Here's my first duckling to hatch is the yellow gooey bit in the pic ok? here's a second pic there's thin cord attached and it dragging the shell around with it is this normal? I have successfully put three duckling under my broody duck with no problems yet. Best pic my duck is a biter
try not to let him pull it around...if it gets pulled out the baby could bleed out and die...wrap him in a warm wet towel until the cord falls off...which it will dont worry...and yes the gooey stuff is ok...dont worry about it
That stuff that was left behind in the egg after your duckling hatched was the waste the allantois collected during the ducklings development. The stringy stuff connecting the naval to the egg was the primary large veins in the egg; which served very important functions in the egg.......the chorion and allantoic membranes. They also form the external lungs of the chick, which together, are called the chorioallantoic membrane. Sometimes the ducklings drag those dead veins as well as the shell all around the incubator Usually it falls off with no problems. I however am always worried when my chicks hatch, that if it doesnt fall off right away, it may pull out some of the yolk, as that has happened once to one of my chicks! Yikes! So, I tend to intervene and sever, cutting the parts of the veins that have no blood in them, with a sterile scissors. I have had no issues doing that.
