Urgent - Please help! Day 27 runner egg complication!

Cand

Hatching
Jun 3, 2025
4
0
2
Hi all, please help, this is only my second time hatching duck eggs. I hatched 9 mallards 5 weeks ago & had a 100% success hatch rate, intervening with the last 4.
I now have 5 runner ducks in the incubator (37.5 & 70 humidity).
They are all moving along the line of the air cell not internally pipped yet, but working on it I think 🙏
One of the eggs however (no2) didn’t look the same, I couldn’t see any movement & the edge of the membrane, air cell line looks very solid, I couldn’t see any veins or movement inside. So I took it out to have a closer look.. I candled it in the wrong end to see if I could see any sign of life, when I spotted a small star shaped crack - exactly like an external pip!? — I immediately panicked, as I have read about ducks trying to hatch from the wrong end & needing assistance.. so I carefully popped it open a bit to see if I could it’s beak - instead I saw it still wrapped in membrane with visible veins & very slight movement - some clear liquid fell out, and I could see an internal piece of shell sticking inwards, like a shelf.. I’m now beside myself, as I’ve created a hole & it isn’t trying to come out yet! 😩 please if you see this & know what to do, share anything that you think I should do. Atm I have popped it back in, with a wet piece of kitchen roll over it. I had thoroughly washed my hands before handling & didn’t have it out of the incubator for long - but obviously I’m very concerned about potential shrink wrapping.
What should I do?
I wish I had come on here before opening the crack, stupidly I didn’t take a photo, but it was exactly the same as an external pip shape.
 
Sometimes movement can be hard to see in the later stages. You did good with the wet piece of kitchen roll as I would do the same. Keep on monitoring and if the membrane starts to dry out and/or shrink wraps then I would start to assist very gently. Sometimes they also do take a break after the first pip as this process is exhausting so it is normal for progress to be stalled for a little.
 
Hi, there was no internal pip in the air cell - I thought that it was trying to externally pip in the wrong end, since the star shape crack looked exactly like that.
When I opened the crack it fell away easily & I can see that the membrane is still completely intact & no beak was visible, in fact all I could see was it’s side maybe & feathers, I couldn’t see yolk or feet either...
Perhaps it is malpositioned..and maybe the star shaped crack occurred by mistake - malposition, or turning, I’m not sure.
The clear liquid is sticky so definitely egg white, so it’s still absorbing & not ready.
I have no replaced the kitchen towel with a double layer of fine medical gauze/dressing, wetted with slightly cooked boiled water. Is this enough to keep it from shrink wrapping? I increased the humidity to 75…

If anyone has any advice please add. Has anyone experienced this? I could really do with some support right now! 🙏
 
Hi, there was no internal pip in the air cell - I thought that it was trying to externally pip in the wrong end, since the star shape crack looked exactly like that.
When I opened the crack it fell away easily & I can see that the membrane is still completely intact & no beak was visible, in fact all I could see was it’s side maybe & feathers, I couldn’t see yolk or feet either...
Perhaps it is malpositioned..and maybe the star shaped crack occurred by mistake - malposition, or turning, I’m not sure.
The clear liquid is sticky so definitely egg white, so it’s still absorbing & not ready.
I have no replaced the kitchen towel with a double layer of fine medical gauze/dressing, wetted with slightly cooked boiled water. Is this enough to keep it from shrink wrapping? I increased the humidity to 75…

If anyone has any advice please add. Has anyone experienced this? I could really do with some support right now! 🙏 here is a picture of the hole - it’s about the size of a edamame :(
IMG_0947.jpeg
 

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