How to hatch call ducklings? ***Updated questions!****

[SilkieSensation]

I was stupid and added more water to my incubator's water tray after I emptied it

The humidity is around 41%, but I guess that's fine.

That should be fine. Just be prepared to do it all again if it goes up too much...LOL

 

[PoultryGirly]

Today (day 5) I had to remove a stinky egg! I had noticed that it had 'blue' spots on it, but just let it be. Yesterday I smelled a funky smell in the incubator and sniffed each individual egg and didn't really find anything. Today I smelled in the incubator and I KNEW there was a bad egg in there somewhere, so I re-sniffed each egg and found it. I candled it before I threw it out just to be sure and it had had an embryo in it but it died. There was also gunk in the air cell. Do you think that the bleach caused this? Will the other eggs die because of the smell this egg made? Good thing I caught this stinker before it exploded!

 

[SilkieSensation]

Today (day 5) I had to remove a stinky egg! I had noticed that it had 'blue' spots on it, but just let it be. Yesterday I smelled a funky smell in the incubator and sniffed each individual egg and didn't really find anything. Today I smelled in the incubator and I KNEW there was a bad egg in there somewhere, so I re-sniffed each egg and found it. I candled it before I threw it out just to be sure and it had had an embryo in it but it died. There was also gunk in the air cell. Do you think that the bleach caused this? Will the other eggs die because of the smell this egg made? Good thing I caught this stinker before it exploded!

The rest should be fine. Sometimes you just get 1 that has a weak spot in the shell that lets bacteria in. It has nothing to do with bleach fumes & usually it is the bacteria that causes the embryo to die, not the dead embryo that causes the bacteria.

 

[Terry2]

Thank you for all the great advice. Here is a picture of our classroom brood of 10.

 

[Going Quackers]

Thank you for all the great advice. Here is a picture of our classroom brood of 10.

awe! they are so cute! are you changing the bedding? newspaper is slippery so best to be avoided to reduce risk of leg issues.

 

[Amykins]

asd;k;lsda';dska;'kdsa'; LOOKIT ALL THE FLUFFY BUTTS

 

[Terry2]

Could someone help me with the color of the ducking with the greenish bill?

 

[SilkieSensation]

Could someone help me with the color of the ducking with the greenish bill?

Looks like pastel, butterscotch or snowy. Definitely not white.

 

[Featherfarmer]

I've been hatching Calls for 6 years now so I will tell you some of the things I have done that worked and some things that didn't work out so well, at least for me.

1st: I always turn my own eggs at least 4 times a day! Automatic turners didn't work so well for my developing ducklings! Make sure that eggs are marked X on one side and O on the other so you can keep track of the turned eggs!
2nd: Start w/a temp of 99.5F and 55% Humidity! on the 25th day you can adjust temp to 99F and 80% Humidity...sometimes it helps to put eggs into a separate hatcher for the last 3 days if you have multiple hatch dates! On the 28th day during hatching I bring the temp down to 97 degrees F and the humidity to 70% once eggs have been pipped!






3rd: I have sprayed duck eggs in the past w/a misting bottle that I keep inside the incubator at all times so that the water temp is the same as the eggs. Usually misted them once a day...duck hens usually leave the nest to swim and eat before returning to the nest so this is what I tried to duplicate in the incubator.
4th:Keep a close eye on the eggs on the 28th day to see if they have pipped. If one pips but doesn't make any progress in 12 hrs I check to see if she's struggling. I have popped the top of the shell off to assist in the hatching but YOU HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL...... Peel a little piece of the shell off and look for the blood veins that will run thru the outer membrane just under the shell. If there is bright red blood in the veins place egg back in the incubator!!!!!! But if the veins have dried up you can remove a little bit more shell pieces. Just a little tiny bit at a time!!!!!! I have been able to remove up to 50% of the shell top this way as long as there is no bleeding. Then I place back in the incubator and let the duckling kick out when she is ready. If you do nick a blood vessel I apply a little pressure with a tissue till it stops and give the duckling some more time to work at hatching out on her own. If she hasn't done anything after a few hours I may try again.

I have never assisted Cayuga and Pekin Ducklings. They hatch out fine all on their own. But I have found in the past that the tinier Calls were harder to hatch. If I just left them to work it out on their own I could lose 25 to 50% of them. But by assisting them I have had a 95% success rate w/my ducklings. And that goes for leaving them w/hens too during the hatch. I lost some that I didn't monitor myself. But each person is different w/their own methods. I just hope some of this helps you to hatch out Calls! It's so worth it!

 

[Lacrystol]

I've been hatching Calls for 6 years now so I will tell you some of the things I have done that worked and some things that didn't work out so well, at least for me. 1st: I always turn my own eggs at least 4 times a day! Automatic turners didn't work so well for my developing ducklings! Make sure that eggs are marked X on one side and O on the other so you can keep track of the turned eggs! 2nd: Start w/a temp of 99.5F and 55% Humidity! on the 25th day you can adjust temp to 99F and 80% Humidity...sometimes it helps to put eggs into a separate hatcher for the last 3 days if you have multiple hatch dates! On the 28th day during hatching I bring the temp down to 97 degrees F and the humidity to 70% once eggs have been pipped! 3rd: I have sprayed duck eggs in the past w/a misting bottle that I keep inside the incubator at all times so that the water temp is the same as the eggs. Usually misted them once a day...duck hens usually leave the nest to swim and eat before returning to the nest so this is what I tried to duplicate in the incubator. 4th:Keep a close eye on the eggs on the 28th day to see if they have pipped. If one pips but doesn't make any progress in 12 hrs I check to see if she's struggling. I have popped the top of the shell off to assist in the hatching but YOU HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL...... Peel a little piece of the shell off and look for the blood veins that will run thru the outer membrane just under the shell. If there is bright red blood in the veins place egg back in the incubator!!!!!! But if the veins have dried up you can remove a little bit more shell pieces. Just a little tiny bit at a time!!!!!! I have been able to remove up to 50% of the shell top this way as long as there is no bleeding. Then I place back in the incubator and let the duckling kick out when she is ready. If you do nick a blood vessel I apply a little pressure with a tissue till it stops and give the duckling some more time to work at hatching out on her own. If she hasn't done anything after a few hours I may try again. I have never assisted Cayuga and Pekin Ducklings. They hatch out fine all on their own. But I have found in the past that the tinier Calls were harder to hatch. If I just left them to work it out on their own I could lose 25 to 50% of them. But by assisting them I have had a 95% success rate w/my ducklings. And that goes for leaving them w/hens too during the hatch. I lost some that I didn't monitor myself. But each person is different w/their own methods. I just hope some of this helps you to hatch out Calls! It's so worth it!

If you go to my website www.lwbarnhouse.com under the duck tab I have two methods that's have worked for me. If you take a look at the second method, you will see a pic of how I hatched using a turner.