The internal pip

As of today, we're on day 29! Still no duckies but they're just taking their time. Apparently this is fairly normal, especially with homemade incubators. The more "fiery" of the two has already begun the "internal pip." With hatching, there are 2 processes: the internal pip and the external pip. As the duck approaches the hatching time, it's wrapped tightly in a blood membrane while the other side of the egg, what used to be the egg white or albumen, has been converted to a large air cell. The internal pip is when the duck breaks out of that membrane - he has anywhere between 24-48 hours (I recall) to break out of the egg (external pip). The air cell is his source of oxygen while he works away at the shell. It's very easy to see this visually through candling. So yes, one of my ducks is close to break-out time! If too much time goes by and I can see him really struggling, I can help him by drilling a small hole through the shell. I'm not worried about this guy as much as I'm worried about the other egg - this other duck is smaller and has been a little less active so I'm worried that I may need to help him/her break out. We shall see. It's not supposed to be good for the duck however, so I will avoid it unless it's completely necessary.