Kelster65
Chirping
Hi all, I went out to open the coop this morning and found my 2 newborn ducklings dead and their moms flew out with the rest of the tribe. Best I can tell from the coop camera, around 4:40am my drake got into the area I set up for them (basically a fenced off area with a tote nesting box and open area with food, water - it was not covered). The babies were in the open food area. I can't tell if he was just checking them out, if he killed them or if the babies got mixed up in the skirmish. When he went in, the mommas rushed out of the nest box and maybe they got trampled. One had a broken bill. I have 3 week old ducklings being raised by a broody moms chicken he has never bothered so I'm not sure what happened - the area has limited camera view due to the fenced sides. Long story short, the mommas hadn't been on the nest since 4:40am when that happened. I opened the coop at 8am. I was finally able to candle the remaining eggs and they were duds except for one that was hatching, which was now cold. I didn't know what to do as both moms seemingly abandoned the nest. I wrapped the hatchling egg in a moist paper towel (not covering the open hole) inside of a snack size ziploc bag and tucked it in my cleavage where it's safe and warm. As soon as it got warm, it started peeping again and had made some great progress. I haven't helped beyond coaching and cleaning of the bits of shell as they come away. What do I need to do to keep the membrane from sticking other than the moist paper towel? I'm terribly sad that this baby will imprint on me and will be alone for the time being. The 3 week old babies are too big and I'm somewhat fearful of getting additional babies from an outside source to introduce to my established flock for health andsafety reasons. So much would be going on there. Any suggestions as to how to help this little one navigate? I do work from home, have a feather duster to use in the brooder and have several brooder set ups so that's a plus.
