MAY Hatch-Along!!!! Let's do this!!!

[njduck]

I have been hatching ducks and turkeys for the past 3 weeks I have another batch going into the hatcher tomorrow. It should be around 30-35 duck and 20 to 25 turkey. I won't have any hatching next week end, but will be back at it the following weekend. My ducks are pekin, rowen, and runner mixes. I have 30 ducklings right now

 

[wordgirl]

Thanks! They're black and white magpie call ducks. I just candled them and unfortunately, now I'm down to four eggs. Three were duds. I'm using a still-air incubator, and I just learned that the 99.5 degrees it's set at might be too cool. Could that be why the embryos didn't form? What should the temperature be?

I've got a still-air, and in the book I'm following (Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks, by Dave Holderread) he recommends 101.5* 1st week, 102* 2nd week, 102.5* 3rd week, and 103 the 4th week, but lowering the temperature by 1-1.5* the last two days because the ducklings create a substantial amount of heat as they're preparing to hatch (and watching temperature the last 7-10 days because the temperature may begin to rise and you may need to adjust your thermostat accordingly). I've been having some trouble holding that exactly, so I've been aiming for around 102* (I'm on day 7 today) because it says that if you have a staggered hatch (eggs hatching at different times) you should keep it at a constant 102-102.5*. Hope that helps some! Other people might have slightly different suggestions, but I think recommended temperatures around 102* have been pretty common from what I've seen.

Congratulations on your developing eggs!

I don't know whether the low temperature might have kept the embryos from forming, but it's probably possible. I know that a consistently somewhat lower temperature over the course of the incubation will often result in a later hatch. It's also possible that those three weren't fertilized. Can you see anything in there? A dark spot on the yolk? That was what I saw first on my eggs.

Oh, lovely color! My Anconas will probably look at least somewhat like yours - Anconas have patches of color on white, too, but it's more scattered than the magpie pattern.

I'm not sure what colors I'll get - the parents of these eggs are blues, lavenders, blacks, and chocolates, so I'm excited to see what hatches out!

 

[wordgirl]

I have been hatching ducks and turkeys for the past 3 weeks I have another batch going into the hatcher tomorrow. It should be around 30-35 duck and 20 to 25 turkey. I won't have any hatching next week end, but will be back at it the following weekend. My ducks are pekin, rowen, and runner mixes. I have 30 ducklings right now

Hi njduck! Thanks for joining us! You must have a lot of fun with all those adorable ducklings!

 

[Goin Quackrrs]

country girl - adorable!

I can't wait! 3 more weeks! Or maybe since everyone's going early mine will be a bit earlier, too!

Goin Quackrrs - congratulations! How many do you have?

7/9's pretty good, Ilovemyduckies, isn't it?

If you don't mind me asking, in your earlier hatches, when did they quit?

I've got 6 out, 7 more working.

 

[fowllover]

I've got 6 out, 7 more working.

Awesome! What a fun day in store for you!

 

[Goin Quackrrs]

Awesome! What a fun day in store for you!

Two more to go!

Baby picture:

 

[wordgirl]

They're so precious! Congratulations, Goin Quackrrs!

 

[donnavee]

I have 2 broody call ducks - the first was due today - or so I thought. Nothing yet, but hopefully I'll have some little quackers soon. She is sitting on 12 eggs, tiny as she is and if these hatch, will be the first from a broody. I'm so excited - can't wait to see the little ones follow her around.

 

[Diamond88]

Thanks for the info, wordgirl! I'm reading Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks now and I see that the temperature is supposed to be higher for still-air incubators. I really hope the remaining eggs will be okay! I bought them online from a company selling hatching eggs, so they all should have been fertile when they arrived. I candled them before putting them in the incubator and they looked fertile as far as I could tell, from a novice's perspective. They each had a distinct dark spot. But now I'm down to only four eggs, which all are growing veins! I'm so, so hopeful that at least one will hatch.

Magpies and anconas are so cute! I love that I don't know exactly what they're going to look like because of the variance in patterns. Black and white magpie calls seem pretty hard to find. I ordered my eggs from Faith Valley Waterfowl, and as far as I know, they're the only farm that sells them consistently.

Can't wait to see pictures of your babies!

 

[DoesItQuack]

They're starting... tapping in 5 eggs, peeping in a couple ;-)