About a weeks ago I was brought twelve mallard eggs from a friend of mine who found them on her property and was going to toss them. I gladly took them in and began incubation. In the process of the move, she cracked two of the eggs. Only one worried me, the other egg had a crack at the top of the air sac. Now it has come to hatching time, and the cracked egg that worried me has pipped and is well on its way. What I am worried about now is the fact that the duckling keeps making gurgling noises, and when I peek into the egg I see spots of white film on the duckling itself. There is a slight smell but nothing disgusting. This egg has had me asking questions from the go.. for instance, the egg itself, when candled, did not look like it was fully developed. There was space at the top where the sac is, and more at the bottom where it looked like the duckling hadn't actually fully encompassed the egg. I have never seen this before. What do I do, I am afraid this little duck is going to die inside the egg if he doesn't get out fast enough, my suspicions tell me I am dealing with bacteria here that started forming late in the incubation process... Has anyone ever experienced this before? What would be the best approach from here?
you have to be careful helping because often it causes more harm than good. if you are going to help- dont help until the pip is at least 12 hrs old - the membrane is a blood filled lung until it dries up after the pip - if you pop the egg open too soon the chick will bleed to death very fast. Start at the air cell and slowly remove small pieces until the head is uncovered. You will want a lot of humidity because the dry air can shrink wrap the chick. Good luck
yes be very careful!!! I know when I first hatched my Rouens I thought they were having problems. I guess I didn't fully understand that hatching takes a LONG time. I kept checking on them every few minuets. Later I found out that my ducks broke a small hole in the egg early and the pink sac, like an umbilical cord, was not detached. I thought they were struggling but really they are just waiting for the sac to detach and absorb so they know it is safe for them to come out. I did help them and I do wish I didn't. I lost one duckling because I helped them. So give them a few hours before even thinking about doing anything. Hatching itself takes about 30 hours so dont be in a hurry to get them out. I left my other eggs alone after the one died and they made it and are healthily running through the yard as we speak. I know you are hatching them but take my advise and let nature take its course. they are made to get out themselves 99.9% of the time. whatever you do I hope I was helpful and that everything turns out the way it should.
