Well, we blew it - We are on Day 23 of Duck Incubation and the Air Sack is Day 14

[shawluvsbirds]

I will say that these normally don’t survive, but don’t give up yet. You should definitely wait for an internal pip before starting any kind of assist, but mistakes happen.

I’d probably make just the tiniest hole thru the membrane as close to the tip of the bill, to allow him to rip it open when he is ready. Keep the membrane moist and hope for the best.

Can you post a pic? We might have better suggestions with a visual.

Agreed.

 

[DuckMagistra]

I will say that these normally don’t survive, but don’t give up yet. You should definitely wait for an internal pip before starting any kind of assist, but mistakes happen.

I’d probably make just the tiniest hole thru the membrane as close to the tip of the bill, to allow him to rip it open when he is ready. Keep the membrane moist and hope for the best.

Can you post a pic? We might have better suggestions w

 

[DuckMagistra]

Well, I have a great report! We had 17 duck eggs incubating. On Day 22, we thought none of them would make it. We had grossly overdone the humidity for 3 weeks and the air cell was tiny on all of them. We dried them out starting on Day 22-25 and the air cells grew a ton.

We then followed all of your wonderful advice and over the next 3 days successfully hatched out 13! Two died before we intervened. But two more, who never internally pipped, were still moving, so we decided to try and save them. We opened the air cell on Day 28 and when we did this, we thought we had killed them. They never internally pipped, so we actually punched a hole over the bill in the membrane itself, applied coconut oil and kept chirping at the little guys for 2 days.

They never came out on their own and the membrane started to dry out and so we systematically removed the shell around them (over 2 days) until all the was left was the umbilical cord and sac.

These 2 were floppy like I see kids with Down's syndrome (low tone) as a PT. Then lay on their side and breathed. That was about all.

So, since I am a PT, I started doing PT with them. I found that high plush carpet with loose fibers worked great for "propping" them up to get weight on their feet. We did "leg presses" with our hands serving as the resistance plate like you would do on a leg press machine. I did little coconut oil massages of their feet which were all misshapen.

Well, here they are! Meet Phoenix and Barely There. THANK YOU!!!!

 

[DuckMagistra]

Well, I have a great report! We had 17 duck eggs incubating. On Day 22, we thought none of them would make it. We had grossly overdone the humidity for 3 weeks and the air cell was tiny on all of them. We dried them out starting on Day 22-25 and the air cells grew a ton.

We then followed all of your wonderful advice and over the next 3 days successfully hatched out 13! Two died before we intervened. But two more, who never internally pipped, were still moving, so we decided to try and save them. We opened the air cell on Day 28 and when we did this, we thought we had killed them. They never internally pipped, so we actually punched a hole over the bill in the membrane itself, applied coconut oil and kept chirping at the little guys for 2 days.

They never came out on their own and the membrane started to dry out and so we systematically removed the shell around them (over 2 days) until all the was left was the umbilical cord and sac.

These 2 were floppy like I see kids with Down's syndrome (low tone) as a PT. It made sense as they never had an opportunity to push inside the egg. Once out of the shell, they just lay on their side and breathed. That was about all. They could not hold up their head or move their legs well.

So, since I am a PT, I started doing PT with them. I found that high plush carpet with loose fibers worked great for "propping" them up to get weight on their feet. We did "leg presses" with our hands serving as the resistance plate like you would do on a leg press machine. I did little coconut oil massages of their feet which were all misshapen.
We had a turn around moment when we started using the little medicine cup for water. They perked up immensely once they started drinking. It was an exciting day to see them hold up their own head.

Well, fast forward another day, and here they are! Meet Phoenix and Barely There. THANK YOU!!!!

@WVduckchick
@HeatherKellyB
@Jaylou88 thank you!!

 

[DuckMagistra]

@HollowOfWisps thank you!

 

[DuckMagistra]

Well, I have a great report! We had 17 duck eggs incubating. On Day 22, we thought none of them would make it. We had grossly overdone the humidity for 3 weeks and the air cell was tiny on all of them. We dried them out starting on Day 22-25 and the air cells grew a ton.

We then followed all of your wonderful advice and over the next 3 days successfully hatched out 13! Two died before we intervened. But two more, who never internally pipped, were still moving, so we decided to try and save them. All the others had hatched out very early (one on Day 25), which is why we thought Day 28 was late. (We think the eggs "started" to incubate for 2 days before we turned on the heater. We stored the eggs in the incubator for 2 days with the lid on trying to decide if we were going to incubate outside or inside).

We opened the air cell on the 2 latecomers on Day 28 and when we did this, we thought we had killed them. They never internally pipped, so we actually punched a hole over the bill in the membrane itself, applied coconut oil and kept chirping at the little guys for 2 days.

They never came out on their own and the membrane started to dry out and so we systematically removed the shell around them (over 2 days) until all the was left was the umbilical cord and sac. We watched for blood vessels, waited until they dried out, chipped off the shell only, and then once the membrane dried out, used tweezers to pull it away (making sure not to pull the wet membrane with it).

These 2 were floppy like I see kids with Down's syndrome (low tone) as a PT. Then lay on their side and breathed. That was about all.

So, since I am a PT, I started doing PT with them. I found that high plush carpet with loose fibers worked great for "propping" them up to get weight on their feet. We did "leg presses" with our hands serving as the resistance plate like you would do on a leg press machine. I did little coconut oil massages of their feet which were all misshapen.

Well, here they are! Meet Phoenix and Barely There. Truely, Phoenix was nearly gone and then he decided to live. THANK YOU for all the help!!!! Such a great group.

shawluvsbirds thx!!​

 

[WVduckchick]

Great news! Congrats on the adorable babies!

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Congratulations! Great job

 

[Jaylou88]

Oh my goodness! They are so adorable. I'm so glad they are OK xx

 

[KKicons]

This will help me the next time I have to assist. I practice piano for my eggs, so practicing sounds like their mom encouraging them. I pray for them a lot too. I am so glad your answer was yes this time. Especially since a kid was involved. Do you watch Chick Called Albert on yt? Thats how I learned to assist them. I usually go in when there has not been the internal pip, because I feel they are sometimes weak or the membrane is too strong. I wait for everyone else to external pip, if possible. Unlike what I used to think, the babies that are helped seem as strong as the other birbs. I wish I had records that tracked them to know for sure. Maybe you can band these and see how they do long term! I hope you can get a better incubator sometime, I am so done with styrofoam lol.