Please help! Overdue duck with no sign of pipping. Warning! Graphic images

[K33sha]

I have been incubating an abandoned duck egg. I'm completely new at this, but I've done hours of research about how to incubate eggs. This website has helped a lot! Up until hatch time my egg has been developing fine. I had two to begin with, but two weeks ago one of them started sweating out a sticky amber colored fluid..after reading up on it I figured it was dead..so I'm down to one. We are at day 30 and there's no sign of internal pipping. I've done the float test..it floats fine..with just the air cell above water..but now when I candle I don't really see movement. I'm worried the little guy might be stuck or malpositioned. My question is what should I do now? I've read a few threads that talk about putting a small hole in the air cell to check for life..or to assist hatching..if he is that overdue..is this a good idea? If nothing else, just to know forsure if he is alive! I just want him to make it so bad! If I do, and he is alive..what should I do from there? Should I leave it alone..or try to find the beak and remove the membrane from the beak so he can breath if there isn't veins on the membrane? I just need someone to walk me through this process. I feel like time is against us with him being so overdue. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm so worried!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

I have never hatched ducks before, hopefully someone will chime in here soon. Good luck!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Ravynscroft or @WVduckchick

 

[Ravynscroft]

Can you post a pic of the egg being candled? Did the air cell dip down? (Become drastically slanted?)...

Personally, I would not assist without an internal pip first...

 

[WVduckchick]

x2 Ravyns comments.

also, did the egg "move" on its own in the water, or just float? I personally don't care for the float test anymore, because all it can definitely prove is life. IF the egg moves independently, then the chick is still alive. Any non movement, sinking, floating, etc doesn't prove life or death one way or the other.

 

[K33sha]

Yes, the air cell does dip down on one side pretty far..as time went on it got further and further down on that one side. I can attempt to take a pic while candling, but I'm not sure how well it will work. No moving around when I do float test..just kinda bobs with the water. After being this long overdue, is there really any hope? Will he die from being stuck in there too long? That's wht I'm worried about is him being stuck and slowly dying.. that's all I can think about! If there's not much chance in him surviving after it being this long..I was going to make the hole to at least check for life for certain because candling him isn't helping any. There's no movement except little flickers that I'm not sure if they are him or just the light bouncing around. I will work on the pictures now..

 

[WVduckchick]

if your temps were low, there is still a possibility of it being alive. So tell us some specifics.
- Are you sure you counted the days correctly? Not meaning to be rude, trust me, it happens often. The first 24 hours is day 0, not day 1. Day 1 starts after the first 24 hours.
- what kind of incubator are you using? Brand, fan or no fan?
- what temp and humidity did you run throughout this process?
- did you do any misting? (not necessary, just asking)
- what breed of duck?
- do you have extra thermometers/hygrometers and have they been verified for accuracy?

sorry for all the questions, but some of the answers may help us determine which way to go from here.

 

[K33sha]

I started incubating may 5th. And to be honest, I don't have an incubator..I wasn't expecting to be fostering the egg and wasn't very prepared so I worked with what I had. I'm just an animal lover and couldn't stand to leave the egg for dead..I created a homemade incubator with a container, heat lamp, and bowl of water for humitidy. I don't have a hydrometer..but I do have a forehead scan thermometer I've been checking the temp of the egg daily. Up until about may 30th the temp stayed between 98-99* since then it's been between 96-97* and I put extra water in for added humidity. I also kept the aircell side facing up some not flat on its side..but slanted up some. and turned the egg 3x daily up until the 30th, when I lowered temp and raised the humidity (by putting an extra bowl of water in) not by any exact measurement. Ever since I have kept the side where the air cell dips down lower facing up and have not turned it. I have also been misting the eggs a couple times daily. I've tried to follow instructions from websites exactly as best I could. I'm not sure the breed. The mom was a small dark colored duck..not very fancy looking or colorful..maybe a mallard? I'm in Ohio if location matters. I'm sorry about how homemade an unprofessional this whole process has been..I wish I could have been more prepared and at least had a real incubator. I'm glad your asking me all these questions..I need as much help and feedback as I can get! I should have came here sooner..maybe I would have had a better chance at saving the little guy or gals life! If I left anything out..let me kno! I want to do whatever I can to keep this duck alive! I've invested so much time and worry into him already..I hoped it would go more smoothly. Should it be moving a lot while candling?, bc it's really not..but it has to be cramped in there!

 

[WVduckchick]

Don't apologize! You did fine! If it made it this long, you at least gave it a chance it wouldn't have otherwise had!
Ok, so I'm going to guess that your temperature was a little low. Somewhere there is a chart about external vs. internal temps, but i don't know where right now. i think it's a bit lower inside than than the outside reads, but i can't remember the amount.
anyway, i had a 2-day power outage in the middle of a duck hatch and they didn't hatch until day 31-32. 3 of them celebrated their 2nd birthday a few months ago!
low temps can cause delays and can possibly cause developmental issues, but let's get thru the hatch first. i think you just need to wait a couple more days. You can stop the misting (normally stop on day 24ish) and try keeping the temp and humidity as stable as possible.
if you candled and the egg looks full dark, that's a good sign. Movement is not very apparent this late along, so honestly, as long as it doesn't start to stink, I'd leave it for a couple more days.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Yup, I second what WV said... and does sound like temps were a bit low (not judging, you worked with what you had)... but that can definitely extend the time before hatching...

I wouldn't give up hope, another member just hatched a mallard last week that was waaay overdue and he used a heating pad to keep his egg warm...