Mallard Egg no sign of external pip

[somachak]

The hole is on the wider end as far as I can see , but facing towards the bottom of the incubator.
the temptation is between 36.5-36.8 , humidity between 72-75%

 

[somachak]

Thank you ! I wish I could share the video, the hole is so small, I can't make out that its chewing, but what looks like the dark line / crack in the exposed part of the duckling is 'breathing','heaving'... I wish I could explain it better lol.. fingers crossed it hatches ok, else I'll go nuts

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Thank you ! I wish I could share the video, the hole is so small, I can't make out that its chewing, but what looks like the dark line / crack in the exposed part of the duckling is 'breathing','heaving'... I wish I could explain it better lol.. fingers crossed it hatches ok, else I'll go nuts

If you have a YouTube account
You can upload it there then share the link

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

@WVduckchick
The membrane does look a little dark
But I have tagged somebody who is very good at assisting and will know if it’s okay
How long has it been now since external pip ?

 

[somachak]

How long since you noticed the first external pip
I do think it’s breathing fast and you should be seeing some cracking
If it’s been over 48 since first external pip I would say start to take some shell in the direction they would zip
Look for veins in the inner membrane
Use coconut oil or Vaseline to wet the membrane using a q tip
Be gentle not to rip it
If no veins at all then peel more back
Continue unless you see veins then stop
And just keep membrane moist

Thank you , it’s been roughly 37 hours since the 1st pip which was around 2am on the 27th . I dearly hope it doesn’t come to it ,fingers crossed . So the dark thing vibrating in the video is the membrane and it’s moving because the duckling is breathing through it ?

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Thank you , it’s been roughly 37 hours since the 1st pip which was around 2am on the 27th . I dearly hope it doesn’t come to it ,fingers crossed . So the dark thing vibrating in the video is the membrane and it’s moving because the duckling is breathing through it ?

Yes that is baby breathing
It’s hard to know when is the right time to help
How big was it’s air cell ?
How long after internal to external did it take
The reason I ask
If air cell was smaller baby will external faster as the air is less but take longer from external to zip
If air cell is large baby may take longer then 24 hours to external as it has plenty of air but be faster from external to zip
Baby is pretty low down in the air cell so I’m thinking more of a smaller air cell
But that’s a guess you can see the air cell so will know better

 

[somachak]

Yes that is baby breathing
It’s hard to know when is the right time to help
How big was it’s air cell ?
How long after internal to external did it take
The reason I ask
If air cell was smaller baby will external faster as the air is less but take longer from external to zip
If air cell is large baby may take longer then 24 hours to external as it has plenty of air but be faster from external to zip
Baby is pretty low down in the air cell so I’m thinking more of a smaller air cell
But that’s a guess you can see the air cell so will know better

Right OK, so air cell was pretty big but its a small egg . And you are right the baby did take longer than 24 hours to pip externally from internal , and I was quite worried about that. But it really has made very little/ no progress since the 1st external pip ( which was 37 hrs ago) and the 2nd one that was 29 hrs ago

 

[somachak]

Thanks , let me try that, so its ok not take it out from the incubator quickly ? inspect it and put the egg back with the pip on top?

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

We’re you able to see what the inner membrane looked like ?
In the video it’s hard to tell

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I couldn’t see one or I failed to identify one . The moment I peeled out the outer membrane near the pip , a beak came gushing out , so dark inside , I am a bit scared to inspect further . If nothing develops for another 10 hrs am I ok to intervene?

Yes if nothing happens I would start to slowly peel shell in the direction of where the zip would be then check the inner membrane for veins
But I would let @WVduckchick have a chance to see that last video
You can also now watch the beak for chewing and yawning motions
If baby is doing those it’s still absorbing
If it’s just breathing and not doing the others then it’s most likely ready
Hopefully he is able to start zipping when ready
It’s much less stressful to watch them hatch naturally