I couldn't think of another way to word it.... but I feel like I have entered a co-parenting arrangement with my muscovy duck!
My dearest muscovy duck 'trigger' sat on her second batch of eggs this season (first lot were unfertile) and unfortunately I had to attempt to relocate her nest due to a tom turkey who thinks he is a duck and 3 other boys entering their first breeding season. It was a hasty and unplanned event.
She had been on the eggs since at least the 25th of June. (I'm going by a facebook post I wrote about how excited I was!)
Sadly Mumma duck didn't take kindly to the relocation and refused to sit back on her eggs. I had turned the incubator on.... and after a few hours of watching her stomp back and forth across her new crate pen... and the eggs getting cold to the touch, I knew I had to take the eggs inside. (I actually then gave her 4 warmed up chicken eggs to give her a bit more time to adjust... but she was having no part in this new nest arrangement!).
So... it has been 5 days since the move and tonight I candled to see movement in 5 out of the 6 eggs. All look great and are 100% dark except for the air sac.
Now I am stressing!!!!!! They are still alive!!!!!!! I really thought I would have killed them all! I don't want to fail after Mumma duck did such a good job of getting them this far.
My concerns are as follows:
1. I have no idea when they are due to hatch! As she is a muscovy its usually 35 days. Based on my calculations they are AT LEAST 30 days along. *I'm almost hyperventilating just thinking about this all!!!!*
2. How do I know when to stop turning. Should I be turning? Is turning up until hatch date worse than not turning at all? Opinions please!!!!
3. I have only ever used my home made incubator once before. Usually I calibrate it with a water wriggler but this time I just set the temp where I thought it looked good and hoped. Would they be dead by now if the temp was too high or low? EIK! Seeing as they have been in there for 5 days and are not dead yet, should I just leave the temp 'as is' and hope for the best?
4. Humidity. It fluctuates up and down. Do I want to keep it higher or lower? As I don't know how far away hatch date is... what should I do!!!
5. My incubator gets damp if I run at a high humidity (say around 60%). Will this be a problem for duck eggs?
Oh me, Oh my...... I wish I didn't enter this dual parenting arrangement! It is all too much!
My dearest muscovy duck 'trigger' sat on her second batch of eggs this season (first lot were unfertile) and unfortunately I had to attempt to relocate her nest due to a tom turkey who thinks he is a duck and 3 other boys entering their first breeding season. It was a hasty and unplanned event.
She had been on the eggs since at least the 25th of June. (I'm going by a facebook post I wrote about how excited I was!)
Sadly Mumma duck didn't take kindly to the relocation and refused to sit back on her eggs. I had turned the incubator on.... and after a few hours of watching her stomp back and forth across her new crate pen... and the eggs getting cold to the touch, I knew I had to take the eggs inside. (I actually then gave her 4 warmed up chicken eggs to give her a bit more time to adjust... but she was having no part in this new nest arrangement!).
So... it has been 5 days since the move and tonight I candled to see movement in 5 out of the 6 eggs. All look great and are 100% dark except for the air sac.
Now I am stressing!!!!!! They are still alive!!!!!!! I really thought I would have killed them all! I don't want to fail after Mumma duck did such a good job of getting them this far.
My concerns are as follows:
1. I have no idea when they are due to hatch! As she is a muscovy its usually 35 days. Based on my calculations they are AT LEAST 30 days along. *I'm almost hyperventilating just thinking about this all!!!!*
2. How do I know when to stop turning. Should I be turning? Is turning up until hatch date worse than not turning at all? Opinions please!!!!
3. I have only ever used my home made incubator once before. Usually I calibrate it with a water wriggler but this time I just set the temp where I thought it looked good and hoped. Would they be dead by now if the temp was too high or low? EIK! Seeing as they have been in there for 5 days and are not dead yet, should I just leave the temp 'as is' and hope for the best?
4. Humidity. It fluctuates up and down. Do I want to keep it higher or lower? As I don't know how far away hatch date is... what should I do!!!
5. My incubator gets damp if I run at a high humidity (say around 60%). Will this be a problem for duck eggs?
Oh me, Oh my...... I wish I didn't enter this dual parenting arrangement! It is all too much!
Last edited: