Help! 3 days from internal pip and no progress

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Mightyelm

In the Brooder
Mar 29, 2021
5
14
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Hi I'm new on here although I have been reading lots of posts on hatching duck eggs! This is our first time hatching duck eggs although my husband has experience hatching chickens and quails.

We had postal Welsh harlequin eggs and currently have 3 gone into lockdown. We have some issues due to our incubator going haywire just before lockdown but currently on day 30. 2 eggs are alive but undeveloped but one looked on target but with a slightly too small air cell.

On day 27 this egg internally pipped. We were delighted...and relived! Because of the size of the air cell we put a tiny rescue hole in on day 28. However we are on day 30 and no external pip. Duckling still alive and we had heard some peeping and faint tapping but weren't sure what to do. There seems to be lots on what to do if your duckling externally pips and doesn't progress but can't find anything about what to do if it doesn't externally pip after 3 days. Everything seems to suggest that it should be about 24 hours after .

Anyway my husband decided to open the hole a bit more so we could see what was going on. The duckling is right there behind the shell. Can't see anything other than duckling! The membrane was white so we just left it be.

What do we do now? We realise the stage from external pip to hatch takes ages but have no idea what to do if you are going from an internal pip in terms of timeframes! Please help. This is a precious duckling and I know not fiddling is the best thing to do. Wish I'd thought to post on here before my husband decided to make the hole bigger. The membrane right at the edge seems to be drying out a bit now but the rest of it looks white still. Can see some blood vessels still. Not sure if they vanish completely or not. The duckling isn't doing much other than opening its beak occassionally. It's breathing quite heavily but not sure if that's normal or not . I'm assuming it is absorbing yolk. But we are coming to the end of day 32. So do we just wait indefinitely? ! Do we try and seal up the hole again? I'm assuming we need to keep membranes moist.

Any advice you can give would help massively. Fyi humidity is currently 74 and temp about 36 c
 
Sounds like your opening and closing the incubator to much. The purpose of lockdown is so the environment is pretty stable for hatch and the duck can get orientated and in place to pip. If your taking them in and out day before hatch day and on hatch day and fiddling with it your messing things up.
 
Thank you for your reply. I understand that but hatch day was day 28 and we only put in a rescue hole because the air cell was too small and general guidance was that it only lasts 24 hours. The information also says that ducklings should externally pip 48 hours after the internal pip and we are currently at 3 1/2 days post internal pip. That is why my husband made the rescue hole bigger because no progress had been made at all. As I say I wish I had thought to post before he went ahead and did that (when I was at work) but he has done it and I can't undo it.

Regardless of whether we should have opened the incubator or not (and opinions vary on whether to intervene or not) I'd appreciate any advice from people on how long a time from INTERNAL pip to hatch as we are coming up to day 31 now and wondering if the duckling might be stuck? Of course it could be late developing in which case the question remains.....how many days would we expect for a duck to hatch from when it pips internally? If we don't need to keep the membrane moist that's absolutely fine we won't do anything. We will just wait. But my understanding is that keeping the moist is important so it doesn't get hard and trap the duckling. And also do I need to adjust anything else temperature or humdity-wise? Thanks
 
Eggs are supposed to be incubated at 99-100.5 Fahrenheit for forced air i think 102 for still air. I believe 36c comes out to 96 Fahrenheit. Your Temps been to low thats why their not ready to hatch on day 28.
 
Hi yes it was 37 c during incubation which is 99f. It is currently slightly lower because I had read that you should lower the temperature slightly as the hatch progresses. However I don't know whether that is true if you've had to intervene hence the query. I will raise it back up to 37 if you think that's sensible. Of course the temperature during incubation may have been slightly too low although we have 2 thermometers. But even if it's delayed. I still would like to know the answer to my query. If everyone says the ducklings should externally pip 48 hours after they internally pip....and this one had not done so in 3 days....Is there is anyone who can give advice on what we do from this point rather than what we should have done in the past. That would be really helpful and why I've come on to ask the question. I can't go back and undo what's already been done.....
 
Thank you so much that was so helpful! I had actually read your article before (on one of my many trawls of duck hatching info as I prepared myself for this all!) And thought how brilliant it was at the time. I do wonder if this duckling has a leg over its head as I thought I saw a little webbed foot above the head although now the membrane has flopped down a bit so I can't check. Thankfully it's flopped not shrink wrapped.

Just a few extra details while we wait for the veins to subside and yolk to be absorbed. ...we don't have coconut oil for the membrane. Can I use another oil or should I just use water? Can get some coconut oil in the morning but shops have shut right now.

Also just to check that temperature at 36/37 degrees c is ok and humidity at 70 if it's got a largish hole in the egg right now? There isn't much membrane over the duckling, it's only round the edge right now so I'm just a bit concerned about it being so exposed.

Thanks again for your help, it's calmed me down so much !
 
Mightyelm said:
Thank you so much that was so helpful! I had actually read your article before (on one of my many trawls of duck hatching info as I prepared myself for this all!) And thought how brilliant it was at the time. I do wonder if this duckling has a leg over its head as I thought I saw a little webbed foot above the head although now the membrane has flopped down a bit so I can't check. Thankfully it's flopped not shrink wrapped.

Just a few extra details while we wait for the veins to subside and yolk to be absorbed. ...we don't have coconut oil for the membrane. Can I use another oil or should I just use water? Can get some coconut oil in the morning but shops have shut right now.

Also just to check that temperature at 36/37 degrees c is ok and humidity at 70 if it's got a largish hole in the egg right now? There isn't much membrane over the duckling, it's only round the edge right now so I'm just a bit concerned about it being so exposed.

Thanks again for your help, it's calmed me down so much !
Click to expand...
I've used cooking oil before - any will do. I wouldn't worry about the membrane too much - it's more of a concern if there is lots of membrane exposed without the shell covering it as then it dries out faster.

:fl come on little duckie!
 
cmobley said:
Sounds like your opening and closing the incubator to much. The purpose of lockdown is so the environment is pretty stable for hatch and the duck can get orientated and in place to pip. If your taking them in and out day before hatch day and on hatch day and fiddling with it your messing things up.
Click to expand...
I agree, it’s called lockdown to keep lid closed, give it a try and be patient - hang in there:)
 

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