HELP! Mother Duck Killed- How long can Eggs Survive W/O Heat?

[ancona91]

Hello (Another) Kathy!!!!
No need to panic yet.......give it a bit more time. You may need to lightly spray the eggs......that may help. Sometimes if the eggs (or the inner membrane) get too dry, it's hard for the little guys to peck through it. Do you have a spray bottle(the kind from the garden centers) for spraying plants??! If there's no progress by late tonight, I'd consider lightly spraying them.....be sure there are no "pip" holes before you do so. Do it as quickly as possible to maintain the temp and humidity level, while being somewhat careful. As long as you're still hearing "peeps" from within, that's great......when it seems they're getting really weak, that may indicate a problem. We'll have to take it from there.
Kathy

 

[chickeepoo]

One egg has a little bump within the area of the air cell that looks like it could be an attempt to peck out… it's been there since early afternoon, no other cracks or anything on the other eggs. I can hear a little pecking and intermittent peeping, so……

Update later this evening, stay tuned!

 

[chickeepoo]

Some of the ducklings answer peeping noises with a little peeping, but they aren't pipping through the outer shell at all. I'll wait a couple of hours and then lightly mist them. I "talk" to them every time I go in the room to check the temp/humidity, and I've enlisted the kids to "peep" to them too… to keep encouraging them. I'm sure hoping for a big change with them by sometime tonight or morning…tonight will make 48 hrs+ since I saw that the first 3 pipped into the air cell, and more than 3 days or so they've been audibly "peeping." The number of little "voices" is around 2 now, I think… maybe the others are getting tired.

 

[chickeepoo]

I think I need some direction on this… Kathy, I misted the eggs last night and again just now, there's pecking from inside the eggs but no pipping through the outer shells, unless we're counting the tiny bump on the one egg I mentioned plus another one 1/2 inch lower on the same egg, but no holes that I can see… drawdown was at least 3 days ago for at least 3 of the eggs, the others followed, and I thought we'd see tiny holes in the shells to show progress. I can hear several of them tapping at a rate of one per second - not much peeping- maybe they're too busy pecking to talk right now. What if anything to do? ~ Kathy

10:50 Update- The large egg with the 2 tiny bumps that could be pip attempts has a tiny triangle of shell that looks like it cracked off with the white membrane still intact, and the egg was vibrating with the duckling moving in it… otherwise very quiet in the bator - they may be resting.

 

[ancona91]

Hello Kathy!!!
Yes, the tiny bumps you see on the egg are the statr of the "pip". So that's definitely a great sign. You may not hear a lot of peeping now, as they need every ounce of energy to pip and finally free themselves. As long as you hear tapping and an intermittent peep now and then, it should be ok. Keeping the temp at 97 degrees or so helps.....they generate a lot of internal heat themselves. It's great that you misted the eggs....it helps soften the shell and the inner membrane. Just be sure to watch the pip hole......don't spray there. Just check on them once in as while.........and more waiting.
Speak to you later!!!!
Kathy

 

[ancona91]

Hello Kathy!!!!
Any more progress yet...or is it the same?!? It may seem as though it's taking forever....but even the short time without the mother on the nest can throw everything way off. I've had ducklings (brought in as eggs from outside) hatch way past the expected due date. I'd spray them lightly maybe once a day and see if it goes any better.
Kathy

 

[RedfogsFlock]

Quote:
It may be to late for me to chime in but when we hatch our ducks we put a washcloth under one of the vent holes so we can pour water directly on them. It also gives the babies a place to lay while resting. We have to have our humidity at 80% when doing our ducks. 70% sounds a little low. ??

 

[chickeepoo]

Hi Kathy, and Duckling followers!
No- no change. Misted again just now, but no more pip bumps or any broken shell. Just tap-tap-tap and occasional peep. The good news is, EVERYBODY'S tapping from inside the eggs, so that's 6 alive as of now! I hope the quick fluctuation and recovery of the temp and humidity doesn't bother them… I'm keeping humidity up around 77% now plus the misting 2x a day, hopefully this will help them not get dry membranes and be able to break out of there. I'll update later tonight. Til then…

 

[chickeepoo]

Oh, Thanks RedfogsFlock- I was thinking the humidity could use to go up too- just missed your post while I was entering mine. I put a wet washcloth in the corner to boost the humidity, so I can just wet it more to increase the %.

Kathy, do you think 2x daily misting is too much? And yes, this does seem like it's taking forever, probably from the ducklings' views, too! I was envisioning safely hatched, fluffy dry duckies by today…

now back to reality. And waiting. I hate waiting.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

I got my fingers crossed for you chickepoo.....