Helped Out Hatchlings ***Graphic Pics*** -- (Another UPDATE)

[duckyfromoz]

Lamar has done wonderfully for a first attempt with duck eggs- Ducklings can be pretty resilient- and even thought they have had a rocky start- it doesnt mean they will all be disabled for life. They may have issues- but its best to wait 2 days or so to see how they progress before worrying to much about a prognosis for the future.

 

[duckluck]

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Those holes are larger than I'd like to see them myself at this point if they were at 24 hours after internal pip, but 48 hours they'd be about the right size for birthing the duckling. Maybe minus a few more edges of shell up to the membrane would be helpful if you are going to pull their heads out, which I would do while the membrane is still somewhat moist if I were making the holes this large.

Looks like you've done a pretty good attempt at helping a hatch here...it does get easier and comes "by feel" better with more experience. I'd keep giving vitamin/electrolyte water to the weak ones...I haven't hatched these larger ducks but it works well with hard-to-hatch Calls.

The goop in the shell is hard to see specifics of from here, but yep, I've seen similar on a lot of Call shells...they usually leave something behind when they hatch. Some more so than others.

 

[duckluck]

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I agree! "Nano" in my avatar here took three days!

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[duckluck]

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The membranes were misted with warm water. In the pictures, they had dried off a bit but were still a bit soft from the misting. They were originally papery and very tough.

The coaching from duckyfromoz was invaluable. None of the ducklings would have made it if it wasn't for her. However, I now know that I jumped the gun. I peeled off too much, too fast. It's all my fault and I feel just sick about it.

Two ducklings are doing pretty well. One still falls over constantly. The last one is still slowly but surely absorbing its yolk.

I hope the best for 123duck.

You can only do what you can do...everything can vary from hatch to hatch. There are times you just have to think outside the box and fly by your instinct or the seat of your pants, whichever comes easier. The harder breeds are going to present their problems...if they didn't there would be more of them available!

 

[desertdarlene]

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Wow. Would it ever walk okay?

It's too soon to tell exactly what problems it might (or might not) have, so I don't want to say anymore about that. Hopefully, any problems it has will be minimal. Like Ducky says, ducklings are resilient.

 

[Miss Lydia]

congratulations on the littles, hope they all pull through!

 

[Lamar Estate]

Hello--

The three ducklings in the brooder are doing pretty well. They stumble around as if they were just born, but it's a huge improvement since Friday. The one that was always having trouble getting off its back is doing much better. S/he stumbles around fairly well now, too.

They are eating and drinking, but not pooping a lot. I noticed a bit of pasty butt yesterday, but since I washed that off, they have been clean looking. Is this normal? I check their rear ends all the time now.

They are playing with everything they see -- bits of food, a speck of something, their reflection in a mirror, each other, etc. They even preen already. I can't believe just how quickly they are acting like adult ducks.

My little one still inside the incubator has a bit of cord left (is it intestines?). The yolk is fully absorbed, but it looks as if there's something still hanging out of him/her. I'm waiting for it to go inside its body. His/Her feathers are super crusted, much more so than the others. Its eyes are shut due to this, I think. I just heard him/her peep and s/he wiggles around all the time.

Again, thank you to everyone for their advice. I have 3 more duck eggs and 3 Sebastopol eggs in the incubator right now that are due to hatch in a couple of weeks. After this weekend, I'm not sure of I can handle this again. Could I try to sneak the eggs under my all of a sudden broody duck? I paid $35 for the Sebbie eggs to be mailed to me, but I wouldn't be that heartbroken if the eggs failed...just as long as it's not right at the due date.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Great to hear how well the little ones are doing, If you can get a picture of the one still in the bator I'm sure some of the experts on here can help you figure out what it is, I have never hatch before I let my mama ducks do that, but all the best.. you have been very brave through all of this...

 

[The Duck ABC's]

I once had a very crusty one too. I used a wash cloth soaked with warm water and slowly soaked it off the duckling. You should get it off, because it kind of disturbs their body temperature. Make sure the duckling stays warm while you do this and put it back into the incubator to dry off. I give all my babies swimming time from day 3 on. This promotes the preen gland, but they will not produce for another month or so. They will do the preening motion and learn to dry off their feathers, but that is it. Anyway, I dry them off with paper towels after swimming in a paint tray and put them back into the brooder to warm up. Swimming is in warm water too. Don't worry about the lack of poo. They are not eating much yet. In a few days they will start hard and heavy and you wish it was like now. My ducklings love kiddie toys. I give them the little balls and they are having a blast. They really need stimulation or they get bored. I would not take the other eggs out of the incubator, but that is me. I would worry that your ducks stops being broody and abandons the eggs. You may have an easier hatch with the next ones, hard hatches do occur sometimes, but not all the time.

 

[duckluck]

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Me personally speaking because I have had to do this, but with the crusty one I would probably rinse it off VERY gently under warm water (very tiny stream) and maybe put it and the others back in the bator briefly to dry off. The eyes won't open if they are crusted over, and it can't fluff out. The bator will act as a "hair dryer" and warmer. You don't want any ducklings to be alone at this point because it will stress them. This is my opinion and what has worked for me. Sometimes the warm water can give the weaker ones a jump start...it sure did with my first duckling last year, "Trooper".

The poop I wouldn't worry about so much just yet...I can tell you I don't usually see much poop the first few days, but then again, I have Calls...if it makes you feel better, take a warm wet washcloth and gently rub the vent area on the ducklings with it to encourage a bowel movement, much like mammals will clean their babies to stimulate the same.

The thing you are seeing hanging off the abdomen sounds like the umbilical cord, if it looks kind of stringy...it should dry up and fall off in a few days. If it is long and impedes the duckling, you can cut part of it off with sterile scissors, but take care not to do it too close to the abdomen because you don't want to introduce infection if it hasn't dried out all the way up yet. Don't do any cutting unless it looks dried out though.