My duckling has not hatched yet

[Katie_ducklings]

Hi guys,

My duckling has not hatched yet. Its day 29 and I know it can go over a day or 2 but it is doing some moving inside as the egg is wobbling but their is no external pipping or cracks. I'm just concerned that he cant get out. Its prob just me worrying over nothing but thought I would ask.

Thanks

 

[JaeG]

I'm sure it is fine. They are usually ok for around 24 hours from the time they internally pip to the point where they externally pip. Then they can take up to 48 hours to start unzipping. You can make a safety hole if you are worried they've been at the internally pipped stage for too long.

This is a very good article by an excellent member of the BYC community about assisted hatching - you might as well do something while you wait and it's worth a read so you are prepared if things don't go to plan:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

Good luck and I promise all this waiting and anxiety will be worth it.

 

[Katie_ducklings]

I'm sure it is fine. They are usually ok for around 24 hours from the time they internally pip to the point where they externally pip. Then they can take up to 48 hours to start unzipping. You can make a safety hole if you are worried they've been at the internally pipped stage for too long.

This is a very good article by an excellent member of the BYC community about assisted hatching - you might as well do something while you wait and it's worth a read so you are prepared if things don't go to plan:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

Good luck and I promise all this waiting and anxiety will be worth it.

Thank you. How do I tell if he has internally pip I dont want to assist if I dont have to. Am I just being over cautious? How long do you I should wait before I do a little hole my self? And how?

Sorry for all the questions.
Thank you so much for your help. X

 

[JaeG]

The article has instructions for making a safety hole (I've never done that before). You can do a quick candle to see if you can see a little shadow in the air cell seeing as it hasn't externally pipped yet. Keep the egg in the same position as it is lying in in the incubator while you do this. If there's a shadow in the air cell then that means it has pipped internally. If you do find it has pipped internally and are worried you can make a safety hole. Read through the instructions so you know exactly what you are doing. It won't hurt the baby but there's no point doing it if they haven't pipped internally yet.

Often eggs wriggle and wobble as the chick moves into the correct position in preparation for hatching. Has the wriggling stopped? The egg usually wiggles as the duckling/chick rotates then they might be still for a day or so before starting the hatching process. Candling is your way of determining what's going on so you can make a plan. As long as you aren't rocking and rolling the egg back and forth while you candle it will be fine.

I haven't hatched ducks yet - my Muscovy eggs are due to start hatching from Sunday onwards.