Should I assist in hatch?

[Campbellk14]

New to ducks and understand they can take longer to hatch but have a question about whether I should assist the hatch. Yesterday morning I woke up to one egg pipped on the wrong end. Later in the day the other eggs pipped and they just hatched a few minutes ago. The one that pipped first hasn’t hatched yet but is still alive as I can see it’s beak through the hole it made yesterday. Should I assist in hatching the rest of the way or should Ieave it alone?

 

[Miss Lydia]

@New duck mommy 2021 has experience hopefully she is around.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Hi
Wrong end babies take longer
They skip the air cell of 24 hours
So baby 2 most likely internal pips before the wrong end and is why it hatched
Wrong end babies can take 48-72 hours
I wouldn’t help unless yes after 48 hours
My girl took 52 and still had a little yolk to absorb
She wasn’t able to pip only bruise the egg and needed a full assist but I only made a small safety hole then left the egg alone for 24 hours
Then made a bit bigger safety hole and left her again

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Just want to add that many wrong end babies still hatch themselves
If they can’t then you can slowly start to help around 48 hour mark
Slowly make a zip and check for blood veins
Wrong end is much more risky as there are lots of blood veins at that end

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I agree with the above. Wait the full 48 hours before stepping in. I have also have had to deal with my fair share of pips on the wrong end and they do always seem to take longer. They also seem to be the most likely to hatch with egg yolk that still needs to be absorbed so you do have to be very careful when you do decide to step in.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Campbellk14 any update?

 

[Campbellk14]

Apparently I had notifications turned off. Sorry for the late update but everything went well. I started a small zip for it and gave it a little time after seeing small veins. Then within hours the duckling hatched fine. All three seem to be healthy. Thanks for the advice! I’ll attach a pic of them for everyone to see.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Apparently I had notifications turned off. Sorry for the late update but everything went well. I started a small zip for it and gave it a little time after seeing small veins. Then within hours the duckling hatched fine. All three seem to be healthy. Thanks for the advice! I’ll attach a pic of them for everyone to see.

Awesome outcome
Congrats on the babies

 

[Miss Lydia]

They are precious Congrats!!

 

[KimberBee]

Just want to add that many wrong end babies still hatch themselves
If they can’t then you can slowly start to help around 48 hour mark
Slowly make a zip and check for blood veins
Wrong end is much more risky as there are lots of blood veins at that end

I just asked the question about when to assist. I am new to using an incubator and had a sad outcome. I want to see if I could have prevented this. Reading this post is good for my soul thank you