Membrane drying out whilst hatching

[smbanks80]

I've had several perfectly healthy babies die because I helped...and several perfectly healthy babies die because I didn't help. I have learned a lot throughout that process. It's very sad either way. Here are a few things Ive learned to help prevent that type of trauma/unnecessary death.

1. As long as the duckling can breathe thru the hole, it will be okay. No need to rush. Have patience in knowing that hatching eggs in an incubator isn't a natural process & that there are going to be variations in how each duckling hatches.

2. You can use a clean paintbrush dipped in warm sterile water to moisten it's little bill & membrane around it's face. Be careful not to get water up it's nose or it could drown (happened to me = very sad). Put egg in incubator where it has freedom to roll & move while attempting to hatch.

3. Duckling needs time to fully absorb the yolk sac into its abdomen before fully hatching or will likely bleed to death if you peel back the soft inner membrane. The trouble with this is that you can't tell if the yolk sac has been fully absorbed & if the the ducklings abdomen is closed from outside of the shell. Blood vessels dry up & deattach from the ducklings abdomen after yolk is absorbed & hole in abdomen closes up. These blood vessels can easily be broken by your hands when messing with the inner membrane. ( I made that mistake last year & several of our beautiful ducklings bled to death within minutes!)

4. If baby hasn't made progress after a day or two, you can carefully peel back the top half of the HARD shell with your fingernails a little at a time, while being very careful not to rupture inner membrane.

5. STOP halfway down the egg, so the lower half of the shell, where the baby's rump would be, remains covered with hard shell. Moisten exposed inner membrane. Return to incubator.

WHY is this important?
Any remaining yolk sac & major blood vessels will be in the area between the ducklings legs. Once the duckling naturally breaks through the part of the soft inner membrane that you exposed, you will be able to see if the duckling still has yolk sac left to absorb.

If so, that hard shell around the babys bottom will support the yolk sac & blood vessels, until the ducklings abdomen is fully closed.

Removing the entire hard shell makes it easy for the duckling to bust out of the entire inner membrane before yolk sac is fully absorbed. When this happens, the duckling will be left to drag around the entire inner membrane while it is still attached to it's open abdomen, leaving it vulnerable to infection & rupture (bleeding to death through severed vessels).

If this happens, wrap a sterile gauze around the lower half of the duckling, return to incubator & closely monitor for the next couple days. No food necessary. It's getting it's nutrition through the yolk sac. You could cause harm if you attempt to feed it at this time.

6. If accidental rupture of blood vessels occur, you can carefully tie off the ducklings umbilical cord with dental floss. You must be quick. It will bleed to death in seconds & will go into shock from being so cold. A warm hairdryer nearby helps or heating pad. Do not lay new baby ducklings on heating pad with lid unsupervised. It will cook them/kill them. Very sad.

Aside from these unsettling lessons Ive learned over the years, I enjoy the process of bringing new life into the world. Ducks are adorable creatures & a joy to have. Good luck!

i hope I'm replying in the right place. i just lost my first baby duckling from helping too early. very flippin sad. they go from life to lifeless within a minute. the white membrane you're seeing is looking leathery because it's exposed to air & dried up. just make sure the baby's bill is exposed so it can breathe. and don't peel anything back if it appears to have blood vessels in it. there is a thin jelly like layer under the white leathery part that contains blood vessels. if you sever any of them the chick can quickly bleed to death. use a soft paintbrush dipped in warm water to gently moisten and stretch membrane from around ducks face. if any bleeding occurs stop immediately. blow drying can help with clotting but it can suffocate the baby if blown up nostrils & in face for too long. keep the dryer gently moving & no high heat. best to give it more time than less time in the egg. as long as incubator is properly ventilated & bill exposed it can breathe. poor hatch is likely to do with humidity so use warm water on paint brush to moisten inner membrane gently without tearing but don't increase humidity in incubator without increasing ventilation. will suffocate.

 

[smbanks80]

Thanks.

Well we got the egg out and the membrane was dry. We picked some shell off and the membrane wasn't attached and we couldn't see blood vessels. But there seemed to be another clear layer over the duckling, some of which we removed.

When we put it back in, it seems to have gone whitish. Should we get it back out and pick more off?

This is my first hatch, but my feeling is that it's ready to come out.

not sure if i replied in the right place so am copying & pasting my response here too. i hope I'm replying in the right place. i just lost my first baby duckling from helping too early. very flippin sad. they go from life to lifeless within a minute. the white membrane you're seeing is looking leathery because it's exposed to air & dried up. just make sure the baby's bill is exposed so it can breathe. and don't peel anything back if it appears to have blood vessels in it. there is a thin jelly like layer under the white leathery part that contains blood vessels. if you sever any of them the chick can quickly bleed to death. use a soft paintbrush dipped in warm water to gently moisten and stretch membrane from around ducks face. if any bleeding occurs stop immediately. blow drying can help with clotting but it can suffocate the baby if blown up nostrils & in face for too long. keep the dryer gently moving & no high heat. best to give it more time than less time in the egg. as long as incubator is properly ventilated & bill exposed it can breathe. poor hatch is likely to do with humidity so use warm water on paint brush to moisten inner membrane gently without tearing but don't increase humidity in incubator without increasing ventilation. will suffocate