Is this a bruise? Call duck egg day 25.

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

How many are you hatching out? Or is it just the one?

Sadly it’s just this one. I originally set 6 eggs but only two developed and one quit.
sadly he will be a lone Duckling. I am going to be with him a lot and give him a mirror and stuffed animal.I honestly wasn’t expecting this egg to make it since one entire side has been cracked since day one. I am very happy he’s doing so great! Hope he hatches safely!

 

[HappyDuckie]

Sadly it’s just this one. I originally set 6 eggs but only two developed and one quit.
sadly he will be a lone Duckling. I am going to be with him a lot and give him a mirror and stuffed animal.I honestly wasn’t expecting this egg to make it since one entire side has been cracked since day one. I am very happy he’s doing so great! Hope he hatches safely!

I hope he does, too!

 

[Fuchsia]

Sadly it’s just this one. I originally set 6 eggs but only two developed and one quit.
sadly he will be a lone Duckling. I am going to be with him a lot and give him a mirror and stuffed animal.I honestly wasn’t expecting this egg to make it since one entire side has been cracked since day one. I am very happy he’s doing so great! Hope he hatches safely!

I hope it goes well too!
I have been watching!

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

I hope it goes well too!
I have been watching!

Thanks so much! Glad you’ve been following along! He seems quite lively and strong so I think he’ll do well.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

Ok it’s been officially 48 hours since I started assisting the little guy. It appears that all the large veins have been absorbed. There are still some small ones so I’m waiting to assist fully. Do you think I should start taking a bit more shell off around his face but leave the membrane intact or should I wait? I don’t want to assist too early. I’ll try to get a candling picture in a bit. I just moistened the membrane a bit ago. Here’s what he looks like right now. He is peeping quite a bit.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

Ok I candled! It looks like he has absorbed well. I think he might need a bit more time. What do you think? Im thinking that those large things I circled are feathers. Veins look receded from what I can see.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Ok I candled! It looks like he has absorbed well. I think he might need a bit more time. What do you think? Im thinking that those large things I circled are feathers. Veins look receded from what I can see.

If it were me I would go ahead and take more shell off around his face and work towards getting it to a point where it can push out of the shell itself when it is ready.
I know it might be complicated depending on where the cracks in the Shell are that you talked about.
I think I would just keep widening around the head and neck area. once you have a hole big enough that they can plop their head out a lot of times they will push themselves out from that point when they are ready.

 

[RainbowHen]

If it were me I would go ahead and take more shell off around his face and work towards getting it to a point where it can push out of the shell itself when it is ready.
I know it might be complicated depending on where the cracks in the Shell are that you talked about.
I think I would just keep widening around the head and neck area. once you have a whole big enough that they can plop their head out a lot of times they will push themselves out from that point when they are ready.

Yes. This! Best of luck! Rooting for you both!

 

[Crestcrazy2]

Hoping it hatches ! good luck !

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

If it were me I would go ahead and take more shell off around his face and work towards getting it to a point where it can push out of the shell itself when it is ready.
I know it might be complicated depending on where the cracks in the Shell are that you talked about.
I think I would just keep widening around the head and neck area. once you have a hole big enough that they can plop their head out a lot of times they will push themselves out from that point when they are ready.

Hoping it hatches ! good luck !

Yes. This! Best of luck! Rooting for you both!

@shawluvsbirds
Thanks! I took a little bit more shell off around his face but not enough that he can stick his head out. I tried to take off more shell but like I mentioned, the entire top of the egg is fractured so every time I try to chip little bits of shell away, it cracks more extending from the hole to the top of the shell. I think he’ll be alright for now since he can breathe and if he looks completely ready in the morning I will take off more shell because I fear that a lot will come off. Thanks for your help! It’s going to be another sleepless night! I’ve got alarms set for every two hours! I’m worried that he could potentially turn and block off his air so I’m going to wake up and check that his bill is out of the hole.
@RainbowHen and @Crestcrazy2 thanks for the kind words of encouragement!