Khaki Campbell ducklings not pipping, HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LissyB]

My khaki campbells were killed and eaten by something a month ago, October 1st. My duck was sitting on 18 eggs. The thief also ate 11 of the eggs, leaving us seven to incubate ourselves. We have 2 that are on their 26th day of incubation, and I have read that they should be peeping an pecking by now!

Please help! I don't know what to do, as this is the first time we have ever incubated any eggs!

 

[70%cocoa]

Don't worry - Day 26 is still early It is totally normal that you can't see any holes or hear any peeping yet. Often they won't peep at all until they are out of the egg.

Ducklings are really slow to hatch. Once they actually make a hole in the shell (which can be Day 26, Day 27, or Day 28...) mine usually take about 30-48 hours to get all the way out of the shell. Right now you might expect yours to have made a hole in the inner membrane (which you can't see). Once they do that they still have a long way to go because they have to finished absorbing the yolk and blood into their systems. It's not something that can be rushed So, the best thing to do now is sit on your hands and wait.

It's really sad that you lost your adult ducks so I am sure you are hoping really hard for a great result from this hatch. But just don't worry yet, there is no need. And don't worry if you don't see anything tomorrow either. They may do nothing at all that you can see until Day 28 and that is still within the normal range.

 

[LissyB]

Quote:
Thanks! You are right about me really wanting these little guys to hatch! The inside of the incubator smells bad, I know which egg is making it smell. When I candled the egg today, I saw veins and I thought I saw movement. I might have been imagining the movement, but the veins are definetly there! I don't know whether to chuck it or to keep it.

 

[70%cocoa]

Definitely take out any eggs that smell bad. If an egg smells bad then it has died and will not hatch, unfortunately. You don't want it cracking and oozing gunk into the incubator. You also want nice clean air in the bator for the other little ducklings to breathe when they finally get around to breathing air (once they pip the inner membrane).

It's not unusual for one or two eggs to die and stop developing and go yucky. I doesn't mean anything bad for the others (as long as you take it out ).

Fingers are crossed here for your hatch

 

[LissyB]

Thank you so much! If I lose 1 more egg after this one I won't have anymore so I am really stressing out now. We have 1 more left and if he doesn't hatch I will be super upset. I also heard that hatching time is when more ducklings die than at other times during incubation, this really stresses me out!

 

[70%cocoa]

I really do understand how stressful it is

Don't worry just yet though

Did you say that you originally had 7 eggs? Did the other 5 not make it to this stage?

 

[LissyB]

No, the others were early quitters, except for one. He was way ahead of the others. He was already at this stage when the others were at 7 days.

I don't know why this was, I think my duck started brooding at 4 or 5 eggs and he was one of the first, and these ones were later.

 

[70%cocoa]

Yes, he must just have been laid earlier and sat on for longer.

You have done well to get him to this stage. Just keep the humidity up (about 70%). How have you got the egg positioned? It's best to have it on its side. The air cell should be dipping down lower on one side of the egg than the other side - have that lower side facing upwards.

Are the two ducks in your avatar your Campbells, the parents of this egg?

 

[LissyB]

The eggs are positioned on their side, with the air- sack side slightly up higher than the other side, I read to do that in the book Storey's guide to Raising Ducks by Dave Holderread. My avatar is just a pic I found online that I thought is cute. I don't have any pics of my ducks that I can download onto the computer xD. I also wouldn't come up with the idea of dressing up little ducklings!

 

[LissyB]

Is the duckling in your avatar a Khaki Campbell? I'm really bad at determining breeds! Just started with ducks.