Hello--
Yeah, I would be worried about oil going into their bloodstream.
We have five little ducklings! I would post pictures, but I guess I can't do that yet since I'm a new member. They are peeping and twitching, but still have their eyes closed. I think maybe their eyes are a bit glued shut from the gross thick ick that was inside their shells. Could that be right?
Two of them are completely out of their shells. It took all night for them to absorb their yolk and for a marble-sized bubble to go down. I was so worried about it. One is now in that situation. The other two still have half their eggshell stuck to them, but the majority of their bodies are out. I'm sure they also have a lot of yolk to still absorb.
I finally slept for awhile, but now that I'm up, I can't stop staring at them and reading BYC posts.
My duck Beaker has decided that she wants to sit on her eggs. (I have the incubator/hatcher on a table above her nest box cubbyhole). She spends all day on her eggs, hasn't laid an egg in two days (she usually lays an egg a day), barely wants to swim in the bathtub (has access to it 24 hours a day and usually is in there many times a day), and didn't want to cuddle last night (loves to sleep on my pillow or close to my head). I think all the ducklings' peeping has messed with her hormones.
Again, that you everyone for all your help! I would have five ducklings today without you. Honestly.