New to ducklings! Need help

DaniellyB

Chirping
Dec 19, 2021
60
174
86
Battle Ground, WA
Hey all! Been browsing this site for all sorts of answers and I love this place! Anyway, this is my first set of ducks, Muscovy, I have incubated (made many mistakes along the way....).
Not going to list them all but one was using an automatic turner. Wayyy too small for our large eggs. That being said, we have now had 2 pip on the wrong end.
A different egg (Big Mama) hatched on December 17th late at night (assisted pipped through wrong end) and is doing fine, just a little weak on one side. Another (Lola) hatched out of the correct end and is great! Even though technically she is 2 days early.
The one who pipped the wrong end is still wiggling around but the layer under the shell looks really crusty and yellow. I'm worried it's not getting enough air now. I know ducks take a while but we already lost one a few days ago and I really want to do everything I can to help these babies since I gave them a bad start with my automatic turner :(

Pic is Big Mama (yellow) and Lola (black).
 

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Hey all! Been browsing this site for all sorts of answers and I love this place! Anyway, this is my first set of ducks, Muscovy, I have incubated (made many mistakes along the way....).
Not going to list them all but one was using an automatic turner. Wayyy too small for our large eggs. That being said, we have now had 2 pip on the wrong end.
A different egg (Big Mama) hatched on December 17th late at night (assisted pipped through wrong end) and is doing fine, just a little weak on one side. Another (Lola) hatched out of the correct end and is great! Even though technically she is 2 days early.
The one who pipped the wrong end is still wiggling around but the layer under the shell looks really crusty and yellow. I'm worried it's not getting enough air now. I know ducks take a while but we already lost one a few days ago and I really want to do everything I can to help these babies since I gave them a bad start with my automatic turner :(

Pic is Big Mama (yellow) and Lola (black).
Welcome to BYC! Do you have any poultry electrolytes? I would mix some up and dip those little ones' bills in it. If you don't have any electrolytes use sugar water. Weaker babies can benefit greatly from that extra boost.
Did you happen to calibrate an additional thermometer and salt test a hygrometer to keep inside during incubation? This is an extremely important, easy step that will make the difference between a good hatch and a bad hatch. Most people have no idea how crucial it is to do this unfortunately though.
The thermometers built in to incubators are almost always incorrect.
For the dry membrane, you can apply oil as Dobie said, which would definitely help. I'm not a huge fan of doing that though just because of how greasy it makes everything, even if you just use a tiny bit.
What is your humidity currently at? If you don't have an additional hygrometer to calibrate you'll want to get one asap, but until then just raise the humidity as much as you can.
What kind of incubator is this and how many unhatched eggs are left?
 
Hey all! Been browsing this site for all sorts of answers and I love this place! Anyway, this is my first set of ducks, Muscovy, I have incubated (made many mistakes along the way....).
Not going to list them all but one was using an automatic turner. Wayyy too small for our large eggs. That being said, we have now had 2 pip on the wrong end.
A different egg (Big Mama) hatched on December 17th late at night (assisted pipped through wrong end) and is doing fine, just a little weak on one side. Another (Lola) hatched out of the correct end and is great! Even though technically she is 2 days early.
The one who pipped the wrong end is still wiggling around but the layer under the shell looks really crusty and yellow. I'm worried it's not getting enough air now. I know ducks take a while but we already lost one a few days ago and I really want to do everything I can to help these babies since I gave them a bad start with my automatic turner :(

Pic is Big Mama (yellow) and Lola (black).
Muscovy are notoriously hard to incubate and hatch successfully. So, you've done great even with your mistakes. 👍
This is a great guide on when to assist. There is a section on malpositions.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/
 
The oily kind or the jar kind where its chunky (sorry if that sounded dumb) 😅
I know this isn't directed towards me but it would be better to just up the humidity. Coconut oil is good in a pinch but it will make everything, including the chick, very greasy. They have a tough time fluffing up well if they're greasy at all.
Did you see my post above?
 

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