To assist or not to assist?

[Featheredfluffs]

Day 26 for duck eggs, many of the ducks are piping and tapping. My duck’s egg shells have always been MUCH thicker than the chickens, and I am worried that they can’t peck an external pip in them. The first one to pip I just helped open up a hole, as the little guy has been going for 22 hours!

The thing is, should I help the some more of them or wait? I’ve candled some of the others and they range from just starting to internally pip to wanting OUT!!!


Thanks in advance for the help, this is my first time hatching eggs

This is the little one I helped, from what I can see he looks like a Blue Ancona/runner mix, just like one of my drakes

 

[sylviethecochin]

22 hours isn't actually long, for duck eggs; they take a long time to hatch. I don't think you need to assist just yet.

@Pyxis?

 

[Chloe+chickens=LOVE]

Day 26 for duck eggs, many of the ducks are piping and tapping. My duck’s egg shells have always been MUCH thicker than the chickens, and I am worried that they can’t peck an external pip in them. The first one to pip I just helped open up a hole, as the little guy has been going for 22 hours!

The thing is, should I help the some more of them or wait? I’ve candled some of the others and they range from just starting to internally pip to wanting OUT!!!


Thanks in advance for the help, this is my first time hatching eggs
View attachment 1432406
This is the little one I helped, from what I can see he looks like a Blue Ancona/runner mix, just like one of my drakes

Search up on on YouTube 50 ducks in a hottub duckling rescue. Wait a bit longer some ducklings might need help but most don't

 

[Pyxis]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

Ducks are slow hatchers. After the safety hole/external pip they can sometimes take 36 or even 48 hours to be ready to hatch.

 

[Featheredfluffs]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

Ducks are slow hatchers. After the safety hole/external pip they can sometimes take 36 or even 48 hours to be ready to hatch.

Thanks for the link! The thing is, they haven’t made the external pip.

 

[Pyxis]

Thanks for the link! The thing is, they haven’t made the external pip.

So you made the hole in the egg yourself? About how long after they internally pipped did you wait to do that?

 

[Featheredfluffs]

So you made the hole in the egg yourself? About how long after they internally pipped did you wait to do that?

22 hours...

 

[Pyxis]

22 hours...

Thanks for clarifying, I had thought in your first post you meant that it had externally pipped 22 hours prior and that's why you had opened a large hole in the egg. But since it was an internal pip that changes the timeline.

They probably have a lot of time left before they need to hatch. Usually they externally pip about 24 hours after internally pipping. Then from there they can take 24 to 48 hours to be ready to hatch and start zipping.

I usually do a safety hole at 24 hours after internal pip if they haven't externally pipped. Then I leave them alone for another day before going any further.

 

[Featheredfluffs]

Okay, that’s exactly what I’ve done then! That is great to hear that I’m doing the right thing. The ones with the external hole made are all resting with their little beakies out.

Quite a problem with one, though... one I heard cheeping and struggling in distress, and I made a safety hole only to discover that it was shrink wrapped quite a lot and wasn’t even able to make an internal pip due to the amount of membrane restriction. I opened it more and gently separated the papery membrane from the blood vessels around its beak, and now have it resting in a cup in the incubator. I’ve been misting the incubator every time I’ve opened it, to help out with humidity. This one was the furthest away from the water dish during incubation, could that have caused the shrink wrapping? Should I check for more shrink wrapped babies? Did I do the right thing by pulling the membrane but leaving the underlying blood vessels? I’ve NEVER hatched eggs before so this is all quite new to me!

 

[Pyxis]

Have you coated the membrane to keep it moist? Coconut oil is great, or neosporin or bacitracin.