Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: AL Hathaway on April 23, 2011, 17:12
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Hello not sure who i should ask do you know anything about ducklings as i dont and i just hatched 4 just fine out of 6 went to toss the other two eggs today and opend them to find out what stage they would have died at and um well they are both living one futher alnog in development than then the other so i now have 2 duckling embryo 1 is around day 20 mark in development the other closer to being hatched as it just has a little of the yoke sack to draw inside both are in the shell and no clue as what to do as try and hatch or dispatch them i feel horiable and today was last day for viable hatch.
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Hello Al,
I'm sure someone more experienced will be along but in the meantime I just wanted to wish you luck. It sounds like a tricky decision to make. There is no need to feel horrible as you were acting all along as you thought best. All the best :)
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You can try putting some tape over the holes you have made in the eggs to help keep the moisture in.
Now this sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. If the sac around the ducklings dries out and gets tight around the ducklings I doubt they will make it.
BUT....this is just an honest mistake you have made. You are not the first person to do it and I believe there was a similar post not so long ago involving chicks. Personally I dont open the eggs that have not hatched but I know alot of folk do to see how far along they were before they died.
Dont panic or feel too bad its just a learning curve.
All the best
Min
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Hi.... sorry you have had to go through this, but there is very little chance they will hatch now.... they will dry out and infection will set in :(
It would be kinder to dispatch them if you can bring yourself to do this rather than draw out their demise :(
You may find they have some sort of deformity that has prevented them from hatching on the correct day.
I recently had one pekin egg not hatch.... I did the same on day 24.... all the others hatched day 20/21 .... it was still alive, unpipped and when I got it out of the shell it had no top beak and its brain was outside of the skull and exposed :(
Nature can be cruel sometimes.
One other thought, ... could these two eggs have been in a cooler part of the incubator?? That would have delayed their hatch??
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to behonest Chookiechook i dont know i used a octagon incubator for the 1st time and had it full and all the others ducks x4 and Chicks x19 hatched fine so i dont know but thank you for telling me the story about what happend to you it did help to know i am not the only one and i will disbatch them in the morning as i want to sleep tonight. Thank you