Please help!! call ducklings dying during hatch

[MotherDucker3]

I started with 7 eggs, all fertile and all were growing and developing fine. 3 days ago I candled and 2 of the eggs had died and stopped growing, no veins and the inside was yellow. There 2 both had much smaller airsacs then the rest so I’m assuming that is why they died? I removed those 2 and put the remaining 5 in lockdown. Yesterday I candled in the morning and 3 had internally pipped (I’m not sure exactly when they pipped) so I put in safety holes and noticed one actually had a very small external pip. I left them alone for the next 12 hours. When I checked on them last night, one had a bruise, for some reason he turned around in the egg (but was in air cell) and suffocated. This freaked me out so I chipped away at the air cell in theother 2 with safety holes and applied Vaseline. They were both chewing and very active. I went to bed and woke up 3 hours later to check on them and they were fine. Then this morning when I checked there was no movement in egg 2 and upon further inspection he was dead .
I pulled away the membrane on egg 1 this morning (no more veins) and he popped his head and foot out, I then left him in the incubator and he eventually pushed out of the egg. He seems to be doing good, pretty active walking around and chirping. Egg number 5 seems to have died now too, so I am left with one more egg that has a safety hole. I am very disappointed with the outcome of my hatch as everything seemed to be going well. I know the first duckling died from suffocation because he turned around, but any idea on the other 2? They were able to breath, they were not shrink wrapped, I have no idea why 3 died. . I followed the instructions for call duck assisted hatches so I’m at a loss and could use advise on how to give this last egg the best chance at surviving. Attached are photos of egg 1 (who successfully hatched with assistance) and egg 2 who died this morning, photo was taken last night

 

[cornbread4jen]

We have hatched a couple batches of ducks (and we do not know anything about any of it... I just joined this page!) But we found out the hard way that you should not open the incubator once the egg has a crack. Apparently, according to google, it messes with the humidity/temperature and other factors. So we had 3 hatch and 2 had cracked the shell and we could only see the beak. but since the 3 had been running around for a couple of days we opened it up to take them out so we could feed and water them. Long story short, the other 2 did not make it. One of them died in the shell and the other hatched completely but was deformed and died 2 later as he could never stand. When I googled it - basically it said when we opened it it negatively affected the process they go thru. So if you have been opening the incubator once they are starting to hatch - that may be what is happening.

 

[MotherDucker3]

We have hatched a couple batches of ducks (and we do not know anything about any of it... I just joined this page!) But we found out the hard way that you should not open the incubator once the egg has a crack. Apparently, according to google, it messes with the humidity/temperature and other factors. So we had 3 hatch and 2 had cracked the shell and we could only see the beak. but since the 3 had been running around for a couple of days we opened it up to take them out so we could feed and water them. Long story short, the other 2 did not make it. One of them died in the shell and the other hatched completely but was deformed and died 2 later as he could never stand. When I googled it - basically it said when we opened it it negatively affected the process they go thru. So if you have been opening the incubator once they are starting to hatch - that may be what is happening.

It’s true that you should not open the incubator, but call ducks are a little different. They are miniature ducks and have short bills and necks which makes it difficult for them to hatch un assisted (can’t reach the shell to crack egg). They almost always need help hatching. It’s a tough situation because you are completely right, the incubator should remain shut to keep the temperature and humidity right. But usually they don’t even get past internally popping if you don’t assist them, they can suffocate in the egg. They have such low hatch rates for this reason. I guess I should just be happy at least one precious baby hatched. I’m still holding out hope for this last egg