Mallard Egg Advice?

[dotknott]

Keep candling. if you can positively ID that as the beak (IE with opening closing movements) then safety hole it.

 

[rescueduckies]

I'm glad I'm not the only one confused by what is going on in that egg! My boyfriend says that a few days before we pulled the rest of the eggs, he had checked under the broody hen and all the eggs were intact, so I'm guessing maybe it happened the night before we found the dead duckling and rescued the rest of them (the dent looked fresh when we found it). A dried out membrane was my guess, too, but if that was the case, I guess there wasn't/isn't a whole lot I can do. I candled the egg this morning, and i'm not seeing any movement anymore. I just hope that I didn't miss something that could have been fixed. I'll leave him in the bator for another day or so, until I can do the float test to see if anything is going on inside.

On another note, our third egg just pipped externally yesterday morning (around 10ish), but I have a question about that. Is it normal for the external pip to be the tiny bump of broken shell, but to have the membrane underneath still intact? The last duckling to hatch did the same thing, and after he hadn't made any progress for 36 hours, I ended up putting a hole in the membrane and having to do an assisted hatch (which went fine, btw. Wally's a happy and healthy baby duck!) Should I be worried about this guy, too? I know there is some gas exchange across the membrane, but I'm guessing it can't be enough to allow the guy inside to actually breathe for any length of time. How long do I wait with no progress before putting a hole in the membrane myself? The humidity has been between 78 and 88%, and the temp is holding steady at 98 degrees at the moment.

Thanks for your help!

 

[WVduckchick]

I wouldn't do a float test with a broken shell. I actually don't float test at all anymore. Its too easy to get false-negative results. A good flashlight is my best friend.

The current pip, a little bump is fine for a while. It will likely bump the shell again within 12 hours, but may not actually start to zip until 40+ hours from the original pip.

Just keep in mind, your eggs...your call! Its easy for me to sit here and say wait it out, but go with your gut instinct.

 

[WVduckchick]

One other thing, I personally wait 48 hours on most ducks. (chickens are different). I would have a tough time culling a duck for a problem that I caused by helping too soon, or doing something wrong, so I'd rather wait until I feel sure everything is absorbed. Ducks are slow and test out patience big time.

Just my 3 cents...

 

[rescueduckies]

Yeah, seems like you wait FOREVER to see that little crack in the shell, and then you have to wait FOREVER again to see it zip and FOREVER again to see it hatch! He is very vocal, I can hear him cheeping away in there!

Thanks for the feedback, I think I just needed someone to remind me that ducks can take their time and to tell me to relax!

 

[rescueduckies]

Still no movement today in the dented egg. I'm thinking it's probably time to call it.

On a much happier note, this little guy arrived sometime during the night!



He is super vocal, and a feisty little thing! BTW, the last time I candled him, this is what I saw:



Note the duckie foot!

 

[WVduckchick]

Sorry about the dented one, but what a cutie that little guy is!! And that's an awesome candle pic too! Little webbies!!

:yiipchick