First time broody hen daddy

[Miss Lydia]

She may have stepped on it. Hard to know. If she is back sitting on the egg hopefully that will help with humidity, But if mine I would have to check to make sure the little duckling doesn't have the membrane dried hard as a rock so it can't get out. The bill was sticking out of the membrane?

 

[DuckyDonna]

Thank you all for the advice! We do have an incubator and hatched out four ducklings about a month ago. I should have just grabbed it out of the next and brought it inside right away, instead I rolled it back into the nest and came inside to look some things up and get supplies. By the time I got back out she was back sitting on the nest. I'm still trying to decide how long to let nature have its way and when to intervene. Something definitely went wrong along the way, whether she rolled the egg out of the nest at some point or maybe accidentally stepped on it. One whole side the shell is missing and the membrane is exposed, but its not from the chick zipping. I'm a little afraid what I might find if/when I open the thing up. But for now she's back on the nest so I'm not sure how long to wait before I try to make her get off to check again.

I have runners so I can't advise on broody ducks! I'm not much help in this but you should keep an eye on it I think.

 

[N Good]

She may have stepped on it. Hard to know. If she is back sitting on the egg hopefully that will help with humidity, But if mine I would have to check to make sure the little duckling doesn't have the membrane dried hard as a rock so it can't get out. The bill was sticking out of the membrane?

I know, its all I can do to not go check, but I also don't want to disturb her with her other six ducklings...I'm so torn. From reading I think the membrane isn't as dry as I initially thought, it wasn't brown but was still mostly white. And yes, I could see the bill.

 

[N Good]

I should clarify, the bill was sticking out of the OTHER side of the egg, so it wasn't sticking through membrane it was sticking through shell.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I should clarify, the bill was sticking out of the OTHER side of the egg, so it wasn't sticking through membrane it was sticking through shell.

If it's sticking through the shell it had to go through the membrane so you're probably good. At least you know it can breathe. Hopefully, the mother won't step on it. It sounds like that is something to watch for. Once it's hatched it should be ok I would think but @Miss Lydia knows more about that.

 

[Miss Lydia]

If she stays through hatch and it can make it out of the membrane it should be okay.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@N Good if it's getting dark by you that's even better she'll stay on the nest all night Hopefully.

 

[N Good]

@N Good if it's getting dark by you that's even better she'll stay on the nest all night Hopefully.

I went out to close the house for the night and Miss Ruby basically "asked" me to help. I had already changed out the water and food in the duck house and when I went to close the door she gave a few gentle quacks (not her normal broody honk). I stopped and asked her if something was wrong. She got off the nest, nudged all of the other ducklings out, and went and sat about two feet away. I shined my flashlight in and could see that she had picked most of the shell off the duckling but it was still stuck. I reached in slowly and she did not hiss at me or anything (she had hissed at me when changing the water). I picked up the egg/membrane/duckling (what do you call it at that point?) and brought it inside. I was able to moisten it and successfully got it out of the membrane! Its navel is protruding about a quarter of an inch (which I'm reading might be normal?) It is laying very still in the incubator and I'm unsure whether to take it back out to Miss Ruby tonight yet or wait until the morning once it has fluffed up (and to see if it makes it).

Thoughts? Should I return the duckling tonight?

 

[N Good]

Its been around an hour and a half and the duckling was doing well in the incubator. We made the decision to return it to the nest. It was not dried off yet and it is in the 60's outside, so I hope she took it in, but it just seemed like the right thing to do (for numerous reasons). My wife helped, I carried the duckling out, it was peeping the whole way, we opened the duck house and Miss Ruby hissed at us at first (poor thing, disturbing her at 10:45 at night in the dark...) I put the new duckling on the bedding right next to her and she sniffed at it. Then she stepped off the nest (the baby couldn't even fully stand on its own yet) so I reached in and put the baby in the nest. Through all of that she had stopped hissing and was just watching. We stepped back and she got back on the nest with the new baby underneath her.

I hope that the duckling is ok and makes it, but through all of this I have been blown away by her mothering instinct as well as her seeming understanding that I am there to help. She still hisses at me and doesn't let me get close to the ducklings, but in the two instances where she needed me (taking the half hatched duckling and returning it) she didn't hiss or bite, she calmly moved aside and gave nice, calm, quiet quacks as if to thank me.

I know everyone on here views their birds differently, for us they are livestock. We enjoy them, take care of them, and do our best to give them a comfortable and good life, but at the end of the day they are also a source of eggs and meat. Of the seven ducklings, the plan is to keep the hens and butcher the drakes at 7-8 weeks. Butchering is never easy, and I always say a prayer and thank the duck for its gift of life for us, but I have to say, after this experience tonight, butchering will be more difficult this time than any other...

Thanks again for all your assistance, the advice and care on this forum is invaluable.

 

[Texag87]

Butchering is never easy. When I was young we did it a lot at the family farm. Chickens, Hogs, and cattle. I would say a prayer thanking God for the animals. I also did the same when I hunted doves, ducks, geese, quail, deer, squirrels, and Rabbits. I am following your thread because we have hatched several times from the incubator but we have a broody that is due to hatch next week.