First Duck incubation w/Nurture Right 360. Come along for the journey! I'll do pictures!

[Everlastinghoop]

Hello! Been a while since I have posted or lurked here.
Our beloved Pekin drake (Cinnamon) got nabbed the night before last by what we think was a great horned owl. We think its the only predator it could be that left the clues that it did that it could possible be.
Anyways our female (Maple) as been fertilized everyday by Cinnamon until yesterday, and she has been laying and this is their first year (they are 7-8 months old).
Anyways, we are setting four or five eggs starting tomorrow with her egg I get in the morning.
I have set our own chicken eggs in the past but never ducks! I'll have questions!!!! I will do everything I can to ensure we have continuity of our beloved Cinnamon's lineage.
I love backyard chickens and ducks forum. It's the best.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'm very sorry about Cinnamon did you forget to put them up for the night?

I hope you get some precious ducklings

 

[Everlastinghoop]

I'm very sorry about Cinnamon did you forget to put them up for the night?

I hope you get some precious ducklings

We didn't forget .we had a pretty good enclosure.....but we will be putting them in every night now. We have fort knocks for our hens....and will for our ducks now.

 

[Everlastinghoop]

About to start guys!! Got our fourth egg this am and going to also set one More the fridge too...just for added good measure ...I always add "one more" much to my husband's chargin.lol. ...pRyers she is actually fertile and these work out! They were youngish ducks and I am assume ng he got his mark when he did his dances with her!

 

[p4PaDuck]

How old was your drake?
Also I'm sorry for your loss.
I will be following this thread because I bought three ducklings from TSC and am hoping I have a khaki Campbell drake so I can have sex-linked ducklings! Also I'm in the market for a small cheapish incubator. Maybe a 12 egg. Anyways, I would appreciate advice for incubating duck eggs specifically.

 

[Everlastinghoop]

How old was your drake?
Also I'm sorry for your loss.
I will be following this thread because I bought three ducklings from TSC and am hoping I have a khaki Campbell drake so I can have sex-linked ducklings! Also I'm in the market for a small cheapish incubator. Maybe a 12 egg. Anyways, I would appreciate advice for incubating duck eggs specifically.

Oh! Well, I am not the best advisor for setting duck eggs expert since this is my first time setting Ducklings to-be! Fingers crossed! And come along for the journey with me....I'm sure there will be somethings to be gleaned from this month's journey tht will help you!
Our Drake was only seven months old or so. He was pretty, friendly, sweet and attached to my boys, one in particular..
.have fun with your Ducklings!!! Since I got mine last fall, I am a secret convert....I PREFER Having ducklings over chicks now!! They are so much more fun and manageable..IMHO....but I've been rasing chickens for years now so maybe its that...

 

[p4PaDuck]

Oh! Well, I am not the best advisor for setting duck eggs expert since this is my first time setting Ducklings to-be! Fingers crossed! And come along for the journey with me....I'm sure there will be somethings to be gleaned from this month's journey tht will help you!

Nice! I'm really hoping you can hatch them out! First time experience is the most educational, if you take the time to go over what you did right and wrong! Definitely following this thread.

 

[Everlastinghoop]

Welp ! I couldn't help myself and I canceled today, just one,while my boys were outside playing (I am a homeschooler) ....and it's alive!! Yay!
And I posted a other thread today about staggered hatches...for ducks ..I went ahead and did it. I put in our Maples Last egg that we rescued from her body yesterday ...she was taken too! (plus I added another one for good measure) five days behind these eggies here....so we will see!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Do you have any idea how your ducks are being taken? I am very sorry to hear you lost both.

 

[Everlastinghoop]

Do you have any idea how your ducks are being taken? I am very sorry to hear you lost both.

The first time, we.messed up, when we lost our Drake....We have a tall fence and we have a super fort for our chickens. But I got us two Pekin ducks last end of summer, and my husband did not want to make them a house or couldn't.yet. ...
anyways....
they were left out at night in our fenced in area because we had No IDEA there were Owls around....we have not had anything come attack out hens in years...so when Cinnamon and Maple did not like going in their house I got them (I did buy a house for them where they were babies, a Dog Dome! They are GREAT! IF YOU Build A DOOR FOR IT!) ... Anyways they did not go in that night and we found his feathers on the other side of the fence ....and figured out it was a Great horned owl, by the way the Owl left Cinnamon's feathers so neat.....needless to say we were astounded to figure out by investigation that we had a resident Great Horned Owl....and....we definitely did not want to lose Maple! We felt terrible....
So I made sure to put her in her dog dome and had a door we strap on with a ratchet strap...we had been doing that before until they started being almost impossible to get in some nights which is why he got nabbed that one time.

So, we HAD NO Idea...that a great horned owl will go to EXTREME lengths to Find a way to get into or get the prey Out of there home ..now after watching YouTube s out there I can see they do.. .. SOMEHOW that Owl got the door to come off...idk know how...if it was freaking Maple out and made her push her way through the door or if the owl actually got the ratchet strap.to slip off...
We don't know because we didn't have a trail cam....we are looking into it now!
Long story long, we found her six days after the owl ate her mate, in the Same spot! but half of her was still there including one perfect egg inside of her that we took out before ewe buried her...
Anyways....it is a bummer. But we will be sure the ducklings are secured like our hens are...
Whew. What a week. They were sweet ducks...we are lucky and blessed to have eggs I could set!