Tragic end

elfael · **Posted:** Mon May 05, 2008 11:09 am

My home-made incubator was working all right ... right up until the point where I got worried about the egg and decided to have one last cautious look.

It was due to hatch tomorrow. I'd become concerned because the air cell was tiny and I couldn't hear any pipping and the egg wasn't moving at all. So, I thought, a quick look under cover cover of a damp towel, just to see if it's pipped yet, couldn't do any harm. Out it comes. No sign of pipping. I'm depressed but decide to give it the benefit of the doubt and put it back in the incubator for a couple more days.

My 21-month-old daughter chooses that moment to try to climb on my back (I'd been sitting on the bed). She overbalances and falls off the bed ... onto the vacuum cleaner. I try to catch her, miss, and then look down in horror at the egg in my hand. With a gaping, smashed hole in it where her elbow (I think) hit it.

I broke the duckling out, thinking that it might still have a slim chance of survival. No such luck. No movement, no breathing. :cry:

I assume the impact killed it. It looks fully developed, but its head is lopsided, like the bones of its skull haven't hardened yet, and the yolk is nearly as big as the duckling. (It looks double because the membrane has partly broken).

I know, you don't need to say it - I should have just left it alone - but I have some questions unrelated to stupidity. Clearly the incubator is working as it should, but does the small air cell mean that the humidity was too high? Also, the day before hatch shouldn't the yolk be smaller? Was its development delayed because the temperature was slightly too low, hence not having pipped yet? Should I be allowing extra time for hatching before I start to panic?

This would be less heartbreaking if it had happened 2 weeks ago.

heudog · **Posted:** Mon May 05, 2008 11:32 am

sorry to hear bout ur heartbreak,elfael

kwinagi · **Joined:** Sat Dec 15, 2007 8:58 pm **Posts:** 236

the yolk is the very last thing to be absorbed by the chick/duckling, so it is possible that it is just not up to that point yet, and the knock killed it, if it hit the head. this may sound awful but did the duckling feel warm and soft/pliable [which would suggest it only just died] or cold and stiff[suggesting that there indeed had been a problem with the hatch]?

at low temp, devpt just slows down and maybe takes a couple of days

just re read your post, and sorry to see it was theonly egg........don't give up, try again, its a great joy.

greenaus · **Posted:** Tue May 06, 2008 1:18 am

elfael wrote:

Should I be allowing extra time for hatching before I start to panic?

I couldn't reliably answer your other questions, but I'll offer my answer to this one.

Rule 1: Don't panic!

Rule 2: See Rule 1.

"Apparently" even an extra 2 or 3 day wait is reasonably acceptable practice.

And, with it being your only egg, you had nothing to lose by leaving it alone.

Sorry it didn't work out this time. Maybe next time.

elfael · **Posted:** Tue May 06, 2008 7:21 am

So do I still stop turning them on day 25? :-?

(That's one thing that was worrying me about it not having internally pipped at day 27 - that it might be a slow hatcher and end up lying in one position for 5 or 6 days.)

The other reason I was worried about it, and a question I still have, is about the air cell - the reading I've been doing suggests that it should get bigger until it occupies about 1/3 of the egg by the end of incubation, and if it isn't then the chick/duckling will drown in the egg. This one was no bigger than at the start of incubation.

Kwinagi, I've been wondering myself if the duckling hadn't already died just before the accident. It was still warm (well, it had just come from the incubator) and pliable, but its eyes didn't look right, they were sunken and glazed over. I remember looking at the membrane between duckling and air cell as I was pulling it free, and thinking that it didn't look right either - it had what looked like white patches of fungus growing around the edges of it.

Maybe wishful thinking, but could it have already drowned in the egg?

(And it could have been worse. At least my daughter came out of it with only a couple of bruises.)

ma27 · **Joined:** Tue Sep 04, 2007 11:24 pm **Posts:** 69

You stop turning three days before hatching
So domestic ducks stop turning day 25
Muscovy stop turning Day 32
The duckling looked okay had not absorbed the yolk as yet which occurs over the last two days.
Hopefully next time will get good results
Small air space is a result of inadequate ventilation ;low humidity.If the temperature was low over the hatch then it would have probably gone longer than 28 days

fuzzfly · **Joined:** Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:42 pm **Posts:** 253

How unfortunate, I had duck eggs pipping when I had mostly Campbells but unfortunately the mother killed them before they even emerged, I disturbed them too much I think but it was one of my first attempts at breeding ducks and I was so curious to see the hatching process.
So I know the feeling

, hopefully next time there'll be better results.

Just reminds you of how fragile life is.

oozcorpse · **Joined:** Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:15 am **Posts:** 2715

macl27 wrote:

You stop turning three days before hatching
So domestic ducks stop turning day 25
Muscovy stop turning Day 32
The duckling looked okay had not absorbed the yolk as yet which occurs over the last two days.
Hopefully next time will get good results
Small air space is a result of inadequate ventilation ;low humidity.If the temperature was low over the hatch then it would have probably gone longer than 28 days

This is what i was going to post fr yr reference - thanks macl27 -
I tend to leave all eggs for an extra 3-4 days as some do take longer - BUT - I mark these young and keep a close eye on them = they have a tendancy to not develop as fast or as strong as the ones that hatch on the correct [I use that word loosely as only Mother Nature really knows the correct day] - they can be stronger sometime tho - so - yep - give all eggs an extra few days okies.

Dont be disheartened - we all have failures and great joys = the next time will be a great joy!!!

AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Tragic end

Who is on the Forum