Unexpected ducklings, different ages

[Kiki]

I'm not completely sure. We brought this egg, along with a couple more that weren't fertile or died, in on 6/16. I could see a nice amount of veining that day so I was guessing it was at least 5 or 6 days along. Or are veins usually visible earlier than that? I remember thinking I could see a pulse in the veins but told myself I had to be imagining it because it seemed weird to see egg veins with a pulse. If my guess on day/age is close, I'd say he's around day 21 or 22 now.

I can usually see veins by day 3.

I think since you aren't sure if stop turning the egg now.
I believe it is more important turn the eggs at the beginning of the incubation period. More so than towards the end.

 

[KCNC06]

I can usually see veins by day 3.

I think since you aren't sure if stop turning the egg now.
I believe it is more important turn the eggs at the beginning of the incubation period. More so than towards the end.

Ok, thank you! When I decided to stop turning it Saturday afternoon, it was because I wasn't seeing as much movement in the egg and worried that I was somehow making them tangle up. I have "L" and "R" with arrows drawn on to remind me which direction to turn them each time. When I took a peek this afternoon I saw a lot more movement than I had on Saturday. Maybe I startled it with the light!

 

[KCNC06]

I have another probably silly, or paranoid, question about the twin egg. Hopefully I word this right. If one of the twins dies in the egg, is it possible for the other to keep developing safely? I had a couple eggs stop developing, one was pretty far along, and it turned into a stinker. I know I'm probably being super paranoid about an egg that's unlikely to end up with anything hatching but I hate giving up on anything that has any sign of life. (I've pulled up several plants that looked dead only to discover healthy roots so they go back in the dirt for a second chance.)
Anyway, I realize if the twins are conjoined one dying will kill the other. But on the off chance they're separate, would a dead twin start...turning gross and kill the other? I think I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for yuck. I've seen posts with links to icky pictures/videos...I don't think I should be *that* prepared so I haven't looked at them. I looked at the egg again this morning (not moving it much, I leave it in the incubator and look through the air cell) and still see veins and movement. The only body part I could see clearly was a little webbed foot kick towards me.
I'm also wondering when I should start trying to increase the humidity. Since I'm not sure how far along it is/how close to hatch time, I'm not sure what to do about the humidity. Especially since it's a weird egg and could possibly want to hatch early. Or maybe I'm remembering that incorrectly? Twin eggs are more likely to hatch early right? I've been trying to keep the humidity in the 50-60% range.

 

[Kiki]

I would guess that if one dies it will start to rot quickly and that can't possible be good for the living one.

I don't think it would be good.

 

[KCNC06]

I would guess that if one dies it will start to rot quickly and that can't possible be good for the living one.

I don't think it would be good.

That's what I figured. I thought I stopped seeing one move around Wednesday or Thursday last week, but a day or two later I couldn't see the other moving much either. Maybe I stopped seeing the one move because it was closer to the small end of the egg and I couldn't really see anything up there anymore. I might try to have someone help me take a picture later on tonight when it's nice and dark. The space between duckling(s) and air cell is getting down to anxious size.

 

[KCNC06]

I'm not sure how good this picture is but it's the best I was able to get. I could almost swear I saw the two bills "biting" around in the bit of space between the duckling blob and air cell. When I try to compare the air cell size to drawings I've seen online showing what air cell size should look like at certain days, I'd say this one looks like it's close to day 21 size. But should I expect it to grow all the way to day 27 size? If I increase the humidity a bit now, could slowing the air cell growth give them a bit more time to develop? Or would I just risk making them drown?

 

[KCNC06]

I'm seeing some sort of something going on in the air cell tonight. On the very bottom of the air cell, there's a small bill shape moving around. I don't think I hear anything from the egg yet though. I remember seeing Bill Bill's bill in the air cell like this but can't remember if he responded when I talked to him at that point. Bill Bill was with me when I was checking this egg. He was peeping very loudly. When Bill Bill started peeping like he was excited, the baby (babies?) in the egg started moving a LOT.

 

[MROO]

AWESOME!! If you can put Bill Bill's box next to the incubator, he'll keep "talking" to the egglets ... and that's probably the best (and safest) way in the world to get things rolling with a hatch!

 

[KCNC06]

It's super cute seeing that egg respond to Bill Bill's peeping. I started wondering the egg is making noise that I can't hear but Bill Bill can. He gets really excited when I bring him near the incubator, peeps loudly and pecks all over the outside of the incubator. It can't be that he's just excited about a "box" on a table because he's terrified of our aquarium.

I'm having a bit of a mental debate about how long to wait before opening the shell over the air cell. Normally, obviously, I'd go with waiting to let the baby make a good go of it. But since I'm 98% sure I've seen two heads in the past but not sure I see both bills in the air cell, maybe I could see more with less shell? As long as I keep the humidity high and moisturize the membrane with coconut oil, will I hurt it by removing some shell?

Since I wasn't completely sure I saw a bill in the air cell last night I gave the egg a little spritz of water. It responded with a real strong wiggle.

 

[KCNC06]

Soooo....I gave into curious nervousness and opened the egg a bit over the air cell to see if I could find any bills. I went higher on the air cell so I wouldn't risk hitting the bill shape that I saw moving in the bottom side of the air cell. (By bottom I mean the very back edge of the cell on the wide end of the egg... hopefully that makes sense.) Anyway. The inner membrane was white and looked a little wrinkled. I used a sterile "q-tip" to apply some coconut oil to the membrane. As expected, there were lots of veins so I made sure to be super gentle with the q-tip. I found one little bill up near the "top" of the air cell on the side of the egg (where I thought I saw head #1 before), but I didn't see whatever made the bill shape I was seeing in the bottom of the air cell. I didn't want to take off too much shell just in case that's...I don't know. Something other than a bill I saw moving in the bottom of the air cell? I don't know if they can kick and make the membrane move or something? The top bill was biting a bit towards the membrane but it looked like just the tip of his bill is sticking out from between parts. After helping Cheech and Chong, and then Bill Bill, I know their parts can be a little confusing to identify while they're in the shell but this one is extra confusing.
Anyway. I gently applied coconut oil to as much of the membrane as I could reach with the q-tips then put a damp piece of gauze over the hole in the shell. But now I'm not sure if the gauze was a good idea. It's gauze...air should be able to get through gauze well enough right? I figured I'd let the baby(s?) rest and warm back up for a few hours before checking on it again. Unless the gauze is a bad idea, then I'll go take that off. I figured it would help keep the insides from drying out too quickly though.