help shrunk wrapped call duck eggs

[ruralmom]

I know, your going to read this and think "doesn't she read this forum" but I have two 26 day old eggs due to hatch. never heard anything from them even thought I talk to them daily. Air sac got very large in lockdown and had shadows. Temp 99.5 with 75% humidity. Did an investigative hole in the shell and thank goodness I did. White membrane shrunk wrapped to the duckling. One definately alive, other ?. Dropped a few drops of water to moisten the membrane and put back in bator with a moist towel over shell of the alive one. The other eggs with the possible dead one openned up a bit more. Membrane almost totally seperated from egg shell. Moistened and duckling very slightly moved, not vigerously. Covered with moist towel back in bator. These were not shipped eggs. Hand picked up. Any advice on the next step. I know better than to interfear, but than goodness I did with the dry membranes. Any hope of hatching or should I just hatch them out and hope for the best?

 

[katharinad]

Start peeling the membrane away. It will not get better by itself, so you have to help. Stop the moment you see blood and put it back into the bator. Check every hour and work it a little bit more at a time. Use an eye dropper to apply warm water to the membrane. Had that with one of my ducklings, it took 12 hours to hatch completely with my help. Don't panic if you see blood.
Katharina

 

[ruralmom]

Since I want to get this right. Start peeling the membrane from the duckling? that will require me to chip away more egg shell, right? I f I do see blood, wait the hour or so and then keep pealing away till blood then stop? I am keeping the membrane moist during this whole process. Thank you so much for the info. I will keep you updated.

 

[katharinad]

Make sure their bill is free so they can breath. That is the most important part. And yes you can chip away the shell. Keep the shell and membrane level. That helps in keeping warm water between the shell and membrane and reduces the risk of the rest of the membrane getting tighter. Sound scary, but it is not that bad. The duck will slowly absorb the blood from the membrane, that is why you cannot remove it all at once.
Katharina

 

[L0rraine]

Whoops - ignore my post below - the Call ducklings come two days earlier don't they???

Wait, wait, wait?!!!! - Didn't you post that you were on day 26??? I don't think you should worry until at least day 29. I'm the last one to give advice, because I've obsessed and messed up things on more than one occasion, but I think they are really tooo young still to risk bleeders. They aren't due until day 28 and quite often I don't hear peeps or get pips until at least day 28. Patience! (Something I need a lot more of myself).

 

[katharinad]

Loraine good that you've said something. I've missed the 26 day thing completely. I was under the impression they have piped already. Man I should read more careful in the morning. My shrink wrapped babies had already piped externally, but they were not able to zip due to the shrink wrapping. Also if they internally pip then they should externally pip within 12 hours or they can suffocate. I watch the eggs wiggle, if they stop for 10 hours then I put a small hole into the air sack of the egg. Then I wait another 12 hours and see. By then they usually start to zip or are out. Ducks need their time, much more then chickens. They sleep in between to absorb the yolk and blood in the membrane.
Katharina

 

[L0rraine]

katharinad, -- I'm thinking that maybe the Call ducklings come two days earlier than the other ducks and so maybe I was hasty in my call for patience. Not sure though. Even with that, it seems like one should wait at least a day after the due date before interfering. Hope things ultimately turn out okay. I don't do the little ducks, but it seems I remember reading that they are more difficult to hatch than the standard sized ducks.

Besides my own near disaster at 'helping' recently, it seems we read regularly of the stories of eggs starting to hatch a few days after the due date.

It's sooooo hard to know what to do

 

[katharinad]

It is hard to know what to do. That's why I watch the wiggle thing. I even mark the ones that wiggle. I had eggs of the same breed in the same incubator hatch early, on time, and late. You never now. I try not to interfere. I'm usually more concerned if some have already hatched a day prior.
Katharina

 

[ruralmom]

tragity! I did a check on them a few minutes ago and they had died. I wish I was not so eager too. Necropsy show developed little ducklings that needed about 2 to 3 days more to absorb a quite large yolk sac. I am not sure if the outcome would be any different since they surely would of died with being shrunk wrapped. I may try again. My friend most graciously has been saving eggs, but I won't until I find out how to prevent the shrink wrapping.
If anyone can help I would appreciate it.
Hand delivered eggs
Incubated in a 1588 genesis
hand turned 2 to 4 times per day on their side
temp 99.5 to 100.0
Humidity high 30% to 55% throughout the hold incubation
Lockdown at day 23 temp the same 99.4 humidity up to 65% to 77%
I do live at 6200 ft elevation, but the eggs were hatched just a bit lower in elevation.

Possible solutions: Misting, but won't that draw more moisture out of the egg to equal the humidity in the bator?
Higher humidity thoughout the whole incubation period?
Do not try to hatch call ducks again?
They were beautiful birds!

 

[rebecky1305]

Sorry about your loss. I have never had call ducks, but I have heard they are kind of hard to hatch. There are probably others here who can give you advice. I just wanted to give you hugs.