jduckymomma
In the Brooder
- Aug 9, 2019
- 35
- 45
- 44
I have been posting to one of my previous threads without response. I am trying desperately to save two remaining late hatchers that my mother duck abandoned after her first 5 hatched. Honestly, I just want to know that I have someone to bounce things off of who understands a little about hatching eggs. This is the first time I have ever let my ducks sit a clutch, and I don't own an incubator or know anything about hatching eggs. I currently have them in a cooler, wrapped in an old shirt under a very warm desk lamp with a cup of water in there for humidity. I put a thermometer in there and it is hovering between 98 and 100 degrees, but I can't keep it very steady, so I am just watching carefully and opening and closing the lid to cool or heat it when the temp wavers too far.
One of the eggs doesn't look like it will survive. It had an air cell that took about 50% of the egg all the way down one side lengthwise. The entire membrane and sack containing the embryo has detached from the shell at this point and rolls around loosely inside. I tried to pop open a small hole on the air cell side to see what was going on inside and the shell was so dry and brittle it literally crumbled and now there is an open hole the side of a quarter or even a little larger. The membrane inside looked dry and brittle, but still has large veins and movement inside. I very carefully covered it with some coconut oil on a cotton swab to maintain moisture and the swab came up all bloody :-( The sack inside is only about a third of the size of the egg, so I don't think it could possibly make it. Is there some humane way to end the life that remains inside?
Through the small "safety hole" that I was advised to open in the other egg, I can see that the second egg looks quite a bit more normal inside. No blood, but a clearly visible yellow yolk and healthy veins. There is still movement in there too, but the membrane was looking quite dry and white so I also gently coated that one with coconut oil on a cotton swab and put a small piece of tape over the hole in the shell to keep the moisture in.
I still have quite a bit of hope for that second little guy, but I feel so lost and alone and have no idea if I'm doing this right or if there is something else I should be doing instead. Someone suggested putting the egg in my bra and incubating it there, could that really work? That would likely be a much more stable temperature than this makeshift incubator, but would that actually work? I am just so worried, I really want this little guy to make it.
One of the eggs doesn't look like it will survive. It had an air cell that took about 50% of the egg all the way down one side lengthwise. The entire membrane and sack containing the embryo has detached from the shell at this point and rolls around loosely inside. I tried to pop open a small hole on the air cell side to see what was going on inside and the shell was so dry and brittle it literally crumbled and now there is an open hole the side of a quarter or even a little larger. The membrane inside looked dry and brittle, but still has large veins and movement inside. I very carefully covered it with some coconut oil on a cotton swab to maintain moisture and the swab came up all bloody :-( The sack inside is only about a third of the size of the egg, so I don't think it could possibly make it. Is there some humane way to end the life that remains inside?
Through the small "safety hole" that I was advised to open in the other egg, I can see that the second egg looks quite a bit more normal inside. No blood, but a clearly visible yellow yolk and healthy veins. There is still movement in there too, but the membrane was looking quite dry and white so I also gently coated that one with coconut oil on a cotton swab and put a small piece of tape over the hole in the shell to keep the moisture in.
I still have quite a bit of hope for that second little guy, but I feel so lost and alone and have no idea if I'm doing this right or if there is something else I should be doing instead. Someone suggested putting the egg in my bra and incubating it there, could that really work? That would likely be a much more stable temperature than this makeshift incubator, but would that actually work? I am just so worried, I really want this little guy to make it.
