What happened to the blood veins in the eggs?

[Orca5094]

They are addictive, yes! Just make sure you don't get in over your head with ducklings, though. They WILL all grow up and you'll be overrun with ducks before you know it. It's always good to have a plan and a set number that you want, then just don't incubate more eggs than that, unless you know you can for sure sell them later on.

I don't suppose you have an extra bathtub they could take over for awhile? You could cover the bottom with bedding and they'd have alot more space. Or any neighbors with old rabbit cages or anything like that you can borrow? You could build a simple brooder in a corner of a room as well. Put together a simple board frame, but down a big plastic liner on the bottom, and cover with bedding. You definitely need to figure out a bigger space for them very soon though, you'll have twice as many soon!

I totally understand not wanting them to be "out of the house" already because it's important bonding time right now. When I raise ducklings in the house my husband has a rule that they have to move out to the Duck House at two weeks old. They are just too stinky and messy by then. Not much way around that, just cleaning frantically every couple of hours. But the bigger the space they have, the less messy and icky it will get. What are you using for bedding? Pine shavings work pretty well to help with the smell and make cleaning up fairly easy (I just go around and pick up all the poops with gloves, then tie it all up into little doggie poo bags to take outside).

 

[cajuntc74]

We do have an extra bathtub...Right now their bedding is... aspen wood chips in the bottom of the tote with feed hay on top of that. I have pictures of them on my other computer...I will log in on that one and share some pictures.

 

[cajuntc74]

Here are a few pictures of the 3 of them...
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[Orca5094]

Aww, little cuties!! <3

Yeah, I would take over that extra bathtub if I were you. Then you can use this current bin for the 3 new ones (once they hatch) for a few days until they are active enough to go in with these 3. Paris is a giant with all those extra days of growing! lol!

 

[Lacrystol]

We had a successful Thanksgiving Day hatch!!!!!!!!! This one is such a cutie pie! We named him Pumpkin! He came just as we finished up our Thanksgiving dinner! Paris and Rocky took to him perfectly! They all snuggle into a ball to sleep at night and when they walk around they walk in a row... largest to smallest! The three of them all play together so well and they are all eating so well. They even get along at feeding time.
I had to assist this one but it was an odd assistance...he was a "sticky chick" too but he was positioned perfectly inside the egg. He did his first internal and external pips perfectly and started to zip (all this over a long period of time, over 24 hours) I kept watch and listened for his little peeps. About 5 hours before he hatched completely I noticed him getting tired and weak. I took off the part of the shell where the air sac was being careful of the veins. I wrapped it in a damp, warm paper towel and left him to go finish up dinner. I periodically dampened the exposed membrane. So I sat there with another family member and we started at it for hours. Finally got his little foot out of the shell and braced himself for the last push. When he just most of the way out I could see that he was still VERY much attached to the egg. The umbilicus was still very thick and the blood vessel was still very thick and there was still quite a bit of yolk left in there too..SO I put him back inside the egg. I kept putting his rear end back inside the egg for about 2 more hours and finally he decided he had had enough of that shell and just really flopped around and escaped! I held my breath and wait for the blood to flow...but it didn't!!!!!!!!!!!! There were only 3 tiny spots of blood on the towel. He was preening before he even came out of the shell. He is a little whipper snapper!!! Very high energy little duckling!

I have 3 more due to hatch on the 30th...they are looking good and are in lock down....then 2 more to hatch on the 3rd of December..I am collecting Hussy's eggs every day for the New Years Hatching thing going on with BYC...after that.. NO MORE Hatching until Hussy decides to do it herself! I am going to have to brainstorm and figure out what to do with these guys! They are outgrowing their brooder...and I have no more "Indoor" options right now. WOW They poop A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sure they go more than my 2 big old hound dogs! It is constant bedding changing just to keep the smell down...

OK just to give you a little future advice, One don't cover them with a wet paper towel, it's total useless, When ever you see yolk, the best thing is to put him in a cup. Don't try to put him in back in the shell cause that could cause an infection.

But once he's in the cup, this is how you can tell he's ready he will climb out of the cup. LOL if he stays in the cup, then he's trying to finish up. The object is to apply pressure on the yolk without breaking it and help him absorb quicker.. It's best to always work on the air cell way like you did GREAT JOB..

the only thing you would need to do when assisting is get that head out. No need to help with the butt or feet anything, just the head... Once he's in the cup no need to wet him, just place a wet paper towel in the bottom of the cup this will be your humidity, then put a dry paper towel on top of the wet one and then set him on top of the dry paper towel.. and just leave him in the cup to rest.

Remember if you have different due dates all in the same bator, don't lock them down. Just once a day spray them the last three days. raising the humidity during there lockdown will cause the others to get sticky and sticky babies are NOT fun to deal with. It's a complete hair puller..

GREAT JOB, I'm sooo glad you were able to get him out OK..

Also avoid swimming lessons for at least a week. Were you able to get some Vitiman B? They need naicin each day...

 

[Lacrystol]

Puppy pads are GREAT for absorbing some of there messy way, In three weeks you'll see them start to lose there baby feathers.

 

[cajuntc74]

Puppy pads are GREAT for absorbing some of there messy way, In three weeks you'll see them start to lose there baby feathers.

Another great idea!!! Yes on the vitamin thing...one question on the cup thing...are you talking about a coffee cup? When the last one came out with the yolk still attached.. the duckling was still actually stuck in the egg by some membrane or something. That umbilicus was still stuck to the shell somehow. I just kinda covered his butt with the end of the egg shell. I was afraid if it came loose from the shell the little one would bleed.
I have 3 that are due to hatch today. Not thinking or feeling like this will go well for any of them. There is still sooooo much room and stuff you can see inside the egg. It seems like they are just tiny in there or something. When I put the light on the egg you can see yellow..or whatever color that is from one end of the egg to the other. I have a feeling that these did not develop correctly. I guess we will wait and see what happens. There is still quite a bit of movement and something had gone through the air sac on all 3 of them but none of them appear to be shaped like a beak. Not sure what else it could be and I just cannot tell how they are positioned in the egg....time will tell I guess but I just don't feel confident about these.

 

[Orca5094]

I have 3 that are due to hatch today. Not thinking or feeling like this will go well for any of them. There is still sooooo much room and stuff you can see inside the egg. It seems like they are just tiny in there or something. When I put the light on the egg you can see yellow..or whatever color that is from one end of the egg to the other. I have a feeling that these did not develop correctly. I guess we will wait and see what happens. There is still quite a bit of movement and something had gone through the air sac on all 3 of them but none of them appear to be shaped like a beak. Not sure what else it could be and I just cannot tell how they are positioned in the egg....time will tell I guess but I just don't feel confident about these.

Oh no! Sounds like they are underdeveloped, which is never a good thing. Those usually don't make it out of the shell, but they could also just be behind due to low temps. You just never know sometimes, so I always just keep them in there and see what happens. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

 

[cajuntc74]

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Oh no! Sounds like they are underdeveloped, which is never a good thing. Those usually don't make it out of the shell, but they could also just be behind due to low temps. You just never know sometimes, so I always just keep them in there and see what happens. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Well I just took another look and 2 out of the 3 clearly have beaks inside the air sac. BUT You can still just see so much fluid in the egg still. The eggs are not nearly as full as the other were. They are either underdeveloped or they are just tiny! These eggs are MUCH bigger than all the other eggs that have hatched so far. They are at least 1/4 bigger than any of the others.

I have another strange question...the last egg that didn't make it...had a nasty green rope in the egg. I thought it was a fat blood vessel when I was candling it but when I did the eggtopsy on it after the baby died I saw that it was a long green rope looking thing. It almost looked like fish poop. I am seeing those very dark vein looking things in these eggs too. What is that? I didn't see that in any of the 3 survivors that have hatched.

 

[Orca5094]

Well I just took another look and 2 out of the 3 clearly have beaks inside the air sac. BUT You can still just see so much fluid in the egg still. The eggs are not nearly as full as the other were. They are either underdeveloped or they are just tiny! These eggs are MUCH bigger than all the other eggs that have hatched so far. They are at least 1/4 bigger than any of the others.

I have another strange question...the last egg that didn't make it...had a nasty green rope in the egg. I thought it was a fat blood vessel when I was candling it but when I did the eggtopsy on it after the baby died I saw that it was a long green rope looking thing. It almost looked like fish poop. I am seeing those very dark vein looking things in these eggs too. What is that? I didn't see that in any of the 3 survivors that have hatched.

Ok, good that they are internally pipped! Sounds like they'll be "sticky chicks" then with all that extra space left. Can you prop the air cell ends of the eggs up higher than the rest of the egg? That should help keep them from drowning in all the extra fluid inside their eggs. Not sure what their chances are, but it's a good sign some are internally pipped!

I have no idea what that green "rope" could have been! Sounds very strange. I mean, they often have a greenish blob of goo left inside the egg once they hatch, which is just waste material, but it doesn't really look like a string. Just a blob. Maybe it was mold or bacteria that got into a vessel and started growing in there? Or maybe the waste material just formed that way for some reason. Why do you have such strange eggs? lol