Mallard duck very small external pip

[nupek]

Hi everyone,

I would like to ask your opinion about the status of my duck hatching.
On the photo you can see the external pip after approximately 12h. Does it look correct? I'm quite worried as I expected a bigger hole, enough to see the bill but it is just a crack. At what time should I consider any intervention? How can I verify at this stage that everything is fine?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

 

[nupek]

12 more hours passed (so now it is 24h since I noticed the crack) and no progress, duckling still moving and chirping.

 

[nupek]

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I'm hatching Mallards for the first time but I have hatched a TON of chicks and it's perfectly normal to see the first pip you showed. They make internal pips through the membrane first and then pip through the exterior shell in order to let oxygen in, at this point it's very normal to see long breaks because it's this period of time that they're taking their first real breaths and slowly starting to absorb the yolk sac and blood from the surrounding veins in the membrane. I try not to open the incubator too much when I see external pips so that the membrane inside stays moist for their hatch.
As I mentioned I'm new to ducks but from my research they do seem to take much longer than chicks. As long as they're getting oxygen they will be fine. Did the chick pip through the membrane?

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Is this the last egg and the rest hatched successfully? Because that's another way I gauge when I feel it's time to step in. A single egg that's so far behind the rest may need assistance. This link will probably better describe anything I can explain if that's the case!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

 

[nupek]

Thank you, CluckNDoodle. This is an abandoned egg, I have no other eggs to compare to. I read the article you mentioned but I was not able to figure out whether I should or should not start any assistance as the ducks seem to naturally take longer to hatch. There is a very, very tiny hole in the membrane, not exactly where the beak is at the moment. This is certainly past 24h since the external pip happened.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Thank you, CluckNDoodle. This is an abandoned egg, I have no other eggs to compare to. I read the article you mentioned but I was not able to figure out whether I should or should not start any assistance as the ducks seem to naturally take longer to hatch. There is a very, very tiny hole in the membrane, not exactly where the beak is at the moment. This is certainly past 24h since the external pip happened.

The hardest part about assisting is knowing when it's time to do so. I try to keep reminding myself that as long as the chick is still getting oxygen, it will be ok. You'll have to decide when it's time to step in but I personally don't worry so much until I see some darkening of the membrane because that usually means it's starting to dry out and will be more difficult for the chick to hatch on its own. I'm attaching a picture of a couple of eggs from a past hatch of mine that were taking so long to hatch that the membrane darkened. I pulled back a little more of the shell without tearing the membrane and I was able to see that the pip hole was plenty large for them to breath and I waited for them to unzip before I actually popped that last little piece of dry membrane for them to finish hatching. I hope that makes sense. The second picture is what it will look like when they unzip. There will be some difference because you have a duckling but similar. Good luck!

 

[nupek]

CluckNDoodle, this was very helpful. Considering timing we decided to unpack the ticker area (where the air bubble used to be) and the membrane was indeed very dry, paper-like. I assumed it is better to wait for the duckling to finish getting out of remaining egg when he is ready, will keep checking periodically how it goes.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

CluckNDoodle, this was very helpful. Considering timing we decided to unpack the ticker area (where the air bubble used to be) and the membrane was indeed very dry, paper-like. I assumed it is better to wait for the duckling to finish getting out of remaining egg when he is ready, will keep checking periodically how it goes.

View attachment 1804577

That's definitely a snug and dry membrane. It probably won't be able to rotate properly because it's so dry so you may need to remove some of the membrane for it. It's almost shrink-wrapped. There are two membranes the white one you see and an inner membrane that has the blood vessels. If you carefully pull back just a little of the outer membrane you can use warm water on a q-tip to moisten the inner membrane and you'll be able to see if there are still darker blood vessels in which case you'll need to continue waiting before assisting further but I'm leaning toward that baby not being able to get out in it's own from the looks of it.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

If you see any blood STOP because that means that you're pulling on the internal membrane and also that it's not ready.