- May 13, 2015
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So we just hatched 14 ducklings, most went just fine, the last 2 have been really bizarre. The second to last one was the first to hard pipp and then decided to do nothing for more than 50 hours. She did make it though, but we about screwed it up completely helping her, but she was finally able to get free.
The one we're currently hoping makes it hard pipped and pecked a roughly half inch hole in the shell, very similar to the other one. We left her alone, and she hadn't progressed in about 55 hours, so we widened the hole a bit just around the air sac, the whole time it would stick it's beak out and chirp a lot, but never zipped. We looked in this morning and literally, the entire egg was full of liquid yolk. We heard her sneezing because she was drowning in yolk. So, my guess is it was a double yolk shell and popped the second one thrashing around with it not being used and about drown in it, does this sound normal or logical?
After that it managed to squeeze out the hole, but still somehow hadn't absorbed it's own yolk sac, so we are trying the cup with wet paper towel method hoping it survives. Have never seen anything quite like this, although I'm no expert on hatching ducks, just have done it enough in the last 7 or so year to know this isn't normal. Feel really bad for the thing as she's been covered in sticky yolk despite our efforts to clean her.
Any other suggestions, our incubator is very good at both temp and humidity control, we're really just hoping there's a way she can pull through this one.
The one we're currently hoping makes it hard pipped and pecked a roughly half inch hole in the shell, very similar to the other one. We left her alone, and she hadn't progressed in about 55 hours, so we widened the hole a bit just around the air sac, the whole time it would stick it's beak out and chirp a lot, but never zipped. We looked in this morning and literally, the entire egg was full of liquid yolk. We heard her sneezing because she was drowning in yolk. So, my guess is it was a double yolk shell and popped the second one thrashing around with it not being used and about drown in it, does this sound normal or logical?
After that it managed to squeeze out the hole, but still somehow hadn't absorbed it's own yolk sac, so we are trying the cup with wet paper towel method hoping it survives. Have never seen anything quite like this, although I'm no expert on hatching ducks, just have done it enough in the last 7 or so year to know this isn't normal. Feel really bad for the thing as she's been covered in sticky yolk despite our efforts to clean her.
Any other suggestions, our incubator is very good at both temp and humidity control, we're really just hoping there's a way she can pull through this one.