# duckling has weird down...help please



## HouseElfLamanchas (Apr 12, 2013)

so yesterday we had one of our eggs hatch. It was the second egg that hatched from the 12 that we bought from an ancona breeder. The duckling was in the egg for 24 hours trying to hatch but he was not making alot of progress. He was stuck in one position and the membrane got stuck to his beak after he broke through it. We allowed 24 hours to go by and then an extra 4 hours and he never made any progress like he should of so we helped him just a little bit not to much we peeled away some of the shell to find out that his head was caught and he could not get it out, so we peeled some of the egg away and helped him get out but we didnt remove him from the egg.

we moved enough shell out of the way for him to pop his head out on his own. He was great did that, then was exhausted like no other for 12 hours barely got up and moved around we were worried finally at 13 hours after he hatched we took him out since he was dried but his feathers (down) was not right...









and when we put him in with the 2 day old duckling it tried to peck at him....

so my question is What is wrong with duckling 2's feathery down and is it normal?

also is it normal for a 2 day old Brother to be pecking at 2nd duckling?"

any help is appreciated


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## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

HouseElfLamanchas said:


> so yesterday we had one of our eggs hatch. It was the second egg that hatched from the 12 that we bought from an ancona breeder. The duckling was in the egg for 24 hours trying to hatch but he was not making alot of progress. He was stuck in one position and the membrane got stuck to his beak after he broke through it. We allowed 24 hours to go by and then an extra 4 hours and he never made any progress like he should of so we helped him just a little bit not to much we peeled away some of the shell to find out that his head was caught and he could not get it out, so we peeled some of the egg away and helped him get out but we didnt remove him from the egg.
> 
> we moved enough shell out of the way for him to pop his head out on his own. He was great did that, then was exhausted like no other for 12 hours barely got up and moved around we were worried finally at 13 hours after he hatched we took him out since he was dried but his feathers (down) was not right...
> 
> ...


Sounds like the duckling got shrink wrapped due to low humidity in the incubator. The picture is rather blurry, but is the duckling's down all hard and spiky? If so, it is caused by the fluids in the egg rapidly drying on the chick. They don't fluff up, they look like they've put on hair gel.

You can fix it by giving the duckling a bath in warm water. Without soap, obviously. Just let the duckling have a good, total soak, then either towel or blow dry. That will get off all the yuck that has given it the weird look.

The pecking should stop once duckling is cleaned.

Were you opening the incubator a lot during hatch time? If so, next time, don't. There is a reason that time is called 'lockdown'. Opening the incubator dramatically reduces humidity levels in the incubator, which will lead to shrink wrapped chicks/ducklings, etc.


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## sbaker (Nov 11, 2012)

^^^ agree!


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## HouseElfLamanchas (Apr 12, 2013)

Stacykins said:


> Sounds like the duckling got shrink wrapped due to low humidity in the incubator. The picture is rather blurry, but is the duckling's down all hard and spiky? If so, it is caused by the fluids in the egg rapidly drying on the chick. They don't fluff up, they look like they've put on hair gel.
> 
> You can fix it by giving the duckling a bath in warm water. Without soap, obviously. Just let the duckling have a good, total soak, then either towel or blow dry. That will get off all the yuck that has given it the weird look.
> 
> ...


oh gosh okay yeah that makes sense i will definitely let him go for a bath and dry him off. we did open the incubator because he needed help getting out of the shell his neck was stuck, once he got out he couldnt even hold his neck up like he is how. But i will not do that again if the duckling needs help its up to itself to get out of the egg not us from now on  thanks so much


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

That wouldn't be a problem helping the duck. Certainly helping it and giving it a bath is better than dying. What Stacykins is talking about is opening the incubator on a regular basis.


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## HouseElfLamanchas (Apr 12, 2013)

and it certianly did help  i gave the duckling a bath and hes just fuzzier than ever and him and his brother bicker like no ones bussiness lOL! ITS SO CUTE! we only got two eggs out of the 12 so far that hatched we have at least one more that we are HOPING will hatch. But even if it doesnt im perfectly happy with the two ducklings we did get  i just hope it will be a boy and a girl.


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## oakshirefarms (Jul 5, 2013)

Glad to hear all he needed was a bath! It is humorous listening to them go back and forth. I think the Pekins we have were the worst, and they are still bickering to this day lol! The Blue Swedish are a bit quieter and the Khaki Campbells very content.


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

Yup this happens quite a bit with new hatchers with humidity issues in the incubator. We do not practice "lock down" as we have a cabinet incubator and are in it twice a day for 5 mins a piece every day. Regardless of what we're Doing in there. Never had negative effects from us being in there.


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## HouseElfLamanchas (Apr 12, 2013)

mjs500doo said:


> Yup this happens quite a bit with new hatchers with humidity issues in the incubator. We do not practice "lock down" as we have a cabinet incubator and are in it twice a day for 5 mins a piece every day. Regardless of what we're Doing in there. Never had negative effects from us being in there.


oh wow maybe i should look into one of those cabinet incubators haha .... sadly though the duckling i was talking about in this thread died last night.

totally my fault. he drowned in a big bowl of water couldnt reach the bottom to get out so yeah. I'm trying to find another duckling thats almost the same size as the bigger duckling. :/


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## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

HouseElfLamanchas said:


> oh wow maybe i should look into one of those cabinet incubators haha .... sadly though the duckling i was talking about in this thread died last night.
> 
> totally my fault. he drowned in a big bowl of water couldnt reach the bottom to get out so yeah. I'm trying to find another duckling thats almost the same size as the bigger duckling. :/


I'm sorry your duckling drowned.

With ducklings, _never_ leave deep water around them, as you learned. When their baby down becomes saturated, they can no longer float and drown if they cannot exit the water. With my ducklings, the only deep water they get is _supervised_. The rest of the time, the only water available is a normal chick waterer, that they cannot drown in.

At least now you know...


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

I liked using a pie tin with rubber grip on the bottom for ducklings. You can adjust the water depth slowly. Once they start feathering out you may switch out to to a baking pan, or litters box. They'll practice "swimming", and preen to start working their oil glands that allow them to swim.


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