Thread formerly known as Hatch day is today

[bhhastin]

Ok, this is something I haven't seen yet. This 6th duckling came all the way out of the shell with the yolk sack still attached. I definitely saw the cord running from the sack into the ducklings "belly button". Didn't know what to do, so I wet a paper towel and put the duckling and its attached sac in a little towel nest in the incubator. Will it rip out if the duckling tries to move around too much? This one seems weaker and more crusty than the others. Maybe it really wasn't ready yet?

 

[ChristineR]

The first five are in the brooder, all hanging out under a 75 watt black light. It's a big brooder, so there's a ton of room to run around, but I guess the light I have is little cool for them, since they're hanging out under it. I have a 100 watt clear light, but that seems too hot. Maybe one of the 65 watt yellow bulbs out of a reading lamp? I cooked a box of pekin ducklings when I was a kid, left the lamp on them in a small box in the garage during a huge snow storm. Thought they needed a lot of heat to compensate for the storm, came home from school and they were all dead. I'm a little leery of too much heat now.

I would put a higher watt bulb in there. I like the red 250 watt bulbs that they sell at the feed store, so it's not so bright for them. You can raise it up higher to reduce the heat and as long as they are able to get away from it if they get too hot, they'll be fine. That would be horrible to to kill a whole box, though. I can understand why you're worried.

 

[ChristineR]

Ok, this is something I haven't seen yet. This 6th duckling came all the way out of the shell with the yolk sack still attached. I definitely saw the cord running from the sack into the ducklings "belly button". Didn't know what to do, so I wet a paper towel and put the duckling and its attached sac in a little towel nest in the incubator. Will it rip out if the duckling tries to move around too much? This one seems weaker and more crusty than the others. Maybe it really wasn't ready yet?

Yes, keep him wrapped up in a damp paper towel. Hopefully, he will absorb the yolk sac.

 

[bhhastin]

Took the dogs for a walk and made dinner then went to check on the chick with the yolk sac. It was running around like crazy in the incubator, even spun the last egg around the other way, she was energetic. The sack was in the paper towel. I put her in the brooder and she cuddled up with her siblings. I did notice a little white nub on her belly button and then she had some kind of discharge, might have been poop, didn't see where it came from. She's definitely got more energy, but she looks really scrawny and her down is very thin and pasted down. Guess time will tell. Still waiting on that other egg....

 

[bhhastin]

No more cheeping or tapping from the last egg. I candled again and there was very, very slight movement (looked like the bill trying to breath in the air bubble). Since the pip hasn't changed at all in over 12 hours, decided to do my first ever assist. We raised the humidity in the bathroom by running the shower, held the egg in a warm, damp cloth and used tweezers to pull away the three tiny broken shell pieces at the pip. The membrane seemed fully intact, so I gently chipped at the edge of the broken shell and created a tear in the membrane. There was no blood, so I slowly pulled open the membrane and now we have a pretty good hole (see pic) and can see some movement inside the egg. Put it back in the incubator with remoistened sponges. Hope we did the right thing. Do you think much more than that would be necessary to assist? On a happy note, duckling number 6 seems to be no worse for wear, but is definitely a bit scrawny.

 

[Marty1876]

I think you made a sound decision. This one may be weak, so I personally would remove more shell in the morning. I also keep the membraine damp by spraying warm water on it, but some disagree about that. Works for me, but I'm carefull not to accidently drown. DAMPEN is the key word, not soak. If this one doesn't do more by morning, its help or die time. Just follow good sense, and don't overdo it at one time. If you see it still hasn't absorbed egg sack, its best for it to stay in shell. If bill is out, there is about 72 hours before food and water must be supplied.

 

[bhhastin]

Thanks guys so much for all your advice and encouragement. We're gonna call it a night and see how that last egg is in the morning, hoping to wake up to a zipped egg and maybe even our last duckling. If not, we'll give it some more help and hope for the best. So, glad this almost over!

 

[Marty1876]

Your doing great!

I think we're all happy to help. We're a bunch of sweet hatching geeks waiting for our own hatch day again.

 

[Goin Quackrrs]

Well, we have three ducklings so far. In the pic below you see the first to hatch on the right, she came about 13 hours ago. She was a normal pip and zip. The two on the left came about an hour ago, one was a normal pip and zip. The other was one of my wrong-side pippers and she somehow made it out. The other wrong-side pipper is still not making much progress, but he's cheeping. There's two other eggs as well. One is a normal pip that looks like might start zipping soon. Another pipped on the bottom, but I can't tell if its still making noise or moving, then we have one egg that hasn't done anything at all ever. Still keeping hope that we could have four more ducklings.

The pic is blurry because I have it very warm and steamy in the bathroom where the brooder and incubator are being kept..

You're making me want to hatch some babies! It's been a few months! (no hatching till Feb here)

Just finished NPIP/AI testing 60 birds. One roo jammed a thumb really bad too.

it hurts a lot, & im using a heat pad, since I need it for milking.

If you ever test, wear red......

Glad your testing is done!

Thanks, Christine! Up to four hatched (first pic below), two starting to zip, and the wrong-side pipper has a nice big hole made! (second pic) This has been a very interesting experience in all, but I have to say I don't think I will be doing it again, I've been a nervous wreck, having a hard time sleeping, very little appetite. Can't imagine how people do this with kids, let alone ducks!

My first few hatches, I went 60 hours without more than an hour nap here and there. It gets easier to deal with.

The other wrong-end pipper finally hatched! (first pic) I came in to find her thrashing around the incubator with the shell on her head. After she got it off she was all over the place, so I put her in the brooder, but the other ducklings were climbing all over her and standing on her head and neck, so I put her in a bowl with a wash cloth in the brooder. She was so active right after hatching, I think she might have worn herself out! Two more to go, starting to zip, hopefully we'll have a 100% hatch rate. That's awesome considering these eggs were shipped to me by the postal service. Got them from Metzer Farms in California, shipped to Phoenix area in Arizona, so didn't have too far to go.

Congrats on wrong way! I've found the worst for me are the ones that pip in the middle. Fingers crossed that your last baby is out in the morning!

 

[psue]

Just finished NPIP/AI testing 60 birds. One roo jammed a thumb really bad too.

it hurts a lot, & im using a heat pad, since I need it for milking.

If you ever test, wear red......

yay for NPIP bad birds for hurting you

The other wrong-end pipper finally hatched! (first pic) I came in to find her thrashing around the incubator with the shell on her head. After she got it off she was all over the place, so I put her in the brooder, but the other ducklings were climbing all over her and standing on her head and neck, so I put her in a bowl with a wash cloth in the brooder. She was so active right after hatching, I think she might have worn herself out! Two more to go, starting to zip, hopefully we'll have a 100% hatch rate. That's awesome considering these eggs were shipped to me by the postal service. Got them from Metzer Farms in California, shipped to Phoenix area in Arizona, so didn't have too far to go.

Yay babies !!! congrads

Im happy for the chance to up my ducks again. I do really miss them all. My frined out west who I trade Khaki eggs with a lot is setting 3 dz from her best layers (and my old ones) to set me up with an egg flock again. She's also NPIP, so I can safely import from her. It seems awefully quiet without all the ducks quacking at me. And, my clients who bought the duck eggs for their oriental friends are wanting eggs again.

The Ancona lays very dark slate gray eggs. I wanted blue, but this is an interesting color.

Awesome news about getting more ducks again!

Your doing great!

I think we're all happy to help. We're a bunch of sweet hatching geeks waiting for our own hatch day again.

x2