Help me save this duck

[yotetrapper]

Ok, a month ago, my Silver Appleyard hen ate a nail, and died. I had three eggs from her I put in the bator. One never devolped, one quit, and one was still growing. I put it into lockdown Thursday morning, and it was due to hatch Saturday night. No hatch... yesterday nothing. Now, I have horrible luck ever getting a duck to hatch so... today, I figured it had died in the shell like many other ducks I've tried to hatch, and I opened the egg to see what had happened (in hopes of becoming a better duck hatcher). I chipped open the shell at the air sac, and looked for movement under the membrane (which looked dry!) and didnt see any. So I carefully removed a small corner of the membrane and was instantly met by blood, and a lot of movement! It's alive! It wasnt ready to hatch yet!

So, now what? Can it be saved? I wetted a paper towel and rewrapped the end of the egg I had opened with a sinigle layer of the wet paper towel, and place the egg back in the bator, and inreased the humidity. What do I do???

 

[Keri78]

I have no clue...but I'm hoping someone will chime in soon for ya!

 

[ranchhand]

I don't think there's anything else you can do, good luck, hope the duck makes it for you.

 

[yotetrapper]

Anyone else have any advice? Should I wait longer and attempt to remove the membrane?

 

[miniwhipkey]

I would post this on the duck site.

 

[vfem]

Keep it moist and warm and hope at this point. If it helps on long enough for you it will finish on its own. Again... moist, and warm!

 

[froggie71]

So far it seems like you are doing all you can. I might chip more of the shell or a bit of membrane to see if there is any more blood. Definitely keep it moist or it will shrink wrap and won't be able to work it's way out. This is the time for patience, I know it's hard. Good luck

 

[RedfogsFlock]

Just leave her be in the bator. Make sure your temp. is at 97.0, and 80% humidity. We had the same problem a while back, ours was like 5 days past due and all the rest had hatched. As soon as we saw blood we put her back in and left her. BUT we did put her close to a vent hole, so we could occasionally wet her membrane when it dried out. Our humidity had dropped cuz we were going to shut the incy down. We were done we thought. So at 97. degrees and 80 humidity she did hatch 39 hours later, and in the end we had to help. Today she runs with the best of them, and holds her own!


So don't give up! You still have a chance!

 

[katharinad]

Quote:
You should be fine, if it continues to breath. Now be prepared that it may not come out for another 12 hours. So don't panic. You will also need to keep an eye on it and check every 2 hours, because the inner membrane may shrink wrap the duck. So keep on chipping away the shell and slowly pull the membrane back. Avoid further bleeding, if possible. You are fine once you get to almost the half mark of the egg. Do not force it out. Put the egg onto a wet paper towel and get an eye dropper to add small amounts of warm water into the shell to keep the membrane moist. Leave the duck in the incubator for an additional 12 hours after if has made it out. It will be weak and needs the extra time to recover. I've gone through this and the duck turned out fine. Also get a vitamin/electrolyte supplement for the duck. It will need it for the first 3 days to recover.
Katharina