Help please does this duckling need help hatching

[ducklady1010]

12 hours since 1st pip...........not sure what to do. Have read posts still don't know what I am looking at. Beak visiable. Making some chirps. White membrane is tough.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Did it open up the shell that much or did you assist? Are there blood vessels showing? The membranes are very tough on duck eggs, but I'd be concerned about the inner membrane drying out with that much exposed to air now. Did you apply coconut oil to the membrane to keep it moist, as recommended in this very helpful article? And are you keeping the humidity high?

Is the duckling yawning at all? It may still be absorbing its yolk, and that process shouldn't be interrupted.

 

[ducklady1010]

I do see some "mouthing"...maybe that is yawning. I did take a very small amount of shell. Other duckling smashes into this one. Humidity is high..73 to 78%. I don't have coconut oil. Any other oil work?

 

[ducklady1010]

Can I use olive oil?

 

[casportpony]

Maybe @Pyxis or @WVduckchick can offer some advice.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Can I use olive oil?

Other posters have used olive oil, bacitracin, petroleum jelly...I'd pick the natural route and use olive oil, personally. It's not as thick as coconut oil, but should still help keep the membrane moist.

 

[WVduckchick]

Coconut oil is very thin, once it liquifies. (75-80 degrees?) I prefer Vaseline, depending on the stage or assisting. I wouldn’t assist more until well over 24 hours since the initial pip. Ducks are slow to hatch, even 40 hours is not uncommon.