* UPDATE * (GRAFIC PHOTOS) I did an eggtopsy and was shocked! PLEASE see photos, I need to know what this is. PLEASE HELP. 😢

[AmyA248]

Good morning,

First, I want to thank everyone for all of your support, advice and empathy.
You are all a lovely group of caring people and I don’t know what I would do without your help.

Moving on, if you’re following my story you’ll know my duckling has passed away. I am devastated because I put my heart and soul into my eggs.
He was still moving a bit last night and I started to notice a faint brown spot on the egg shell, but unfortunately I’m very new to this and I had no idea what “bruising” was. If I had known I would have put a hole through it even though it was right in between the duckling and the air sac.

To be totally honest, if I knew he was going to pass overnight I would have hatched him myself and tried my hardest to save him. I know we are never supposed to intervene, but even if he only had 1% of a chance it’s still better than death.

So I did an eggtopsy to see if I could tell what went wrong, and I was SHOCKED at what I found!
First, his beak was not down and pointed towards the air sac, it was buried under his wing. So he wasn’t positioned correctly I’m assuming.
There was no fluid left at all, I’m not sure if that’s normal. Upon opening the egg it looked like maybe he was shrink wrapped? Again, I’m still a novice.
But the most concerning thing was his belly! At first I thought it was an unabsorbed yolk sac, but upon looking closer and moving him around, it appeared as his belly was see through!!! I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this!
I had a duckling born with an unabsorbed yolk sac and it looked NOTHING like this, and it’s definitely his belly.

Of course I cried the entire time I was examining him with my hubby with me for support, and even he got emotional, as we all wanted this duckling so badly.

* I want to apologize in advance for the graphic and disturbing photos, but I need to know what this is, what happened and if I caused it to happen.
Any help with figuring this out would be greatly appreciated, as I’m still learning and I’m very invested in growing our little farm family.

Love and blessings to all,
Amy

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Might have been a weak abdominal wall

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

That’s a yolk sac where he had not absorbed the blood yet
He was at the start of trying to pip so he hadn’t started his absorbing yet
He is beautiful
Again I’m so sorry for your loss with this little guy
Please tell your daughter we are very sorry for her loss as well. Give her a hug from the BYC family
These were my twins who I lost.
I had forgot to set my alarm as I was checking the egg every 3-4 hours
I missed the bruise and lost them
Their yolk looks like yours
It’s just a full yolk with blood still is all
He was a normal baby

 

[AmyA248]

That’s a yolk sac where he had not absorbed the blood yet
He was at the start of trying to pip so he hadn’t started his absorbing yet
He is beautiful
Again I’m so sorry for your loss with this little guy
Please tell your daughter we are very sorry for her loss as well. Give her a hug from the BYC family
These were my twins who I lost.
I had forgot to set my alarm as I was checking the egg every 3-4 hours
I missed the bruise and lost them
Their yolk looks like yours
It’s just a full yolk with blood still is all
He was a normal baby

Good afternoon my friend,

Thank you for your sweet message and condolences. Your twins were absolutely amazing and beautiful. What a heartbreaking loss.
A friend of mine has a brother in law who is a vet, and he looked at the photos of my little one. He said he could see his internal organs and this baby would never have survived if he had hatched. He’s not a farm vet and doesn’t specialize in chickens and ducks, but he has seen other animals born with disorders similar to this.
Clearly his yolk sac was not absorbed, but it was nothing like my first duckling that was born with the same issue. She was able to absorb it in 4 days in which I held her and fed her like a baby. Poor thing couldn’t even lift her head..
Why does this happen?
What causes a yolk sac not to be absorbed?
I’m in a state of terror again because my next egg is due to go into lockdown today. It is 31 days old and actively trying to pip already!! Ugh!

My poor little girl cried for hours. I didn’t show her the photos of course.

I’m just so scared that the same thing is going to happen again and I can’t keep going through this and neither can my daughter. I just wish I knew what I was doing wrong so I could fix the problem!
I even ordered ANOTHER incubator for lockdown..

I’m still trying to upload a video of my egg that’s getting ready to pip…

I’m going to send you some photos shortly.

Love & Hugs my friend.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Good afternoon my friend,

Thank you for your sweet message and condolences. Your twins were absolutely amazing and beautiful. What a heartbreaking loss.
A friend of mine has a brother in law who is a vet, and he looked at the photos of my little one. He said he could see his internal organs and this baby would never have survived if he had hatched. He’s not a farm vet and doesn’t specialize in chickens and ducks, but he has seen other animals born with disorders similar to this.
Clearly his yolk sac was not absorbed, but it was nothing like my first duckling that was born with the same issue. She was able to absorb it in 4 days in which I held her and fed her like a baby. Poor thing couldn’t even lift her head..
Why does this happen?
What causes a yolk sac not to be absorbed?
I’m in a state of terror again because my next egg is due to go into lockdown today. It is 31 days old and actively trying to pip already!! Ugh!

My poor little girl cried for hours. I didn’t show her the photos of course.

I’m just so scared that the same thing is going to happen again and I can’t keep going through this and neither can my daughter. I just wish I knew what I was doing wrong so I could fix the problem!
I even ordered ANOTHER incubator for lockdown..

I’m still trying to upload a video of my egg that’s getting ready to pip…

I’m going to send you some photos shortly.

Love & Hugs my friend.

The reason the yolk wasn’t absorbed as that happens after they start to hatch
First they start to breath air then they either pip into air cell then start to absorb once the air cell runs out of air they external pip and then continue to absorb all while taking breaks to rest
Babies take 48-72 hours from start of breathing
If they are in wrong position and can’t get into air cell they will try to external pip some can break the shell others can’t and bruise the egg ( like your little baby )
These guys take a king time ti hatch and shouldn’t be rushed
If a bruise happens and a safety hole needs to be made
It’s small size of a sharpened pencil end and then left alone for at least 24 hours
My guess is your first you helped that took days to absorb was further into the absorbing then this little guy
This guy never got to air so he had not absorbed any yolk or blood yet
I don’t see any intestines