Is it necessary to help ducklings to hatch from eggs in an incubator at home?
What is the right thing to do and should newborn ducklings in an incubator be helped to hatch? Why do some eggs lie for a long time without pecking? Such questions are faced by farmers trying to breed poultry on their own. To understand exactly how to proceed, you should turn to nature for a clue: how a duck behaves in such cases. Or study the experience of leading poultry farmers.
Should I help the ducklings to hatch?
Of course, there are different situations. If the egg squeaks, moves, and the bite does not occur, help the chick. Approximately between 19 and 22 days ducklings should begin to be born. It is believed that this period is most suitable for the birth of strong, healthy ducklings.
When the chick cannot break through the shell on its own, it will have to come to the rescue. Do not forget that in the incubator the conditions for the maturation of eggs are artificial, different from natural ones. Therefore, the shell can dry out and become harder.
But if the ducklings themselves are able to free themselves from the egg, they should not interfere in any way. Only options will be considered when newborn chicks cannot do without human help.
How to do it?
The first sign that the chicks need help is a steady squeak throughout the day without any effect. This means that for some reason the duckling does not have enough strength to break through the shell, to get out. Then the newborn should be helped to hatch from the egg. To do this, first, the shell is shined through to determine where the beak is located. Then they act very carefully. It is necessary to knock off the outer shell without damaging the film located under it. This algorithm is dictated by caring for the chick.
Through the resulting window in the film, you can see how much the supposed place coincided with the actual one. If you succeed, you do not need to do anything further.
The chick will expand the hole by itself, get out of the shell. You should be extremely careful in areas where blood vessels are visible. Damage to them by negligence will lead to the freezing of the duck. Or even his death.
Also, you cannot forcibly tear off the inner film from the chick. To remove it, you can do it in the following 2 ways:
- lightly sprinkling warm water on the duck;
- gently wiping the baby with a wet cotton pad, gauze swab.
No other action is allowed. And even so, you need to be extremely careful with the duckling so as not to harm him.
Does the duck help with hatching?
Under natural conditions, poultry behaves differently. It happens that a duck, inadvertently sitting on the eggs, even crushes some of them. Therefore, the incubation method is more reliable. Sometimes the ducks help the chicks break through the shell. But, given the size of the beak, often such actions can lead to injury and death of newborns.
In any case, the mother hen is waiting for all the chicks to hatch. If for some reason this does not happen, the bird shows anxiety, screams, and attracts attention. Do not forget that in natural conditions, different terms of incubation. They, on average, are from 28 to 35 days, which is not suitable in a mini-farm, mass production. It is better not to rely on a duck, if a natural way of hatching is nevertheless chosen, but carefully help problem chicks.
