Exhausted and Frustrated...

[ducklover15]

The humidity of my incubator must be way too low...

My first Call duck hatched perfectly. The second one got stuck and needed help. The third and fourth ones have very dry membranes, are stuck, and cannot seem to move their beaks around to unzip themselves...

I've been slowly peeling away the shells of the two stuck ducklings on hopes that they'll be able to maneuver themselves out...2 hours have past and there is no progress.

The first egg began to bleed a little, so I stopped, wrapped it in a warm, wet paper towel and left it alone.

I did the same with egg 2 and haven't seen any bleeding yet, but I didn't want to get to far too early...

I just want some opinions by looking at these pictures. Does anyone think there's anyway these ducklings can hatch themselves or will I have to do it all? I'm not going to let them die in their eggs...

Egg 1

Egg 2

 

[Mrs. Glassman]

I have helped them by takeing something small with a blunt edge and pressing in on the egg lightly until it cracks a little. Kind of like zipping the egg for them.

The one of mine that got stuck & kind of dried to the shell, I used a small medicine dropper and put a tad of warm water between it & the egg...kind of like oiling it here & there...then I let it do th rest. It finally popped out after that. Just becareful to stay away from it's face with the water.

You could also up the humidity by placing wet paper towels in the bator during hatch.

Good Luck!

 

[houndit]

There is a chance they will still hatch. Monitor them closely. If you do have to help them peel it away very slowly. The more they can do by themselves the better. Sometimes if you help them a little they can make it the rest of the way. Other times not. As for the one that bled, I have had them do that sometimes also. If you leave them alone for a little while you can usually come back in a little while and peel it off the rest of the way without more bleeding.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Meyer hatchery told me that call ducks have a hard time getting out even under ideal situations. It is not uncomon to help them hatch. I would just keep peeling the egg away as long as you aren't running into blood. If you do, just put in back in the bator and wait a couple of hours and try again until it gets enough room to kick out. I'm with you, I can't let them die without trying first. They look good.