Hatching & Imprinting Ducks

Jenny44

In the Brooder
Jan 9, 2017
10
0
15
Hello!

I'm wondering about hatching & imprinting ducklings.

HATCHING
My first hatch with the Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance EX was chicks, and I had a great hatch rate. However, for my second hatch I plan to try and hatch ducklings. I'm still very new to this, and could use any advice people have as to how I should use this incubator specifically for ducks! I'm a teacher and will be hatching them in class (they have a great home set up with a child's grandparents) so I'd really like to have a successful hatch or there will be a lot of disappointed children! Also, should I hand turn for duck eggs vs letting the incubator turn them in the cradle?


IMPRINTING
As a teacher, it would be really fun for the class if the ducklings imprinted on me and followed me around. Is there a way to help make sure they imprint? I know it works well if you have only one duck, but I'm hoping to have several (fingers crossed). Also, they will be going to their permanent home around 3-4 weeks--will that be hard if they are imprinted on me?

I'd appreciate any help or suggestions--I'm completely new to ducklings!
- Jenny
 
http://www.thegoosesmother.com/id6.html
That's a good link about understanding imprinting in ducks - and also about the extent of my knowledge
hide.gif
.. Sorry I can't be more helpful. I've never hatched ducks before, and know only the bare facts of imprinting in ducklings. I do know how to raise them, though, so instead of writing three pages, I'll take you to another link that should help:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings#post_10611711

Sorry about my extremely limited knowledge!
tongue.png
Good thing Bills vs Beaks is helping you on the other thread.. What breed of ducklings are you hatching?
 
Thank you very much! I really appreciate it. I think we will be having three different breeds (wild looking ones, small black ones, and big white ones that might be Peking)--however, I'm abroad, so I'm not 100% sure on the translation of the breed names to English :)
 
Thank you very much! I really appreciate it. I think we will be having three different breeds (wild looking ones, small black ones, and big white ones that might be Peking)--however, I'm abroad, so I'm not 100% sure on the translation of the breed names to English :)

The black eggs could be Cayugas:



(P.S. that isn't my picture
tongue.png
). Hope you have a successful hatch! Wish my school hatched duck eggs *grumble grumble*.
lol.png
 
[COLOR=333333]Hello!  [/COLOR]

I'm wondering about hatching & imprinting ducklings.

[COLOR=333333]HATCHING[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]My first hatch with the Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance EX was chicks, and I had a great hatch rate.  However, for my second hatch I plan to try and hatch ducklings.  I'm still very new to this, and could use any advice people have as to how I should use this incubator specifically for ducks!  I'm a teacher and will be hatching them in class (they have a great home set up with a child's grandparents) so I'd really like to have a successful hatch or there will be a lot of disappointed children!  Also, should I hand turn for duck eggs vs letting the incubator turn them in the cradle?[/COLOR]

IMPRINTING
As a teacher, it would be really fun for the class if the ducklings imprinted on me and followed me around.  Is there a way to help make sure they imprint?  I know it works well if you have only one duck, but I'm hoping to have several (fingers crossed).  Also, they will be going to their permanent home around 3-4 weeks--will that be hard if they are imprinted on me?

[COLOR=333333]I'd appreciate any help or suggestions--I'm completely new to ducklings!  [/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]- Jenny[/COLOR]


Hi, I am a high school science teacher and have hatched ducks and chickens in class -it's so much fun! According to my AP Biology book, ducks imprint a few hours after hatching on a species not an individual. So they will imprint on you and your students. They then seem to get to know particular people who spend time with them and feed them. I used to talk to and quack at my eggs (yes, I was made fun of) but one duckling made his finally push to hatch after I quacked at him. They all knew my voice right from the beginning.
As for egg turning, I let the machine do it because I do not want to have to visit school on the weekends to turn eggs. Ducklings need to go home with someone on the weekends though. Hope this helps!
 
Last edited:
From what I have read. Talking to the duck eggs while in the incubator helps them to recognize you when they hatch. Also be the first one they see and spend a lot of time with them. I have noticed that the goslings that I have hatched have had a stronger bond with me. It maybe different with someone else. That was just my experience.
 
Thanks everyone for all the info! This is so very helpful :) Really appreciate it!
 
Last edited:
Hi, I am a high school science teacher and have hatched ducks and chickens in class -it's so much fun! According to my AP Biology book, ducks imprint a few hours after hatching on a species not an individual. So they will imprint on you and your students. They then seem to get to know particular people who spend time with them and feed them. I used to talk to and quack at my eggs (yes, I was made fun of) but one duckling made his finally push to hatch after I quacked at him. They all knew my voice right from the beginning.
As for egg turning, I let the machine do it because I do not want to have to visit school on the weekends to turn eggs. Ducklings need to go home with someone on the weekends though. Hope this helps!
cheezenkwackers, Thanks for the advice! As a fellow teacher, I have a few questions :) Did you keep the ducklings in the brooder in your class as well? I did this last year with chicks and it worked out fine, but we used newspaper to line the brooder. Unfortunately, a lot of things online say not use newspaper for ducks b/c it's slippery--however shavings seem like a huge mess/hard to clean in a classroom. Wondering what you did :)
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom