What are the chances my duck egg is a moulard? And other eggy insanity...

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

Should I cover the membrane with tape or plastic wrap or something to keep it moist?

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Just another update! I candled him (without taking him out of his cooler) and somehow it looks like he ended up in the air cell and now is BREATHING in the air cell!! What on earth?! He is so active! Is this possible? @New duck mommy 2021 I think you said above that this has happened to one of your duck babies?

Also, I added more salve to the membrane where he externally pipped...is this good enough to keep the membrane moist? The hygrometer is reading 85%...it's really difficult to keep a constant humidity level in this cooler. Argh, never again...next time I will have an incubator!
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Yes it’s possible
I had one at the pointy end then turn and get to the air cell
I have hatched tons and never seen that before till that baby
I have her still and she is perfectly normal
Wet sponges and set them around the bottom of the cooler
It should help to keep a stable reading
It’s great he moved down
This means he will have more room now
May or may not need help hatching still but for now baby is doing good

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Should I cover the membrane with tape or plastic wrap or something to keep it moist?

I use Vaseline as it keeps it moist longer
Usually 3-4 hours instead of oil that lasts 1-2
I wouldn’t cover that hole though

 

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

Yes it’s possible
I had one at the pointy end then turn and get to the air cell
I have hatched tons and never seen that before till that baby
I have her still and she is perfectly normal
Wet sponges and set them around the bottom of the cooler
It should help to keep a stable reading
It’s great he moved down
This means he will have more room now
May or may not need help hatching still but for now baby is doing good

Do you think we still have several hours until he hatches so that I can go to dinner? If it were you, would you stay home?

Gosh, I'm sorry for all the questions but I sure am grateful for all your help. <3

 

[Miss Lydia]

He may not even hatch today. They are real slow pokes he has to finish absorbing the yolk and all the blood vessels have to shrink too. Plus they do a lot of resting.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Do you think we still have several hours until he hatches so that I can go to dinner? If it were you, would you stay home?

Gosh, I'm sorry for all the questions but I sure am grateful for all your help. <3

I don’t expect him to hatch before Friday night but thinking more sometime on Saturday
Yes I would go to dinner
Baby will be just fine
He will hear the other ducklings and this will help to encourage him
Ducks honestly take a long time to hatch
Their yolk is much bigger then a chicks yolk
Edited to add : don’t feel bad for the questions.
That’s what we are here for

 

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

Hello everyone, we are back from dinner! We were gone four hours! My nerves are shot, lol. But when we got back, he was still in his air cell, though he looks farther into it (closer to the bottom of the egg). I am concerned about the membrane where he externally pipped, though. The hygrometer read 83% when we got back home, but the membrane has some yellowish crusty stuff on it. I immediately put some more salve on the membrane. I don't have any vaseline, but I think I'm going to go get some now so that it doesn't dry further overnight. I can see the membrane moving up and down, and the part of him in the air cell definitely looks like it is breathing. I think I'm going to throw a sleeping bag on the floor and camp out next to him tonight. This is so crazy, lol!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Tell bobby we can't wait to meet him or her.

 

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

Hi again, another update. I just candled Bobby in his egg for like 20 minutes. He's not moving anymore. And he doesn't seem to be holding his temperature. I changed his towel (it was damp from the wet sponges) and reheated his cooler...but I am losing hope that he's still alive in there. And I'm super freaking sad! This sucks!

 

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

I see what looks like dark red blood near and below his external pip site. I think that means he hit a blood vessel and bled. I candled him again and still no movement. I'm going to let him be in the cooler until the morning and check one more time then. I just want to thank everyone for their help. My kids are sad. I am sad. Loving other beings can be so, so hard.