mothers going to kill ducklings... Externally pipped!!! Please help!

[animalz11]

Well of course the mamas are going to eat the chick feed they get hungry . be sure to put out more chick feed after all ducklings have hatched they are usually hungry after a couple of days.
Have any more hatched yet? and honest its okay for mamas to eat the chick feed.

No more have hatched yet "Popcorn" (friend insisted on the name) is the one who has started cracking around his shell and another one has externally pipped and the other one has internally pipped but is pecking on the shell... because all of the eggs were put in a different times and when they got put in, the ducks would sit on them all eggs are at different stages of development, the one that is hatching now was one of the first laid by the Rouens (this one and the one that has externally pipped were laid the same day) but they are sitting on and egg who still has it's spider veins... I was hopeing that one mum would take the duckling while the other sat. But now I'm not so sure if it would work this way...

 

[animalz11]

Ducklings should have free access to feed for at least the first 2 weeks. You should leave food down all the time.

Ok, I'll go out now and put some more in.
Thank you all so much for you help!

 

[animalz11]

Duckling hatched! Very wobbly but that's expected...
I didn't really listen to the "leave it alone" bit... I thought I would just go out there and take some photos, but I couldn't help myself, I owuld talk to it and everytime I talked it would try harder so it ended up hatching on my hand, I figured all 3 of us took part in this duckling, Daffyn incubated it, I hatched it and now Daffy is keeping it warm...
I have some amazing photos! If only I could figure out how to get them from my phone to my computer...

 

[Miss Lydia]

Congrats on the duckling.. It's so exciting, but let me give a little warning, every time you take the egg out from under the mamas you risk the duckling inside the egg getting shrink wrapped which means the membrane can dry out and the baby won't be able to open it and it can die. Unless there is an emergency I would leave the eggs alone and let the mamas do the hatching they have the perfect humidity to keep the eggs hatching just right. Sure do look forward to seeing pics when they all hatch. and about the food. When the mamas finish with the hatching they will show the ducklings where the food and water is, they won't eat all the food unless your not putting out enough, you have to remember your going to be feeding 2 adult ducks and possibly 12 ducklings so your going to need alot of chick feed out 24/7 with fresh water continuously too.

 

[animalz11]

Congrats on the duckling.. It's so exciting, but let me give a little warning, every time you take the egg out from under the mamas you risk the duckling inside the egg getting shrink wrapped which means the membrane can dry out and the baby won't be able to open it and it can die. Unless there is an emergency I would leave the eggs alone and let the mamas do the hatching they have the perfect humidity to keep the eggs hatching just right. Sure do look forward to seeing pics when they all hatch. and about the food. When the mamas finish with the hatching they will show the ducklings where the food and water is, they won't eat all the food unless your not putting out enough, you have to remember your going to be feeding 2 adult ducks and possibly 12 ducklings so your going to need alot of chick feed out 24/7 with fresh water continuously too.

Ok, no more egg taking them. But it is so rewarding to have a duckling hatch on my hand, also when a part of them membrane did look a bit dry I dabbed a tiny bit of water on it as I read about that woman who hatched 2 chickens out of 1 egg... I also pipped one egg because the baby had been tapping the egg for about a day and had brokn the shell but not the membrane so I just ripped the membrane so it could breath then I left the rest up to the duckling...
I really wish I could figure out how to transfer the pictures from my phone to my laptop. I need to get a micro SD card converter... but where on Earth do I get one of those?
I filled up a small container full of the chick feed and I went to check on them yesterday and the first duckling was running around with one of the ducks while the other kept the newer one warm (he;s still a but wobbly to be running around).
I don't think all of the eggs will hatch, some arn't even fertile but don't smell bad and I don't want to take them away because I'm trying ot improve my relationship with the ducks and they get awefully mad when I take the eggs, even the fake ones.
What I can't understand is why they kick the bad eggs out the nest but not the fake ones! Crazy ducks...
When I held the hatching egg up to the mums ear she was about to reach and put it under her, but when it started peeping she just put her ear up to it and listened, and so did the other mumma duck, then they all started having a conversation to the duckling in the egg... so funny!
Also I change the water everyday so that's not a problem...

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ok, no more egg taking them. But it is so rewarding to have a duckling hatch on my hand, also when a part of them membrane did look a bit dry I dabbed a tiny bit of water on it as I read about that woman who hatched 2 chickens out of 1 egg... I also pipped one egg because the baby had been tapping the egg for about a day and had brokn the shell but not the membrane so I just ripped the membrane so it could breath then I left the rest up to the duckling...
I really wish I could figure out how to transfer the pictures from my phone to my laptop. I need to get a micro SD card converter... but where on Earth do I get one of those?
I filled up a small container full of the chick feed and I went to check on them yesterday and the first duckling was running around with one of the ducks while the other kept the newer one warm (he;s still a but wobbly to be running around).
I don't think all of the eggs will hatch, some arn't even fertile but don't smell bad and I don't want to take them away because I'm trying ot improve my relationship with the ducks and they get awefully mad when I take the eggs, even the fake ones.
What I can't understand is why they kick the bad eggs out the nest but not the fake ones! Crazy ducks...
When I held the hatching egg up to the mums ear she was about to reach and put it under her, but when it started peeping she just put her ear up to it and listened, and so did the other mumma duck, then they all started having a conversation to the duckling in the egg... so funny!
Also I change the water everyday so that's not a problem...

Most likely the bad eggs have a certain smell and too they aren't talking either, the fake eggs don't do anything. Just a guess. I hope you can figure out how to post pics we love to see pics they sound adorable. So 2 have hatched so far right? any more pips?

 

[Kleonaptra]

I could not take the pressure! Id steal some for me...I know I can raise ducks successfully in my home made brooder, Ive waited so long, Id leave the girls with a couple and steal some for me! No way I could leave my clumsy big girls alone with an external pip!

 

[animalz11]

Most likely the bad eggs have a certain smell and too they aren't talking either, the fake eggs don't do anything. Just a guess. I hope you can figure out how to post pics we love to see pics they sound adorable. So 2 have hatched so far right? any more pips?

Yeah, they do really smell...
I don't know why they don't kick out the fake eggs... one time they kicked out a fertile egg and this egg was the 3rd egg that hatched, I was going to throw it away and trust the ducks judgement but lucky I candled it and decided to put it back under, my assumption is that the live egg was nect to the bad egg and it picked up the smell...

Also I figured out how to get the pics on, spent 2 hours trying to figure it out then it clicked that the phone had a micro SD card so I just had to plug it in to a converter and Vella!

 

[animalz11]

I could not take the pressure! Id steal some for me...I know I can raise ducks successfully in my home made brooder, Ive waited so long, Id leave the girls with a couple and steal some for me! No way I could leave my clumsy big girls alone with an external pip!

Well.. I'd love to take some but my parents are sepperated so mum would have to take care of the ducklings when I'm at dads and she's not exacally the best person to specifically take care of ducklings who at least need someone who will know what to do. So I'd rather trust the mums who know what to do...

 

[animalz11]

Real Mum: and Dad in background...


Foster mums (Daffyn & Daffy) left to right.

First duckling who was unfortunately killed. Such a charm.

First duckling.... Popcorn...

Second duckling... no name as yet.

I also have a video of the duckling hatching... so I'll see if I can them them on YouTube and post a link...