HELP! First time NERVOUS Hatcher-Duckling pipped! Not ready at all- please help!

[X3Jack930]

one of my ten ducklings has pipped- I did not stop turning or ramp humidity at all because I thought I had three to four days to go and was planning on doing this step tomorrow. I just ramped my humidity and will add safety air hole at noon tomorrow if I don’t see an external pip from first internally pipped duckling. He’s peeping and moving right now- good sign, I hope? Any tips? Something I haven’t done/can do? I’m all ears- thank you so much!!!

 

[X3Jack930]

I’m scared to death my duckling can be shrink wrapped because I didn’t ramp humidity. If this is the case- and he doesn’t externally pip because of it- how do I know when I should help him out? Should I continue checking every hour to see if I hear the baby making noise? How do I know if he’s shrink wrapped?

 

[JaeG]

If he hasn't externally pipped yet he's not in any danger on being shrink wrapped. A lot of people wait until they can see internal pips before increasing the humidity.

I'm waiting for my Muscovy babies to externally pip. They pushed against the membrane for about 2 days and some have finally internally pipped today. The waiting is driving me crazy (first time duck hatcher here too).

Now you just have to wait. (This is the hardest bit).

 

[X3Jack930]

If he hasn't externally pipped yet he's not in any danger on being shrink wrapped. A lot of people wait until they can see internal pips before increasing the humidity.

I'm waiting for my Muscovy babies to externally pip. They pushed against the membrane for about 2 days and some have finally internally pipped today. The waiting is driving me crazy (first time duck hatcher here too).

Now you just have to wait. (This is the hardest bit).

Oh thank god!!! I’m so nervous because I didn’t stop turning them or ramp 3 days prior to internal pip that I’m going to have problems!!! I was doing my daily turning and all I heard was peep peep peep peep!!! I nearly fell over- I thought I had another 3 to 4 days!
I just realized the pip at midnight- so at noon today- I was going to make a safety hole- just Incase- should I wait until maybe 6pm to make safety hole?

 

[JaeG]

Oh thank god!!! I’m so nervous because I didn’t stop turning them or ramp 3 days prior to internal pip that I’m going to have problems!!! I was doing my daily turning and all I heard was peep peep peep peep!!! I nearly fell over- I thought I had another 3 to 4 days!
I just realized the pip at midnight- so at noon today- I was going to make a safety hole- just Incase- should I wait until maybe 6pm to make safety hole?

They have about 24 hours worth of oxygen in the air cell so if it's getting close to the time you discovered it had internally pipped and there still was no external pip I'd make a tiny hole, right at the top in the fat end (so you are nowhere near the baby). If you notice the peeping isn't as loud/as often then that would be another reason to jump in and make a hole (though remember they will rest every now and then).

You are just giving them a fresh supply of oxygen but you don't want to make it big enough that the membrane starts to dry out too quickly (which can happen even in high humidity if the membrane is exposed to air for too long, especially if there is a fan running in your incubator).

It's a very nerve wracking time! I completely sympathise with you. Muscovy don't seem as vocal as mallard derived breeds (another member told me they don't make much noise while hatching) so I'm even more on edge.

 

[X3Jack930]

They have about 24 hours worth of oxygen in the air cell so if it's getting close to the time you discovered it had internally pipped and there still was no external pip I'd make a tiny hole, right at the top in the fat end (so you are nowhere near the baby). If you notice the peeping isn't as loud/as often then that would be another reason to jump in and make a hole (though remember they will rest every now and then).

You are just giving them a fresh supply of oxygen but you don't want to make it big enough that the membrane starts to dry out too quickly (which can happen even in high humidity if the membrane is exposed to air for too long, especially if there is a fan running in your incubator).

It's a very nerve wracking time! I completely sympathise with you. Muscovy don't seem as vocal as mallard derived breeds (another member told me they don't make much noise while hatching) so I'm even more on edge.

Thank you for taking time out of your day/night to get back to me! Okay- so he had a very strong, very loud peep peep peep peep, I honestly couldn’t believe he’s only internally pipped, it was so loud! My eggs are mallards! The mama was taken by a fox and I scooped up the eggs the moment o heard the “bang” under the window the mama was at- then I saw the fox with mama and saved the babies- making a quick bator from a cardboard box. I’m excited and nervous all at the same time! This incubating fell into my lap out of thin air- it was not planned by any means! So here we are- 3 weeks later, candling every night. As of last night they were all moving in their eggs and as of tonight I candled 2 eggs (2 of the 4 I rotated looking for the one I heard peeping from)! I have the assisted hatching guide readily available from this site, luckily, and I studied it, but I would like this process to be as smooth as possible and I want to candle the other eggs to see where they’re at, but don’t want to keep opening bator!

 

[X3Jack930]

They have about 24 hours worth of oxygen in the air cell so if it's getting close to the time you discovered it had internally pipped and there still was no external pip I'd make a tiny hole, right at the top in the fat end (so you are nowhere near the baby). If you notice the peeping isn't as loud/as often then that would be another reason to jump in and make a hole (though remember they will rest every now and then).

You are just giving them a fresh supply of oxygen but you don't want to make it big enough that the membrane starts to dry out too quickly (which can happen even in high humidity if the membrane is exposed to air for too long, especially if there is a fan running in your incubator).

It's a very nerve wracking time! I completely sympathise with you. Muscovy don't seem as vocal as mallard derived breeds (another member told me they don't make much noise while hatching) so I'm even more on edge.

I just candled- couldn’t help it! I have 5 pipped!!!! 3 trying to break through air cell now- the air cell is making wavy movements and 2 that are moving in the egg, but I don’t believe I saw them pecking at air supply. I quickly- literally a second each- candled each egg.

 

[JaeG]

Poor Mama Duck, but thankfully she had you watching over her nest. Will you keep them or encourage them to return to the wild? They are going to be such cute babies!

Don't worry - I'm a candle-a-holic too. The whole process is just so fascinating. I've probably bugged my babies at least 5 times today trying to see what they are up to in there. It's so stressful! I had one stop growing a few days ago and the veins quickly disappeared, but I still have 6 eggs going strong.

I will be off to bed in a few hours but no doubt I'll be up early checking on them.

Keep me posted on how your babies are getting on.

 

[X3Jack930]

Poor Mama Duck, but thankfully she had you watching over her nest. Will you keep them or encourage them to return to the wild? They are going to be such cute babies!

Don't worry - I'm a candle-a-holic too. The whole process is just so fascinating. I've probably bugged my babies at least 5 times today trying to see what they are up to in there. It's so stressful! I had one stop growing a few days ago and the veins quickly disappeared, but I still have 6 eggs going strong.

I will be off to bed in a few hours but no doubt I'll be up early checking on them.

Keep me posted on how your babies are getting on.

So I am planning on keeping them but I will allow them the option to venture off if they want to (as of now). I might fall way to in love with them and they may not have the option to leave, lol!

Yes! They are going to be adorable! I’m so excited! Honestly, I thought Mama Duck was too cute! So it’ll be easy to stay attached to them even when they get bigger and older!

I candle every night! It’s just a habit, plus, I’m using a fake, thrown together, bator, so I wanted to make sure they were all still alive and thriving well! I can’t believe how far I’ve gotten with them! I didn’t plan on rescuing them, I thought I’d just have baby ducklings out front with their mama, which I was really excited for! Now that I’ll be able to hold them, name them and they’ll grow to know me- I’m even more excited!

I’ve learned so much over the past few weeks because of this rescue. It’s amazing what truly goes into hatching eggs. In the 6th grade (20 years ago!!!) we hatched chicks, but I don’t remember a thing besides the end result of fluffy chicks!

I’m off to bed shortly too and I’ll be up early checking on my babies- AGAIN! Lol.

 

[X3Jack930]

Poor Mama Duck, but thankfully she had you watching over her nest. Will you keep them or encourage them to return to the wild? They are going to be such cute babies!

Don't worry - I'm a candle-a-holic too. The whole process is just so fascinating. I've probably bugged my babies at least 5 times today trying to see what they are up to in there. It's so stressful! I had one stop growing a few days ago and the veins quickly disappeared, but I still have 6 eggs going strong.

I will be off to bed in a few hours but no doubt I'll be up early checking on them.

Keep me posted on how your babies are getting on.

Your pictures are too cute!!! I love ones of the babies just laying on their backs on the towels!!