Surprise Duckling -- Didn't make it

[aij]

My kids and I rented an incubator and 12 eggs over Easter to have a hatching experience. We hatched several chicks (that will be returned to their farm) and it was all very exciting. One egg (somewhat oddly shaped compared to the others) was not hatching. It made it all the way up to day 28! I was confused because chicks should hatch around day 21, but I candled it several times near the end and I could still see movement. Anyway, the egg was pipped on day 28 and I could hear little chirping. I watched for 12 hours but it didn't progress past the pip. At the advice of the farmer, I tried to help the chick out, but to my surprise it wasn't a chick at all. It was a duckling! (Unfortunately it was no longer alive when I tried to chip away the egg). The egg had gotten mixed into my batch by mistake (which makes sense of the late hatch date).

I felt like maybe I should have tried to help it earlier since it had already passed by the time I tried, and I am just feeling very down about it. It also appeared to have a lot of visible veins around the sack and some red intestines or something attached to the umbilical chord -- I am not sure if it was the yolk sac, but it was pink, not yellow.

I know that this is how nature goes sometimes, and I had no idea I had a duckling in the incubator to begin with, because I was given it as a chick egg, but any thoughts on what might have gone wrong? This might be more typical for people who have gone through this before, but I just am feeling so much sadness and regret and wondering if there was something I could have done for him.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Sorry for the loss, but if anything you stepped in way too soon. Ducklings often takes 48 hours after external pip to hatch. Those veins were a tell tale sign that the duckling still needed time for the veins to dry and the yolk to finish absorbing.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Awww, sorry to hear that. If the duckling was already dead when you attempted to help, it may have been weak to begin with. You had no idea it was a duck egg though.

Hatching out duck eggs is a bit more complicated than chickens. They require a daily misting on top of the turning, to simulate momma coming back wet from the pond for one. And they take longer to hatch, as Hollow said.

You mentioned the egg was oddly shaped. Duck eggs are shaped the same as chicken eggs, some are even small enough to mistaken for one (my Khaki Campbell's eggs are very small compared to my Rouen's). This may have caused the duckling to be mispositioned in the egg and unable to properly hatch. Nothing you can do in a case like this.

I'm glad you had a good experience with the chicks. It's wonderful to hear that you got to experience it, and that the chicks will be going back to the farmer. What a great idea! Too many chicks are bought as an Easter gift, then dumped when they are no longer 'cute'. This was a very responsible thing to do, thank you!

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Sorry for the loss
Like others have said baby was not ready to hatch with blood veins and a yolk sac
So really there was nothing you could have done

 

[aij]

Thanks for these replies. They make me feel at a bit more peace with regard to the situation.