Hatching Questions - Please Help!

[ecse129]

I have 9 duck eggs in a Brinsea Octagon. (See them here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/huntseggs) 3 are nice and fluffy, 1 is out but not quite fluffy, 1 has a pretty good sized hole and the others have external pips. However a couple of the external pips don't look like they actually went all the way through. One of them just looks like a small chunk of the shell is out and I can see white membrane. My worry is that a couple of the pips need help? I also worry that the ducklings now are very active and running all over the eggs knocking them all over the place. Can I quickly pull out the 4 chicks and mist the eggs to maintain humidity? What should I do about the ones that I can see a pip (they pipped yesterday) but am not seeing a duckling yet? Any help would be greatly appreciated! We hatch these in our classroom and so they will be alone this weekend so I want to figure out what to do today before we leave. (I monitor them with the webcam over the weekend)

 

[ecse129]

Anyone?

 

[Emmalion]

You can go in and scoop them out. Your bator recovers humidity pretty quick from what I hear so you shouldn't have to mist. If you do mist be very careful as to not get any of the eggs as a droplet of water could drown a chick.

I bet you have tiny holes in your external pips but just cant see them. Don't give up hope just yet.

 

[ecse129]

Glad you told me that. I would have misted right on the eggs. I didn't realize that could drown them! I hope none of my misting through the vent hole has drowned them. But I think all of them are still moving, so we should be good.

 

[ecse129]

While I am in there, should I roll the eggs back so their pip is on top?

 

[Emmalion]

that sounds like a good idea. You don't want the pips facing down.

I'm watching btw and they are just sooooo cute

 

[ecse129]

I waited until the one with the large hole broke free. I left him in the incubator with the 4 remaining eggs. 4 ducks are now in the brooder as happy as can be! Hopefully the remaining 4 still hatch and I didn't shrink wrap them! The webcam is back live.

 

[Emmalion]

They look to be moving right along in there. Keeping one baby in there will keep them stimulated to hatch as it can here its calls for them. I was wondering why it went offline and then poop babies moved.

 

[ecse129]

The cam will be back online later, I needed the laptop for science class haha. We have two cams, one will be on the remaining eggs (which I ended up having to put warm wet paper towels under and wet a couple of the membranes that were completely dried up) and the other will be on the brooder. I am hoping they truck right along now. The remaining duckling in the incubator has a bloody string coming from his navel. Is this just his umbilical cord? It looks different on chicks so that is why I am confused haha.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/huntseggs
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/huntseggs2