Hands on hatching and help

[RubyNala97]

I just found this thread, thank goodness! I have a call duck who is on day 26 (tomorrow is day 27) and whose little bill is thru the air sack and peeping at me. He has 3 siblings very close behind him. After he pipped and was actively peeping I peeled away a small portion of the shell covering the air cell, thinking he was stuck and stopped when I got close to the membrane & noticed a vein, that was about 12 hours ago. The exposed membrane looks dry but I can't tell if all of the veins and yolk have been absorbed. When should I consider helping him hatch? I don't want this baby to get shrink wrapped, but I also don't want to try to help too soon and kill him

It has been a long day so I plan to read thru the posts first thing in the morning and get lots of info, just hoping for a heads up for tomorrow and the next few days

Forgot to add: Farm innovators incubator w/built in fan. Temp around 99.5-100 and humidity stuck at about 75%. They are all off the turner and in lockdown, meaning I check on him now more than ever lol. I have wet paper towels tucked into the channels on the bottom and one covering the pipped egg w/exposed beak

@RavynFallen
I just hatched a call egg (yes, only one egg made it) a few weeks ago. How long was he internally pipped for? Mine took over 2 days from internal pip to hatch. I had to be vigilant about keeping the membrane moist with bacitracin. They open their bill and yawn a lot if they are still absorbing the yolk. I'll find some pics. I went very slow with that full assist. I made a safety hole after internal pip, then waited 24 hours. Then gave her close to another 24 hours (making a little progress every 6-8 hours and remoistening membrane every 3 hours) before taking the whole top off.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

@RavynFallen
I just hatched a call egg (yes, only one egg made it) a few weeks ago. How long was he internally pipped for? Mine took over 2 days from internal pip to hatch. I had to be vigilant about keeping the membrane moist with bacitracin. They open their bill and yawn a lot if they are still absorbing the yolk. I'll find some pics. I went very slow with that full assist. I made a safety hole after internal pip, then waited 24 hours. Then gave her close to another 24 hours (making a little progress every 6-8 hours and remoistening membrane every 3 hours) before taking the whole top off.

Sorry to but into another users post but I was just wondering is hatching ducks always this difficult or is this specifically a call duck difficulty?

 

[Ravynscroft]

I just found this thread, thank goodness! I have a call duck who is on day 26 (tomorrow is day 27) and whose little bill is thru the air sack and peeping at me. He has 3 siblings very close behind him. After he pipped and was actively peeping I peeled away a small portion of the shell covering the air cell, thinking he was stuck and stopped when I got close to the membrane & noticed a vein, that was about 12 hours ago. The exposed membrane looks dry but I can't tell if all of the veins and yolk have been absorbed. When should I consider helping him hatch? I don't want this baby to get shrink wrapped, but I also don't want to try to help too soon and kill him

It has been a long day so I plan to read thru the posts first thing in the morning and get lots of info, just hoping for a heads up for tomorrow and the next few days

Forgot to add: Farm innovators incubator w/built in fan. Temp around 99.5-100 and humidity stuck at about 75%. They are all off the turner and in lockdown, meaning I check on him now more than ever lol. I have wet paper towels tucked into the channels on the bottom and one covering the pipped egg w/exposed beak

Welcome to the thread.  We have a few duck hatchers around here so hopefully a couple will chime in before you check in the morning, but I'll pass on what I've learned from listening to them....ducks are slow!!!! lol Seriously, word is that ducks can take double the amount of time than chicks which could be up to 48 hours. I've also learned that calls often need to be helped, but time is very important. As it is with any hatchling. As a chicken hatcher, I'll leave most of the guidance to the duck people, but you want to keep any exposed membranes moist. Bacitracin, neosporin (w/o pain relief) or vaseline can be used in a thin coat to help keep the membranes from drying out. It will also help you see where the veining is.  I hope that you have more answers come morning to help you along.

@RavynFallen
I just hatched a call egg (yes, only one egg made it) a few weeks ago. How long was he internally pipped for? Mine took over 2 days from internal pip to hatch. I had to be vigilant about keeping the membrane moist with bacitracin. They open their bill and yawn a lot if they are still absorbing the yolk. I'll find some pics. I went very slow with that full assist. I made a safety hole after internal pip, then waited 24 hours. Then gave her close to another 24 hours (making a little progress every 6-8 hours and remoistening membrane every 3 hours) before taking the whole top off.

Good advice right there... at this point I would take off all the shell over the air cell and use an ointment like AmyLynn mentioned... once you moisten it, you'll be able to see the veins clearly... remove the wet paper towel over it, it nedds the oxygen... it will let you knkw when it's ready... like Ruby said, it will yawn a lot while still absorbing yolk... it will start struggling like crazy when ready to get out... good luck and holler if you need more help...

 

[Ravynscroft]

Sorry to but into another users post but I was just wondering is hatching ducks always this difficult or is this specifically a call duck difficulty?

This is specific to Calls, due to their short necks and short bills sometimes pipping and zipping is too difficult for them... although, ducks take their sweet time to hatch, lol... but they usually don't need assistance...

 

[Ravynscroft]

Update on my last Call set... 15 eggs made it to lockdown (Ruby I counted 1 twice, lol)... 3 pipped wrong end so assisted... 1 I messed up making a safe hole, so had to assist it... 8 Calls pipped, zipped and hatche all on their own and last 2 had excessive goo and couldn't spin to zip, so assisted those... and 1 quit after internal pip...

14 happy, healthy Call 'lings...

And this is the smallest, named Lilly...

 

[jenniferlamar70]

This is specific to Calls, due to their short necks and short bills sometimes pipping and zipping is too difficult for them... although, ducks take their sweet time to hatch, lol... but they usually don't need assistance...

Ok thanks. I will be putting some ancona duck eggs in the incubator soon so I was just curious. Thanks.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Update on my last Call set... 15 eggs made it to lockdown (Ruby I counted 1 twice, lol)... 3 pipped wrong end so assisted... 1 I messed up making a safe hole, so had to assist it... 8 Calls pipped, zipped and hatche all on their own and last 2 had excessive goo and couldn't spin to zip, so assisted those... and 1 quit after internal pip...

14 happy, healthy Call 'lings...

And this is the smallest, named Lilly...

Oh my they are soo cute!!

 

[Ravynscroft]

Ok thanks. I will be putting some ancona duck eggs in the incubator soon so I was just curious. Thanks.

No prob... you shouldn't have those issues... but they can take much longer than a chick to hatch from pip to zip...

Oh my they are soo cute!!

Thank you... they're my faves...

 

[confusedturtle]

Thank you so much I will do exactly what you said. I have Vaseline so I will finish removing the shell over the air cell and moisten the membrane every 3 hours. I will also remove the paper towel. Thank you so much. I woke up to another one with her bill completely in the air cell, it looks like she is closer to hatch than the first. I'm so excited! Thank you. I will read thru the posts from the beginning after I help these two

 

[confusedturtle]

I have 3 with a space in the membrane large enough that their bills are showing and I can see lots of feathers. I peeled back the shell and moistened the membrane with Vaseline. They are opening and shutting their bills as if they are trying to say something and if I talk to them they give me the sweetest little peeps

I am in love, I have to make sure they all hatch and are healthy. Thank you so much for the help