Help! Duck half hatched.

[mziegle]

My first duck was found this morning having made a small hole in the egg shell. I left him alone until about 12 hours after pip. I didn't see any progress, so I followed some other information and tried to help. I gently removed small bits of shell around his beak. He had broken his own membrane. He's been stuck that far along for 6 hours now, no more progress. His head is through, but he's not doing much. He's still breathing, but I don't know what to do. I painted water on his shell and increased the humidity in the incubator but he doesn't seem to be stuck to the shell. I can post a pic. I don't know whether to remove the rest of the shell, leave him alone, take him out of the incubator...he's my first chick ever and I'd really like him to survive. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Ducklings can take 24 hours or longer between pipping and when they start to unzip. Keep the membrane wet- and give him some more time. Absorbing the yolk and blood from the veins is important - and helping too soon means you could tear open a vein that still has blood in it. That can greatly weaken the duckling in some cases- or even cause its death.