Pipping for days with no crack! Help!

[oliverj102]

hi there,

In short I've got a mummy duck sat on 7 eggs, 2 days ago she rolled an egg out her nest and it broke, when I looked it was full of a custard like goo and I disposed of it as it stank.

She is letting me check her eggs without much complaint and her eggs, at least half have taps comming from inside them for 48 hours now but no cracks seem to have appeared.... when should I get worked and consider helping them start the crack off?

 

[MommaHen2Many]

I'm guessing these are duck eggs? yes? not chicken eggs under a duck right...I'm not a duck person. @Ravynscroft can you help?

 

[oliverj102]

Yes these are call duck eggs under their mummy duck. They are on day 28 now. Last time they hatched on day 26 so I'm a little concerned for them

 

[Hybridchucks]

@chickens really

 

[chickens really]

That's a tough decision....Depending on your location and the humidity the eggs could be to hard for the Ducklings to break out?....Last week my Call Hen abandoned the nest as the first one was hatching...I also had eggs in my incubator and all were assisted hatches...Including the ones I had to bring in that my Hen refused to hatch....I candled and then had to help with the external pip because they could not get through the white membrane...I lost 4 before I realized the shells were too tough to break out of...I did hatch out 9 healthy Ducklings but it took hours to hatch them...You don't want to assist too early......I would hate to say start assisting and something goes wrong....

 

[oliverj102]

I'm checking them every hour just now and 2 have pipped the outer shell, I think they have anyway. This is the first time I've watched them. The shell has a small break in it but it seems to have been broken from the inside. A small part of the membrane is exposed but only a few mm wide if that.

If 2 have managed it will the rest be fairly ok?for the last 2 days I've been dripping warm water on them when I check them to make sure they are not too dry, and I hear them inside moving and chirping.

 

[chickens really]

Actually water does the opposite to eggs...It draws out the moisture so do not put anymore water on the eggs...Sounds good..Leave them alone now..It will take up to another 24 hours before they hatch...They rest lots during this stage as they absorb the yolk....

 

[chickens really]

Also if your planning on the Hen to raise these Ducklings you will have to back off a bit because your disturbance might make her abandon her eggs?...My Hen got scared once her eggs started hatching and was out foraging and would not return to the eggs so after an hour I took them inside...She never once went back to see the nest....

 

[oliverj102]

I plan to remove them yea. When she had ducklings last time she was very aggressive to the other ducks and ended up killing 2 ducklings by charging over them to other ducks.

So I'm hoping that if I raise them she will go back to the others within a week and be friendly. That's why I'm going out so much, I read that they can hear sound inside the egg so thought if they hear my voice every so often it might help.

I have to move her nest every night as somehow she is sliding it out of the duck house! She insisted in nesting in the door so the other ducks can't go to bed! They are living in a rabbit hutch at night until hatching a haha

 

[chickens really]

I wish you all the best with your hatch.....