hatching, but slow: concerned?

[urbanmamacita]

we have 3 broody hens so i obtained some fertilized chicken eggs (mix of RIR's and bantam-something-or-other) and a couple of fertilized duck eggs from my mom. the hens have successfully sat on the eggs, but they all seemed to be duds when it came time for them to hatch. candling showed growth and even some activity, but nothing hatched.

that said, i was lazy and left these eggs under the hens for an extra week (wishful thinking, maybe?). i pulled them out yesterday and put them on the counter to dispose of later. i was gone for a few hours and when i came back, one of the duck eggs had a crack in it and i could hear peeping.

last night i put the egg back under the hens and assumed that when i woke up this morning, we would have a duckling or a casualty. so here we are, 12 hours later, and the duckling has not made any additional progress. he's still chirping up a storm and very much alive, but i'm wondering if i need to do anything or just leave it to nature. does it usually take this long for the littles to hatch? could something be wrong? are my hens screwing up this process since none of the other eggs would hatch?

i'm a newbie. be gentle, please.

 

[urbanmamacita]

just checked on the egg and it seems that the hens will not sit on it now. it has been rolled out from under them and left in the middle of the coop, exposed. it looks like there has been a little more progress with the emerging duck, but i'm wondering if i should bring it in and set it under a light. it's only mid 50's outside right now.

anyone???

 

[OldChurchEggery1]

You should definitely keep it warm somehow, and preferably moist so it doesn't get stuck. Has it pipped any further, like broken a line running from the original crack? You might be able to keep it warm and moist enough inside a rubbermaid or sterilite container with a light bulb, but since I've never had to create a makeshift incubator I don't know how else to advise you on making your own. Duck eggs take a week longer than chicken eggs to develop fully so that's why you wound up with one possible duckling by leaving the eggs under your broody for an additional week. Here's some info on hatching duck eggs:

http://www.metzerfarms.com/IncubatingAndHatching.cfm

I've never raised ducks, so that's the most help I can give. If you change your thread title to "Duck hatching, but slow" you'll probably attract attention from someone more knowledgeable on ducks.