Red ants inside almost-hatched egg!

[Miss Lydia]

She's out of the egg but acting very strangely, she's been flailing around non-stop for the last hour and one of her eyes looks like the inner lid is infected and she can't open her eye properly. I washed it with salt water which seemed to help a bit. Is it okay for me to leave it in the house with her mom? She's just flailing around the house.

Sure is a cutie, rinsing with salt water hopefully will help.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Once the duckling arrives, what do I need to do? Should I put food and water in the house? I'm not sure what my role in all of this needs to be or if mama duck will take care of it on her own.

No need for food or water for 24 hrs. they live off the absorbed egg sac

 

[lina500]

Unfortunately she died. Her flailing around seemed like something was definitely wrong, and I guess it was.

I wonder if this was related in any way to the ant bites or possibly to her mother, who also had some weird issues when she was a duckling--she had three seizures the day after we got her which we think was a niacin deficiency, but I wonder if maybe it was something else.

Anyway, I'm sad about this and am dreading going through another long hatch with the next one that's on its way. Our duck has been on her nest for 43 days now.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Unfortunately she died. Her flailing around seemed like something was definitely wrong, and I guess it was.

I wonder if this was related in any way to the ant bites or possibly to her mother, who also had some weird issues when she was a duckling--she had three seizures the day after we got her which we think was a niacin deficiency, but I wonder if maybe it was something else.

Anyway, I'm sad about this and am dreading going through another long hatch with the next one that's on its way. Our duck has been on her nest for 43 days now.

Could have been bacteria from exploding egg, Just so hard to know what might have been wrong, I'm very sorry. I hope this next one hatches without any problems. It's easy to get discouraged but lets try to think optimistically about the next one, how far is it, has it pipped externally yet? sounds like mom is staying where she needs too. But boy is she going to need some help getting healthy again. Can you get poultry vitamins to add to their water? that would help.

 

[lina500]

Yes, we have poultry vitamins added to their food, the mother never had another seizure again because we switched her onto a better diet immediately. I know there are more bad eggs in the clutch but I'm afraid to throw any away in case they are alive. All of the ones that are left were fertilized and developed, but I either can't see into them or can't see movement. The one that is moving has internally pipped but not externally pipped. Fingers crossed!

Another thing is that our incredibly rapey drake was going unto the duck house and kicking the eggs around while attempting to mate the mother. We've had him caged for the last week or so, but before that he may have caused some damage.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I had missed your posting about your duck back in May, so glad to hear she made a complete recovery, nutrients play a big role in the health of egg developing and after but I'd think if it was genetic it would still be showing up in the adult still. But I'm not a Dr. so it's all a guess. I'd just wait it out now and hope for the best if there are more to hatch they should be starting I'd think because they all start to incubate once mom commits to sitting 24/7. Keep us updated.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Unfortunately she died. Her flailing around seemed like something was definitely wrong, and I guess it was.

I wonder if this was related in any way to the ant bites or possibly to her mother, who also had some weird issues when she was a duckling--she had three seizures the day after we got her which we think was a niacin deficiency, but I wonder if maybe it was something else.

Anyway, I'm sad about this and am dreading going through another long hatch with the next one that's on its way. Our duck has been on her nest for 43 days now.

With any animal that has had neurological issues, or any genitic abnormalites, it is not a good idea to breed. Most issues like that are passed down to offspring. If she is a good Mother (and a cronic broody) and you want ducklings, you might be better off giving her eggs from another duck to keep your lines free of genitic problems. Good luck with the other one!

 

[lina500]

With any animal that has had neurological issues, or any genitic abnormalites, it is not a good idea to breed. Most issues like that are passed down to offspring. If she is a good Mother (and a cronic broody) and you want ducklings, you might be better off giving her eggs from another duck to keep your lines free of genitic problems. Good luck with the other one!

We got her when she was 12 days old and the next day, she had three seizures. Her diet was inadequate, it was mostly rice and no vitamins. After that first day we got her onto a proper diet and she never had any other issues, so I always assumed it was a niacin deficiency rather than a genetic problem. The nest she's sitting on actually has her own and one other duck's eggs in it.

Still no external pip on the other one that's moving, so I wonder if this whole batch is a lost cause.

 

[Miss Lydia]

We got her when she was 12 days old and the next day, she had three seizures. Her diet was inadequate, it was mostly rice and no vitamins. After that first day we got her onto a proper diet and she never had any other issues, so I always assumed it was a niacin deficiency rather than a genetic problem. The nest she's sitting on actually has her own and one other duck's eggs in it.

Still no external pip on the other one that's moving, so I wonder if this whole batch is a lost cause.

Don't give up yet, it can take 24 hrs for external, there is always hope. and speaking of hope since you posted 7 hrs ago what is the news?

 

[lina500]

Just candled the egg that there had been movement in and I didn't see any movement and didn't hear any cheeping. Still holding out hope, but it seems unlikely at this point. She's still sitting on 7 eggs, but I don't think any of them are viable.