First time hatching ducklings

[ducklings10]

Having some troubles with hatching. I started with 18 eggs and 17 made it to lockdown with 1 quitter embryo early on.

On day 1 of lockdown one egg had pipped, I went to bed and woke up the next morning to find a duckling flopping about in the incubator. It had a curled up foot so after some googling I decided to take it out to tape it up. I think the egg gunk had wrapped around its foot, dried and held it in a funny position. It's doing great now and the splint is off.

Several more eggs had pipped by day 2 morning, so I patiently waited however it's now day 3 of lockdown, and none of them have started zipping with at least 7 eggs going 30hrs+ since pipping externally.

One egg on closer inspection appeared to have tried to zip, there was a crack adjacent to the pip location and you could hear it tap on the shell. I left it for another 6 hours but it made no progress. I decided to peel away some shell for a better look. I could see the inner membrane and it looked clear, free from any veins, so I continued peeling the egg. I got about half-way and the duckling started making what looked at least to me like a very solid exit attempt. I probably should have put it back in the incubator at that point but something got the better of me as I peeled back the membrane and it shot out like a rocket. As far as I can tell it's not premature, no yoke left, blood or anything and the duckling seems very alert and active in the incubator.

My worry is now for the rest of them and why are they not zipping? Why did this one have so much trouble?

EDIT: to summarize, I have around 10/17 pipped externally, most of them 24-48hrs ago and none of them have started zipping.

 

[Stipenvlerk]

Having some troubles with hatching. I started with 18 eggs and 17 made it to lockdown with 1 quitter embryo early on.

On day 1 of lockdown one egg had pipped, I went to bed and woke up the next morning to find a duckling flopping about in the incubator. It had a curled up foot so after some googling I decided to take it out to tape it up. I think the egg gunk had wrapped around its foot, dried and held it in a funny position. It's doing great now and the splint is off.

Several more eggs had pipped by day 2 morning, so I patiently waited however it's now day 3 of lockdown, and none of them have started zipping with at least 7 eggs going 30hrs+ since pipping externally.

One egg on closer inspection appeared to have tried to zip, there was a crack adjacent to the pip location and you could hear it tap on the shell. I left it for another 6 hours but it made no progress. I decided to peel away some shell for a better look. I could see the inner membrane and it looked clear, free from any veins, so I continued peeling the egg. I got about half-way and the duckling started making what looked at least to me like a very solid exit attempt. I probably should have put it back in the incubator at that point but something got the better of me as I peeled back the membrane and it shot out like a rocket. As far as I can tell it's not premature, no yoke left, blood or anything and the duckling seems very alert and active in the incubator.

My worry is now for the rest of them and why are they not zipping? Why did this one have so much trouble?

EDIT: to summarize, I have around 10/17 pipped externally, most of them 24-48hrs ago and none of them have started zipping.

How are you doing today?
How is the humidity in your breeder?
I would not step in to soon to help. Sometimes they need a bit of time.
But if they are longer than 48hrs after the external pip I probably would open them very carefully.
Although I was at a breeder yesterday and he discarded a carolina egg because it wouldn't zip and guess what? still zipped after 3 days!

 

[ducklings10]

They were all badly shrinkwrapped. I'm having a lot of incubator problems. Without going into longwinded detail of the design faults, the cheap chinese incubator that I bought is not up to the job of holding a stable temp and humidity through hatching. I will be rebuilding it into a different container, using the heater and egg turning mechanism but with a PID controller and a higher quality TC.

I have spent hours reading every bit of info I can find on assisting hatches. The eggs are in really bad shape, the membrane is stuck to the ducklings like cement. It took 20 minutes per egg with warm water and a cloth to get them free.

At this point I have 4 healthy ducklings, and 2 that are not looking so great and one still in the egg.

 

[Stipenvlerk]

They were all badly shrinkwrapped. I'm having a lot of incubator problems. Without going into longwinded detail of the design faults, the cheap chinese incubator that I bought is not up to the job of holding a stable temp and humidity through hatching. I will be rebuilding it into a different container, using the heater and egg turning mechanism but with a PID controller and a higher quality TC.

I have spent hours reading every bit of info I can find on assisting hatches. The eggs are in really bad shape, the membrane is stuck to the ducklings like cement. It took 20 minutes per egg with warm water and a cloth to get them free.

At this point I have 4 healthy ducklings, and 2 that are not looking so great and one still in the egg.

I'm so sorry to hear this.. A good incubator is worth their weight in gold! (And almost cost their weight in gold) Glad to hear you have four healthy ducklings.. I hope the other two will survive too..
fingers crossed

 

[ducklings10]

Out of the two left one died, it was in a really sorry state and would of taken a small miracle so no suprises there.

The other one was very weak, couldn't lift it's head and had no strength in its right wing or leg but it's improving significantly by the hour, it's improved so much ive had to take it out of the incubator as it's attacking the remaining duckling.

I managed to get the last duckling out of the egg and it has a slight wry neck but otherwise seems completely healthy.

 

[Stipenvlerk]

Out of the two left one died, it was in a really sorry state and would of taken a small miracle so no suprises there.

The other one was very weak, couldn't lift it's head and had no strength in its right wing or leg but it's improving significantly by the hour, it's improved so much ive had to take it out of the incubator as it's attacking the remaining duckling.

I managed to get the last duckling out of the egg and it has a slight wry neck but otherwise seems completely healthy.

Horrible to have a hatch go that bad...

 

[ducklings10]

They are growing so fast

This is one of the two late ones, still lagging behind but its now running around eating and drinking.

 

[Stipenvlerk]

They look so adorable

 

[ducklings10]

I thought I would update my thread, just a few months and they are all grown up.

All seem healthy and happy.

 

[casportpony]

They are beautiful!