We had our first duckling hatch today. He had a small bit of egg attached to him via what I am assuming was his umbilical cord. He just laid around all day on his side. When we picked him up his head was really floppy. Jacob pulled the egg shell off this afternoon which I'm guessing probably wasn't a good idea. I checked on him tonight and he still isn't moving around. He kind of lays on his side and twitches around. He's got a bit of something hanging from his bottom - solid, not yolk. I did get him to drink a little water and he may have been able to get a couple little bits of food down. He is not able to stand and if there isn't anything under his feet they twitch. Still no real muscle control with his neck. He's in the incubator still. We've got a brooder, but the chicks will probably kill the poor little guy. This is the first duckling we've hatched. Well, actually he was in the barn being incubated by momma duck. He's part Cayuga and part Mallard. Just the cutest little thing. Is there anything else we can do for him? I'm hoping he'll be doing better in the morning.
I've never hatched ducks, though I have had some and have 4 right now. Perhaps some of our more experienced members will chime in. Best of luck.
Keeping him warm - offering food and water is about all you realy can do at this stage- If he is strong enough to make it through the night it is a good sign. Sometimes they hatch very weak and some extra rest is all that is needed before they perk up on their own. If you have some vitamins you could add that to its water to try to give it a little boost. Hope the little guy pulls through for you.
lots of times mine will act like that for quite a few hours after hatch-it seems every time I go to bed and wake up I find them up and starting to move around. I just leave them alone anymore for the most part. Hope everything goes ok
The little guy is still alive. I gave him some more water. He's still flopping and unable to stand but at least whatever is on his bottom is nearly gone - which I'm hoping is a good sign. Now if only his nest mates would hurry up and make an appearance. We found a duckling that looked like had either hatched or was about to hatch in the nest that was mostly out of the shell and dead. Ana said she saw one of our Runners stomping around on the nest. Since momma ducks were off the nest and I feared for the safety of any other ducklings we went thru the eggs and found three that we brought inside and put in the incubator. In two of the eggs I could hear the ducklings. When we candled the other egg we saw the little ducky beak moving around the air sac. I checked the eggs this morning and nothing has changed. I can still hear little sounds from two of the eggs but they haven't even pipped yet. Ugh! This is even worse than waiting for chicks to hatch!
