Help on Muscovy eggs.

[MikaylaLeslie]

I had to help one of my babies. He pipped internally (the first to do so) then did nothing more. I made a safety hole once 24 hours had passed because he wasn't talking back to me like he had been. I left him for another 48 hours but he still hadn't pipped externally or done anything. He was still alive though so I broke him out. He was absolutely perfectly fine, so I don't know why he hadn't hatched. I'm glad I saved him though because he is my favourite.

Looking forward to hearing some good news.

Me too!! Haha. Thanks for the info.

 

[MikaylaLeslie]

So we’re now on day 35. The egg that pipped Saturday morning made a big hole in the shell Sunday morning. It’s slowly making the hole a little bigger. Been able to see the bill since yesterday morning and it’s moving but it doesn’t seem like it’s making much progress. Is all this normal? This morning I could see it’s little bill open and close once.

One egg internally pipped Friday and by Saturday did nothing so we made a tiny air hole in the air sack. Yesterday we noticed that it had cracked the shell a bit but no further progress.

And then the egg I’m most worried about internally pipped in the wrong end Friday. It’s not only the wrong end but it’s the bottom of the egg toward. There’s a perfectly round dark circle and when I candled it I could see a bill. Saturday we didn’t know what to do so we made an air hole in the air sack but then decided to make one where we could see the bill and then we placed it in a separate incubator so that if we had to help further we wouldn’t disturb the other eggs. Yesterday I candled it and saw movement and then in the afternoon it had made a crack in the shell. But today the egg rolled more so the crack is now facing the bottom of the incubator. Should I roll it back slightly?
This is just kind of a general update and if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions please let me know!

 

[JaeG]

So we’re now on day 35. The egg that pipped Saturday morning made a big hole in the shell Sunday morning. It’s slowly making the hole a little bigger. Been able to see the bill since yesterday morning and it’s moving but it doesn’t seem like it’s making much progress. Is all this normal? This morning I could see it’s little bill open and close once.

One egg internally pipped Friday and by Saturday did nothing so we made a tiny air hole in the air sack. Yesterday we noticed that it had cracked the shell a bit but no further progress.

And then the egg I’m most worried about internally pipped in the wrong end Friday. It’s not only the wrong end but it’s the bottom of the egg toward. There’s a perfectly round dark circle and when I candled it I could see a bill. Saturday we didn’t know what to do so we made an air hole in the air sack but then decided to make one where we could see the bill and then we placed it in a separate incubator so that if we had to help further we wouldn’t disturb the other eggs. Yesterday I candled it and saw movement and then in the afternoon it had made a crack in the shell. But today the egg rolled more so the crack is now facing the bottom of the incubator. Should I roll it back slightly?
This is just kind of a general update and if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions please let me know!

If the ducklings are still 'yawning and chewing' then they are still absorbing the yolk. They are very slow to hatch and it is torture.

If you want to roll your little upside-down baby back over so you can keep an eye on it that's fine - I know I would.

 

[MikaylaLeslie]

If the ducklings are still 'yawning and chewing' then they are still absorbing the yolk. They are very slow to hatch and it is torture.

If you want to roll your little upside-down baby back over so you can keep an eye on it that's fine - I know I would.

I did earlier today and I don’t think it made it I think my other 2 eggs are shrink wrapped. I broke away some of the shell and put coconut oil around the membrane. I checked again just now because one looked better but then I could see active blood vessels. The membrane is hard now so I put more oil. The ducklings are both alive and chirping.

 

[MikaylaLeslie]

One of them hatched! Seems like it’s doing great. The egg that I believe was shrink wrapped I am not hopeful for. The membrane was completely stuck over it’s face. My dad and I took the egg and worked on in the bathroom with the shower running hot. We tried coconut oil but it wasn’t working. So then we used water and was able to get most of its head free. But it still has active veins and the yolk. I feel like it got stuck and then maybe stopped absorbing things. So I’m not sure what will happen. We put the ducking in a separate incubator because we were worried that it will start pecking at the egg because it’s so rambunctious! But my question is do I need to swab the ducklings navel with iodine? I’ve read that I should but I’m not sure when to do that...

 

[JaeG]

One of them hatched! Seems like it’s doing great. The egg that I believe was shrink wrapped I am not hopeful for. The membrane was completely stuck over it’s face. My dad and I took the egg and worked on in the bathroom with the shower running hot. We tried coconut oil but it wasn’t working. So then we used water and was able to get most of its head free. But it still has active veins and the yolk. I feel like it got stuck and then maybe stopped absorbing things. So I’m not sure what will happen. We put the ducking in a separate incubator because we were worried that it will start pecking at the egg because it’s so rambunctious! But my question is do I need to swab the ducklings navel with iodine? I’ve read that I should but I’m not sure when to do that...

for your little hatchling. It sounds like it is raring to go!

I never used iodine and all of ours survived. Sometimes they can still be attached to the egg a bit and occasionally you need to snip the little cord, so maybe that's when iodine might be necessary.

With your baby that's still absorbing the yolk ( ) just be patient and you could prop it up in a cup to keep it stationary. This thread explains how: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/yolk-sac-outside-of-hatching-duckling.1181133/
Is it still doing the yawning and chewing action? As long as he can breathe he'll be alright. Ducks are such slow pokes sometimes!

 

[MikaylaLeslie]

for your little hatchling. It sounds like it is raring to go!

I never used iodine and all of ours survived. Sometimes they can still be attached to the egg a bit and occasionally you need to snip the little cord, so maybe that's when iodine might be necessary.

With your baby that's still absorbing the yolk ( ) just be patient and you could prop it up in a cup to keep it stationary. This thread explains how: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/yolk-sac-outside-of-hatching-duckling.1181133/
Is it still doing the yawning and chewing action? As long as he can breathe he'll be alright. Ducks are such slow pokes sometimes!

We put it in a cup last night in the incubator but it didn’t make it None of the other eggs were alive this morning either. I was trying to make sure the humidity wasn’t too high but I think it was too low. I’ve learned so much and figured out some mistakes I made. It’s been a sad couple of days but the one duckling is doing great! This morning it had dried out nicely so we took it out and it’s been eating and drinking. But I need to find it a friend because it wants to be with us constantly. Not sure how we’ll be able to sleep tonight but we’ll see!

 

[JaeG]

We put it in a cup last night in the incubator but it didn’t make it None of the other eggs were alive this morning either. I was trying to make sure the humidity wasn’t too high but I think it was too low. I’ve learned so much and figured out some mistakes I made. It’s been a sad couple of days but the one duckling is doing great! This morning it had dried out nicely so we took it out and it’s been eating and drinking. But I need to find it a friend because it wants to be with us constantly. Not sure how we’ll be able to sleep tonight but we’ll see!

I'm sorry to hear that, but at least you have one lucky duck. Maybe a mirror would help it feel like it isn't all alone, and a little blanket under the heatlamp it can cuddle into might help too Hopefully it lets you get some sleep.

Do get a hygrometer for next time. You can get digital thermometers that also measure the humidity. Calibrate it so you know if it's reading correctly (even if it's not you just keep a note of how much it is out by and adjust it when you read it). This article explains how.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/

 

[MikaylaLeslie]

I'm sorry to hear that, but at least you have one lucky duck. Maybe a mirror would help it feel like it isn't all alone, and a little blanket under the heatlamp it can cuddle into might help too Hopefully it lets you get some sleep.

Do get a hygrometer for next time. You can get digital thermometers that also measure the humidity. Calibrate it so you know if it's reading correctly (even if it's not you just keep a note of how much it is out by and adjust it when you read it). This article explains how.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/

I was so frustrated with the temperature. I have 4 thermometers 2 that just did temp and 2 that did temp and humidity but they all read differently. Some parts of the incubator were warmer than it should be and others cooler. I was so stressed about it that I gave up and hoped that on average it was correct. Maybe a different incubator next time? Or maybe different thermometers that I can learn how to calibrate? I tried a mirror, a towel, and a stuffed animal and nothing worked. Unless we are holding the duckling it’s not happy. Barely got any sleep. The only duckling we can find as a friend is about a week old. It’s from the same place I bought the eggs. The lady says they will get along well but I’m nervous that it’s too big of an age difference.

 

[JaeG]

I was so frustrated with the temperature. I have 4 thermometers 2 that just did temp and 2 that did temp and humidity but they all read differently. Some parts of the incubator were warmer than it should be and others cooler. I was so stressed about it that I gave up and hoped that on average it was correct. Maybe a different incubator next time? Or maybe different thermometers that I can learn how to calibrate? I tried a mirror, a towel, and a stuffed animal and nothing worked. Unless we are holding the duckling it’s not happy. Barely got any sleep. The only duckling we can find as a friend is about a week old. It’s from the same place I bought the eggs. The lady says they will get along well but I’m nervous that it’s too big of an age difference.

Oh, you poor things! It's so hard when there is only one. Even though the other one will be a week older if it is just the two of them I think they'll be just fine. They'll be glad to have a friend (especially your baby).

Sometimes with incubators there will be quite a big temperature difference inside because they aren't insulated (like the super expensive, top of the line ones are). If you wrap a towel or blanket around the incubator, leaving the vents uncovered, it should help to stabilise the temperature inside. I had to do that last time. I tried adding 'heat sinks' (I used bottles filled with water) but it wasn't until I wrapped a blanket around it that there stopped being such a big temperature difference, even though ours has a fan on it.