Help with my Mallard duckling, I'm not sure what to do

[Duck Keeper]

I've read somewhere that it can take up to 48 hours for waterfowl (ducks, geese...) to hatch!

Don't think I would have taken him out of the shell, but I would have carefully removed tiny fragments of shell away from his face if it had been a long time.

 

[XxShattered_AngelxX]

I was worried he would die in there because the web site i read said to do small fragments after 12 hours and then wait a few hours and see what happens. Actually i had 2 eggs left that were coming along and 1 came yesterday at dinner and the other i found this morning blowing bubbles. i was quite upset and help him out and wiped his nose off and he is moving about. wow i can't imagine doing this for a living. i have great respect for those who do this. plus i have a baby that gets up 3 times a night.

 

[M@M@2four]

Quote:
It's unbelieveable how fast they can come around. I have done wildlife rescue for years and can remember hatching out my first ducklings. Some hatched with their yolk still not all the way absorbed and they all just seemed weak. By morning, they were hollering and running around! lol It was amazing!!! I know it can be stressful, but you are doing a great job!

 

[XxShattered_AngelxX]

thanks, im trying to do my best. i've raised lost baby ducks but never hatching them.

question. the mother duck had these eggs in my mother's yard and was sitting on them for a few days. all of a sudden she was next door and would not come over for her eggs. when we looked at the eggs, one was broken. like something ate it. it was all day and then i took them before dark and left 2 eggs just in case she came back. she never came back. i talked to a bird rescue lady and she said "do me a favor and don't take the eggs next time and the mother duck would never leave her eggs and if she did leave her eggs it was because she is dead and it couldn't of been the mother duck next door it must of been another duck that we saw"

well i felt scolded. but i know it was the mother duck next door. i grew up and each duck is different. so do you think she was scared out of her nest and didn't want to come back or that she was not done laying her eggs?