New to ducklings! Need help

[DaniellyB]

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/

Thank you! Lots of great info there.

 

[DaniellyB]

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?

Ok well here comes my epic fails.. first the automatic turner. Then.. it had a malfunction and was out for close to 12 hours just about a week or so ago (( thankfully the store replaced it for me ASAP.
Humidity is at 83% right now.

 

[DaniellyB]

Ok well here comes my epic fails.. first the automatic turner. Then.. it had a malfunction and was out for close to 12 hours just about a week or so ago (( thankfully the store replaced it for me ASAP.
Humidity is at 83% right now.

They are a little early so I'm still waiting for their niacin and nutrient stuff in the mail will be here tomorrow though

 

[DaniellyB]

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?

 

[DaniellyB]

View attachment 2934137

Another fail... since its my first set of ducks, some are set to hatch within a day or two of one another (was too excited and popped them in instead of gathering and waiting to put in at the same time) There are 4 more I believe.. except one has a REALLY dark spot on the shell. I think its gone

 

[MGG]

Ok well here comes my epic fails.. first the automatic turner. Then.. it had a malfunction and was out for close to 12 hours just about a week or so ago (( thankfully the store replaced it for me ASAP.
Humidity is at 83% right now.

Honestly, that's not really a big deal at all. Don't worry about it! Turning is not very important after the first week. After the first week the embryo can move freely and won't get stuck to the shell. So I'm sure that it being out wouldn't have hurt anything at all. I quit turning after day 10 sometimes, I have to hand turn and it's too much work to hand turn 30+ eggs if it's not really necessary. It hasn't affected my hatch rates at all. If you can keep turning them then by all means, that's great, it helps them to develop evenly. But it's just not too big of a deal if you don't.
Do you have a salt tested hygrometer in there that you're getting this reading from?

 

[DaniellyB]

Honestly, that's not really a big deal at all. Don't worry about it! Turning is not very important after the first week. After the first week the embryo can move freely and won't get stuck to the shell. So I'm sure that it being out wouldn't have hurt anything at all. I quit turning after day 10 sometimes, I have to hand turn and it's too much work to hand turn 30+ eggs if it's not really necessary. It hasn't affected my hatch rates at all. If you can keep turning them then by all means, that's great, it helps them to develop evenly. But it's just not too big of a deal if you don't.
Do you have a salt tested hygrometer in there that you're getting this reading from?

Oh! Awesome then
It has a reader on it. I posted a picture of the box

 

[MGG]

They are a little early so I'm still waiting for their niacin and nutrient stuff in the mail will be here tomorrow though

They won't need that until they start eating and drinking anyway, which won't be for a few days. You should be all good.

 

[MGG]

Oh! Awesome then
It has a reader on it. I posted a picture of the box

I saw that, it looks like a Little Giant? Those are decent incubators so that's good.
As I mentioned earlier, those readers are usually wayyy off and can't be relied on at all. Mine has a built-in reader too. The temperature reader is three degrees off, which makes a MAJOR difference in incubation, and the built-in hygrometer is over 20% off. I don't even look at it because it's so ridiculously off. This is why at least one separate, calibrated thermometer and a salt tested hygrometer are necessary. It's very easy to calibrate them yourself and will make all the difference in incubation.
So before hatching again be sure to get one, it's the most important thing there is to having a successful hatch. Unfortunately it's frequently overlooked though because the factory set thermometers that are built in to the incubators are just thought to be correct when in reality it would be almost impossible to find one that is really, truly accurate.

 

[DaniellyB]

They won't need that until they start eating and drinking anyway, which won't be for a few days. You should be all good.

One more question with pic... here is the duckling pipping the wrong side. Still moving around and pokes its beak out. No chirps yet. He seems stuck! They are HUGE eggs.
The one next to it has pipped but the correct end.