- Feb 18, 2015
- 15
- 43
- 104
This ones gonna be a bit long, sorry. I’m posting to share my experience so far in case anyone else has these issues, and to see what wisdom y’all might have to add to it all.
So, I hatched my first full brood in the incubator Monday (I had done a few successful hatches but only got 2/1 respectively, because they were eggs mom abandoned that I got to too late. This time, I pulled a nest worth because mom had just hatched a brood a month before & 2 months before that & I wanted her to take a break. (She didn’t listen, just hid the next nest and is currently 2 weeks into sitting on 12 more, sigh.)
So 14 in, 12 still kicking on day 28. Moving and pipping along. However… One egg (L was his egg letter so that’s what we call him) that had been very active had stopped moving, and I just had a bad feeling. I did an emergency air hole first, waited, nothing, bad feeling got worse. Eventually I broke down and widened the air hole so I could peek in the air sac, hoping to see beak. No beak. I could see breathing under the inner membrane but it was very labored, and slowing. I inspected the egg and found a dark brown spot on the bottom of the small side, and I recognized that spot from other hatches where one had attempted to pip but lost interest/strength & couldn’t.
So I painstakingly went into that spot- first with a screw to make an air hole then tweezed away enough outer shell to make sure I had the beak. Yup. I let him be, checking periodically to see if he was absorbing & make sure he could still breathe.
But I think all that weakened him, because most of the others had hatched-except for one- and he hadn’t made any progress either. Paranoid now, I made a spy hole in the last slacker, D, to make sure he wasn’t also mal positioned. (He was fine)
After another 24 hours D started struggling and I realized he was shrink wrapped so I started slowly helping him, and checked to find L was too. It was a slow process because they were both stuck to the membrane and unable to move around in there but also not completely done absorbing. So I’d free as much as I could without causing bleeds, try to moisten membranes- wait-and-repeat thing. Hours later-I lost track, but it was a looooong three days at this point- both were finally out.
Upon cleaning the remaining goo off them and drying I realized they were both kinda stuck in their egg positions. D’s neck tilted to the right, L’s to the left
L also had one leg that splayed, and a clubbing of the opposite foot. Both were lethargic. I separated them and waited, unsure if they’d make it. They did, D got active first, and aside from the slightly cricked neck, seemed fine.
L was another story. He couldn’t really walk due to the leg and even with his feet under him he fell over a bunch because of the neck issue.
I gave him some vitamin soaked wet food, and he enthusiastically ate it, and was obviously TRYING to make it-So, I did a bunch of searching, found a few posts about similar egg-bound related problems, and most everything seemed to indicate I could help him, if I intervened while he was still little and moldable.
I made tape hobbles for the leg, and then fashioned a neck brace with foam and hard tape. Then had to add a paper towel holder, because even with the collar, it still went to the left. The bend is further down.
He’s the worlds most mild mannered sweet little dude. He just relaxes while I subject him to all manner of indignities, and once all trussed up in this getup he just kinda rolls himself around.
D I left alone hoping it would self correct.
(It did not. It’s actually gotten worse.)
L’s hobbles and everything came off so I could assess and let him have some exercise. It took a few tries but he got his feet under him and was running around with the pack like a champ, swimming and everything.
The toes on the clubbed foot are definitely curling under when he walks, and the neck is still not fully corrected, but the leg splay seems fixed.
So I removed the hobbles but replaced the neck brace and have taped the foot to a guitar pick- (which BTW is the perfect size for an itty duck foot, and won’t fall apart like cardboard when wet.)
I tried to brace D as well but, he’s having none of it and keeps wiggling out-picking parts off- and is also being bullied by the others. He’s too mobile to be in the infirmary area with L who is mostly immobile while braced- he keeps kicking the little log duckie around and stepping on his head, so finally I gave up for now.
I’m encouraged by the progress he’s made. He was so happy running with the rest tonight, he’s significantly smaller, but kept up with everyone just fine.
You can see the size difference here.
These ducks are bound for a farm when they are off the brooder, so I’m trying to fix what I can to avoid anyone getting culled. Not sure what I’m doing about D at this point, I may have to wait until L is done with the infirmary space and hope it’s not too late.
L on the other hand, kind of feels like he’s meant to be a therapy duck for someone. He’s a sweet little fighter.
So, I hatched my first full brood in the incubator Monday (I had done a few successful hatches but only got 2/1 respectively, because they were eggs mom abandoned that I got to too late. This time, I pulled a nest worth because mom had just hatched a brood a month before & 2 months before that & I wanted her to take a break. (She didn’t listen, just hid the next nest and is currently 2 weeks into sitting on 12 more, sigh.)
So 14 in, 12 still kicking on day 28. Moving and pipping along. However… One egg (L was his egg letter so that’s what we call him) that had been very active had stopped moving, and I just had a bad feeling. I did an emergency air hole first, waited, nothing, bad feeling got worse. Eventually I broke down and widened the air hole so I could peek in the air sac, hoping to see beak. No beak. I could see breathing under the inner membrane but it was very labored, and slowing. I inspected the egg and found a dark brown spot on the bottom of the small side, and I recognized that spot from other hatches where one had attempted to pip but lost interest/strength & couldn’t.
So I painstakingly went into that spot- first with a screw to make an air hole then tweezed away enough outer shell to make sure I had the beak. Yup. I let him be, checking periodically to see if he was absorbing & make sure he could still breathe.
But I think all that weakened him, because most of the others had hatched-except for one- and he hadn’t made any progress either. Paranoid now, I made a spy hole in the last slacker, D, to make sure he wasn’t also mal positioned. (He was fine)
After another 24 hours D started struggling and I realized he was shrink wrapped so I started slowly helping him, and checked to find L was too. It was a slow process because they were both stuck to the membrane and unable to move around in there but also not completely done absorbing. So I’d free as much as I could without causing bleeds, try to moisten membranes- wait-and-repeat thing. Hours later-I lost track, but it was a looooong three days at this point- both were finally out.
Upon cleaning the remaining goo off them and drying I realized they were both kinda stuck in their egg positions. D’s neck tilted to the right, L’s to the left
L also had one leg that splayed, and a clubbing of the opposite foot. Both were lethargic. I separated them and waited, unsure if they’d make it. They did, D got active first, and aside from the slightly cricked neck, seemed fine.
L was another story. He couldn’t really walk due to the leg and even with his feet under him he fell over a bunch because of the neck issue.
I gave him some vitamin soaked wet food, and he enthusiastically ate it, and was obviously TRYING to make it-So, I did a bunch of searching, found a few posts about similar egg-bound related problems, and most everything seemed to indicate I could help him, if I intervened while he was still little and moldable.
I made tape hobbles for the leg, and then fashioned a neck brace with foam and hard tape. Then had to add a paper towel holder, because even with the collar, it still went to the left. The bend is further down.
He’s the worlds most mild mannered sweet little dude. He just relaxes while I subject him to all manner of indignities, and once all trussed up in this getup he just kinda rolls himself around.
D I left alone hoping it would self correct.
(It did not. It’s actually gotten worse.)
L’s hobbles and everything came off so I could assess and let him have some exercise. It took a few tries but he got his feet under him and was running around with the pack like a champ, swimming and everything.
The toes on the clubbed foot are definitely curling under when he walks, and the neck is still not fully corrected, but the leg splay seems fixed.
So I removed the hobbles but replaced the neck brace and have taped the foot to a guitar pick- (which BTW is the perfect size for an itty duck foot, and won’t fall apart like cardboard when wet.)
I tried to brace D as well but, he’s having none of it and keeps wiggling out-picking parts off- and is also being bullied by the others. He’s too mobile to be in the infirmary area with L who is mostly immobile while braced- he keeps kicking the little log duckie around and stepping on his head, so finally I gave up for now.
I’m encouraged by the progress he’s made. He was so happy running with the rest tonight, he’s significantly smaller, but kept up with everyone just fine.
You can see the size difference here.
These ducks are bound for a farm when they are off the brooder, so I’m trying to fix what I can to avoid anyone getting culled. Not sure what I’m doing about D at this point, I may have to wait until L is done with the infirmary space and hope it’s not too late.
L on the other hand, kind of feels like he’s meant to be a therapy duck for someone. He’s a sweet little fighter.
