the dead ones dated 4/1, 4/2, 4/6, & 4/11

If you are going to be disturbed by seeing dead ducklings then please stop reading here.

Dark spots were the air chambers

All looked like this after opening

Oldest to youngest (L to R)
Laid.......4-1......4/2......4/6......4/11

 

[Canadian Wind]

Awww, that's so heartbreaking They looked perfect, too.

 

[ProudRedneck]

Awww, that's so heartbreaking They looked perfect, too.

Yeah I thought so too.
Opening them reassured me that I did right by assisting the other two though.

 

[ProudRedneck]

A happier post though....
Let me introduce Daffy & Daisy's second brood.

 

[Miss Lydia]

It’s sad when they get so close to hatching. But those duckling are adorable.

 

[ProudRedneck]

It’s sad when they get so close to hatching. But those duckling are adorable.

I wish I knew why they stopped. I have to say at this moment as I'm typing is the first time the thought of "maybe I should have helped sooner," comes to mind. But then again, I know that's just silly to think that because there was nothing to indicate anything was wrong yet. I haven't grieved over them (surprisingly) but more so of racking my brain trying to come up with a reason of why

As far as the living babies.....OMG I'm in LOVE I'm so happy I got to experience that and I probably spent 75% of the day out there with Daffy and the babies, laying in the pine shavings just in awe, watching them learn all these new things and them being so inquisitive about every little thing kept me amused & giggling

My next decision is do I hand raise them to have friendly ducks later or let Daffy raise them. I've thought about taking 4 and raising those and let her raise the other 4 but then what if the 4 I raise end up being drakes that we won't keep and I'm still left with scared females later....Then again, if I raise all of them, at least it takes the burden off of Daffy and she can finally get back to normal life with Daisy and her first borns but then I run the risk of getting attached to any of them and what if those I get attached to are drakes.....
Decisions, decisions, decisions

 

[Miss Lydia]

I always let mama raise her ducklings she worked hard for almost a month she deserves to take them on. But that is just me. Only time I have taken a duckling away is when one of my Muscovy decided she didn't like her first hatched and attacked him.
I enjoy so much watching mama teach her ducklings about life.

 

[ProudRedneck]

Can someone tell me what the big orange sac on the bottoms of the dead ducklings in the picture of my previous posts that has the four lined up?

Also, the two I assisted, there bottoms looked like this (pictured below)......why? This was also a reason I banded them, so I would know if they died I could look back to find out that it had to be assisted and it had this "deformity" and that would be possibly why it didn't make it.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That is the yolk sac before they absorb it. That is why hatcheries can ship live poultry they can live off that absorbed egg sac for 2-3 days without eating other feed.