What are the chances my duck egg is a moulard? And other eggy insanity...

[New duck mommy 2021]

I see what looks like dark red blood near and below his external pip site. I think that means he hit a blood vessel and bled. I candled him again and still no movement. I'm going to let him be in the cooler until the morning and check one more time then. I just want to thank everyone for their help. My kids are sad. I am sad. Loving other beings can be so, so hard.

Can you show a picture of the blood area ?
I saw bruising their earlier and that’s normal when they miss the air cell as they hit a vein to pip out
Usually they do just fine as they eat the blood up
You should see some kind of movement
It’s not uncommon to move deep into the air cell though
But his foot could have caught a vein while doing so and caused a bleed out
I’m really praying this is not the case
You can set the wet sponges in little containers so it doesn’t get his egg wet

 

[Rysktal]

Aw, my dearest friend. Regardless of the outcome, you did an amazing job and gave your children an incredible experience.
Hatching eggs is a safe way to explore love, life & death.
With love,
K♡

 

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

Hello everyone. I don't have good news, but I wanted to update this thread for those following. My sweet Bobby didn't make it. Before burying him this morning, I decided to open his egg and see what happened. The part of his body in his air cell (that I initially thought was his head) was actually the back of his neck where his head attached. His head and face were indeed still at the external pip site. It looked like he had a foot over his shoulder. I didn't see a lot of blood in the egg so I don't know what actually happened. I am sad because I saw a video of an assisted hatching where the baby duckling was malpositioned and the woman slowly and gently broke into the air cell and pulled just the head out, then wrapped the rest of the egg in damp paper towels, put the egg in a dixie cup, and put him back in the incubator to finish absorbing his yolk. Bobby had a BIG egg yolk, so I know he wasn't ready to hatch. I don't know if he suffocated or bled. I took a picture of him when I took him out of his shell this morning. He was so perfect and yellow, a pekin the color of sunshine and dandelions. The kids and I have been crying on and off all day. This has been rough! We buried him in the little box that our other ducklings arrived in the mail in. My older daughter carved his name in a piece of wood and my younger daughter scattered flowers all over his little gravesite. I wish I would have helped him, but I didn't really know how...and wasn't ready for that experience. Perhaps, if I ever hatch eggs again, I will know how to help if a similar situation ever occurs. This has been one heck of a learning experience. Grateful, sad, loving my ducklings, loving my kids. Life is precious!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am so sorry. He looks so perfect. It is heartbreaking and most of us know exactly how you are feeling.
Thankfully you have your new little ones to help you with the grief you and your kids are feeling.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Hello everyone. I don't have good news, but I wanted to update this thread for those following. My sweet Bobby didn't make it. Before burying him this morning, I decided to open his egg and see what happened. The part of his body in his air cell (that I initially thought was his head) was actually the back of his neck where his head attached. His head and face were indeed still at the external pip site. It looked like he had a foot over his shoulder. I didn't see a lot of blood in the egg so I don't know what actually happened. I am sad because I saw a video of an assisted hatching where the baby duckling was malpositioned and the woman slowly and gently broke into the air cell and pulled just the head out, then wrapped the rest of the egg in damp paper towels, put the egg in a dixie cup, and put him back in the incubator to finish absorbing his yolk. Bobby had a BIG egg yolk, so I know he wasn't ready to hatch. I don't know if he suffocated or bled. I took a picture of him when I took him out of his shell this morning. He was so perfect and yellow, a pekin the color of sunshine and dandelions. The kids and I have been crying on and off all day. This has been rough! We buried him in the little box that our other ducklings arrived in the mail in. My older daughter carved his name in a piece of wood and my younger daughter scattered flowers all over his little gravesite. I wish I would have helped him, but I didn't really know how...and wasn't ready for that experience. Perhaps, if I ever hatch eggs again, I will know how to help if a similar situation ever occurs. This has been one heck of a learning experience. Grateful, sad, loving my ducklings, loving my kids. Life is precious!

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So sorry for your loss
Baby was beautiful
We don’t always know why they pass when it’s hatch time
Honestly there is nothing you could have done differently
He had a pip and was able to get air
That’s all they need till they are ready to hatch
Assisting a baby that soon is much to risky as most don’t make it being pulled that early
Sometimes there are things wrong that we can’t see
Don’t be hard on yourself

 

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

Thank you, @Miss Lydia and @New duck mommy 2021

 

[davez]

Wow. Amazing that he made it this far. Sorry you lost him after so much work and love. Rough starts tend to result in rough endings in my limited experience. The ones I didn't have just right at the beginning tend to hatch and pass or they don't hatch at all. I've not hatched a ton, but that seems to be a general rule for me. Probably 6 times I've hatched ducks. And for your sanity, don't name eggs. I've done it. I won't do it again.