Red ants inside almost-hatched egg!

[lina500]

Thanks @Miss Lydia for the words of encouragement. Out of curiosity, how can you tell if a duck is shrinkwrapped? Can you only tell once they've externally pipped? I'm wondering why so many of these died in the late stages of development in the egg, but I guess that's probably a separate issue.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks @Miss Lydia for the words of encouragement. Out of curiosity, how can you tell if a duck is shrinkwrapped? Can you only tell once they've externally pipped? I'm wondering why so many of these died in the late stages of development in the egg, but I guess that's probably a separate issue.

usually shrink wrap happens after they externally pip and humidity isn't right, The membrane dries out and looks like light brown paper Even under a duck they can shrink wrap. There is no way of knowing what happened to your ducklings, but I see this happen in all poultry. They get off to a good start then something along the way happens and bam they die. In a bator temps/humidity play a big part so I'm sure it's the same with a duck brooding. Membrane that's healthy will be white and pliable so the duckling can pierce it. In the one you opened what did the membrane look like?

 

[lina500]

Hmm...I'm not sure about the one from this morning. But the duck that did hatch took a few days to get out of the egg and by the end, was completely stuck in the membrane. The shell was completely broken and lots of it had come off, but the membrane was still attached to the duck. In the end, I helped it get some of it off, because it was getting trapped by the membrane. The one today seemed more pliable; we didn't notice anything funny about it. I think your suggestion of a smaller clutch is a good one, it will allow the mama to better monitor humidity, etc.

 

[Charmdbychicks]

I've dealt with red ants before and I just want to say that I think it was incredibly brave of you to face them and get bitten to save those eggs of yours. I hope your next clutch is a 100% healthy hatch.