Help!

[Tracy W]

Ugh...I have “rescued” some abandoned mallard duck eggs and have been incubating them for 28 days. Today they were supposed to pip but there has been no signs of that. Two of the eggs turned a dark gray and I thought they were infected. After candeling I noticed the air sac of one egg took up more than 50 percent of the egg. We decided to open the egg figuring it was no longer good and we found a fully developed baby with the yolk intact but not absorbed. My fear is that we should have waited a few more days and it may have lived. The duck was not breathing but I’m wondering...do they not breathe until hatched? Did we prevent a healthy birth? I’ve attached a picture of the baby. I need confirmation that we didn’t kill the baby. I feel terrible.

 

[JaeG]

Ugh...I have “rescued” some abandoned mallard duck eggs and have been incubating them for 28 days. Today they were supposed to pip but there has been no signs of that. Two of the eggs turned a dark gray and I thought they were infected. After candeling I noticed the air sac of one egg took up more than 50 percent of the egg. We decided to open the egg figuring it was no longer good and we found a fully developed baby with the yolk intact but not absorbed. My fear is that we should have waited a few more days and it may have lived. The duck was not breathing but I’m wondering...do they not breathe until hatched? Did we prevent a healthy birth? I’ve attached a picture of the baby. I need confirmation that we didn’t kill the baby. I feel terrible.

It would have moved if it were still alive and the air cell should take up a third of the egg, definitely not half. I'm sorry it didn't work out.

 

[Tracy W]

Thank you