Incubating duck eggs- advice pretty please.

[Slash3]

Best pics I can get of the little guy ... he’s still moving at present but I literally have no clue and all I keep thinking is do I help him and risk the others or leave him and hope I haven’t already hurt the others opening it earlier .... I have had fab help from slash3 but I’m just too nervous to do much of anything ... I actually fell asleep an hour from stress I reckon.

I’m guessing the white is the outer membrane and the small clear but I see is inner membrane x

Thank you, I'm just trying to help from my own experiences with WH shipped eggs.

 

[Slash3]

I wouldn't worry to much about the humidity as I said earlier, it's around 80-90% here at the min. xx

 

[xx_li_xx]

Thanks @DuckyDonna for the kind words.

@xx_li_xx At this point, a dry membrane will lock the duckling in, so it really needs to be moistened. I see you are using a Brinsea Mini (love mine!) so I know it will recover humidity quickly. You can also clip a small piece of sponge and have it wet and handy to throw in, but its really not necessary.

Carefully....Tilt the lid enough to get that egg out, close the lid.

Then moisten that membrane with a q-tip and Vaseline, or coconut oil. Then put it back. When you moisten the membrane, the veins will show and we will be able to see how much work is still needed. Take another pic and post, please.

I’m so glad you have this incubator , I did read that it’s good but oh my door I’ve been so stressed.
I only have coconut oil. Do I melt it down and then use ?

I’m so scared I am going to loose them all as all I keep reading is once you have external pips by no means open the incubator.

I am so grateful for everyone being here and helping xx

 

[WVduckchick]

I’m so glad you have this incubator , I did read that it’s good but oh my door I’ve been so stressed.
I only have coconut oil. Do I melt it down and then use ?

I’m so scared I am going to loose them all as all I keep reading is once you have external pips by no means open the incubator.

I am so grateful for everyone being here and helping xx

We like to caution folks about opening it, although I think we’ve gone a little overboard. Sometimes it’s necessary to open, and in a case like this, it is. It’s not as bad as we make it out to be, but caution is best, so we try to advise against it during normal hatches. Make sense?

You can either break off a glob of coconut oil and let it melt in the palm of your hand, or however is easiest to melt it. If it’s just slightly hardened, the warmth of the egg and membrane will melt it easily.

 

[WVduckchick]

I wouldn't worry to much about the humidity as I said earlier, it's around 80-90% here at the min. xx

Exactly. Folks in dry areas need to be a little more cautious. But it’s horribly humid where I am too, so I don’t think twice about opening mine.

 

[xx_li_xx]

Not sure these pics show anything any better.

I barely touched the membrane with the q tip but now it’s not so dry it’s looks quite red and orange but I can’t see any active bleeding so don’t know. I also can’t work out where it’s bill is.

 

[xx_li_xx]

I think the bit I thought that was the beak, where the two veins go across. Is actually it’s leg. It’s got the scale type pattern on it. Like the bend in it’s leg. X

 

[xx_li_xx]

I just shot a private message to wvduckchick with a link to your thread. Hopefully she will see it soon and give you good advice. I know when I was doing mine I had that egg in and out of the incubator about 50 times that day. It was VERY stressful but worth it. The little duck made it too! He was facing the wrong way.View attachment 1925225 View attachment 1925226 View attachment 1925227 View attachment 1925228

@DuckyDonna when you helped yours and were opening and closing incubator did you have others in the incubator also ? X

 

[WVduckchick]

Hmmm.... I still see good veins, so that's a positive point. Are the yellow spots possibly yolk? If so, then its probably malpositioned backwards.

Or Is that the beak pointing downward?
You can chip away a little more of the outer shell, so you can get a better look. Just try not to break any membrane or cause any bleeding.

 

[xx_li_xx]

Hmmm.... I still see good veins, so that's a positive point. Are the yellow spots possibly yolk? If so, then its probably malpositioned backwards.

Or Is that the beak pointing downward?
You can chip away a little more of the outer shell, so you can get a better look. Just try not to break any membrane or cause any bleeding.

View attachment 1925325

Is it ok to keep opening the incubator ? How can I keep an eye for any others struggling? That bit I swear is the leg ... but maybe I’m wrong, but I looks like the bend in it’s leg as it has that type of scale look pattern x