New and Nervous!! HELP please

[Hopin4raon]

This is my first ever batch that I’m incubating. I have 10 Rouhen duck eggs at day 26. I had 3 pip yesterday!!

I am concerned about the humidity. I did not realize the importance of a hygrometer since I’m new at this, so I never bought one. I’ve been watching their air cell and adjusting humidity from that.

Well now that they have pipped I have read so much about “Saran wrapped” babies. What can I do to prevent this?? I have the bottom of the bator full of water and a new sponge in their between the eggs. Should I sprits them?? We are in lock down.

One pipped 14+ hours ago and has made NO additional progress. The second egg pipped 12 hours ago with no progress and the third pipped 7 hours ago- no progress. I haven’t heard any cheeping the entire time.

What should I do?

 

[Hopin4raon]

UPDATE:
Well I decided to run a really hot shower in our tiny bathroom to steam up the room. Then I opened up the bator to check on them.

The 3 that had pipped-
1st- no progress in 16hrs, alive and moving
2nd- no progress in 13hrs, alive and moving, membrane at crack looks a little dry
3rd- no progress in 8hrs, alive

All 10 appear to be alive from candling and most look like they’ve internally pipped. I don’t know how to tell if the membrane has dried out but on one it looks like it possibly had dried up. I dampened all the pips with a warm wet sponge and left the sponge in there to increase the humidity.

Any advice welcome!!

 

[oregonkat]

If the membrane is dried, it will look like parchment paper, slightly tan colored instead of white. It is OK to monitor your humidity by the air cell, it is just a lot more convenient to use a calibrated hygrometer, (calibrated by you, so you know exactly what is going on) so that you don't have to mess with the eggs too much.
Anyway, I wouldn't start to worry about the ones that have externally pipped yet. The process can take days from pip to zip. It is when the zipper stops for too long mid-zip that help may be needed. If the membrane is looking very dry, I like to use coconut oil rather than more water, it keeps the membrane moist for a while longer. Just put a little on a q-tip and dab it around the edge of the pip/zip hole.

Keep the humidity up but watch that you dont start dripping on the inside of the incubator. Good luck. Keep posting with the progress.

 

[Hopin4raon]

Thank you so much for the coconut oil tip and for the info on how dried membrane looks!!!

The membrane was a deep reddish brown.... almost a dried blood kind of color but maybe just a little lighter.

Definitely running out to get some coconut oil.... I told myself I wouldn’t open them again until 4pm (24hrs after first pip) but I’ll be checking them then and putting coconut oil on the dry looking membrane on the one.

No dripping at all so far in the bator. Thanks for the tip though. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for that.

Thanks for all the advice! I will definitely update soon!

 

[oregonkat]

The membrane was a deep reddish brown.... almost a dried blood kind of color but maybe just a little lighter.

This does not sound good!! Is the chick still moving around in there? @Pyxis, @WVduckchick, any advice for this poster?

 

[Hopin4raon]

Yes, I just checked and it is still moving in there.... when I candled it though it looked like I could see line of blood inside the shell. I put the coconut oil on the pip.

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• Hopin4raon
• May 6, 2018

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• Hopin4raon
• May 6, 2018

 

[Unexpected chicken lover]

That picture looks like its still absorbing yolk/ blood...never hatched ducks tho
Sending good hatching vibes your way

 

[Akrnaf2]

This is my first ever batch that I’m incubating. I have 10 Rouhen duck eggs at day 26. I had 3 pip yesterday!!

I am concerned about the humidity. I did not realize the importance of a hygrometer since I’m new at this, so I never bought one. I’ve been watching their air cell and adjusting humidity from that.

Well now that they have pipped I have read so much about “Saran wrapped” babies. What can I do to prevent this?? I have the bottom of the bator full of water and a new sponge in their between the eggs. Should I sprits them?? We are in lock down.

One pipped 14+ hours ago and has made NO additional progress. The second egg pipped 12 hours ago with no progress and the third pipped 7 hours ago- no progress. I haven’t heard any cheeping the entire time.

What should I do?

? ))

 

[mew317]

It could be Waste from the chick as well, try not to panic. If they don’t make anymore progress after a few, they could die. External pips are still unknown to me, sorry.

 

[Hopin4raon]

Thank you Unexpected Chicken Lover!! I completely panicked when I saw that!

So glad to know that it might be normal. Really hoping it finishes observing and pulls through!