Recent content by fredwck

  1. fredwck

    Call Duck Hatching

    I suggest you monitor their weight loss and play with humidity, see my other post on here. Check for internal pipping from D2-5 and assist by D5 if no external. Don't worry about opening incubator, I dipped my hand in water before I reach in though. Here's a photo of how I assisted.
  2. fredwck

    Monitoring call duck egg weight loss during incubation

    Concluding this thread, good news is this batch was 75% successful compared to previous 40% and 10%. This is the final plot and I've learnt a few things. The ends of these lines represent when I put them into lockdown at 75-80% humidity without turning. #6 reached 16% weight loss early by...
  3. fredwck

    Experimental Dehydrator Hatching - I'm doing it!

    @Cornflower when you mentioned "Eggs are losing weight a tad faster than schedule." like how much were you able to accelerate their weight loss? I had actually struggled to do this with a waterless incubator and might give a dehydrator a try, that's such a good idea. I'm going to complete my...
  4. fredwck

    Call Duck Hatching

    I've been helping them in the last 2 batches as I can also help keeping their membrane humidified. I do this only after internal pip. I think if they can't internally pip they might not be strong enough or the weight loss % is suboptimal. I hope you got some over the weekend? I manage to get 3...
  5. fredwck

    Monitoring call duck egg weight loss during incubation

    The two I'm currently using are from Brinsea, one had a pump for humidity control. The other is without pump but with an external trough for water input. Both rotate eggs automatically. The "less ideal" is a generic rectangular one that only has a temperature probe and a moving tray to rotate...
  6. fredwck

    Monitoring call duck egg weight loss during incubation

    So this is my second batch of a second attempt to hatch call duck eggs. They are significantly more difficult than others e.g. Pekins which had a near 100% hatch rate. The first batch of my second attempt I had 5 fertilised and only 2 hatched (40%) using a better incubator with humidity control...
  7. fredwck

    Treadle feeder for ducks.

    I managed to train my ducks with the Grandpa's feeder. I needed to use loads of mealworms then they got spoilt and needed them every morning on top of the normal pellets.. which semi defeated the "fully automatic" purpose. When one duck learns it then they kinda teach each other.
  8. fredwck

    Tips for taking him in the bike basket?

    I did this. You need to have a strong bond with one.
  9. fredwck

    Keeping call ducks indoor??

    I guess if the room had toilet plumbing with water inlet you could create a mini pool for it to drink bathe swim. I think a better solution is having a shed sized duck coop and modifying it so humans can stay inside, like a hammock. Either way, like others said they need daily outdoor free...
  10. fredwck

    Localised beak infection?

    The beak is crusty near the top and since today one bit broke. I suspect infection rather than physical but otherwise he is eating drinking playing well. Is it contagious? Topical antibiotics/antifungal? Others in the same house seems unaffected.
  11. fredwck

    Honey the supermarket duckling

    Cool! I also managed to hatch 2 of 4 fertilised eggs out of 6 from Waitrose. Both are drakes too. I think Clarence Court confirmed with me they are an Aylesbury cross, so mixed with something. They're quite massive. They seem to have figured out where the food is stored.
  12. fredwck

    Aylesbury ducks, True Pekin Ducks, and Long Island ducks- a discussion and "proposal"

    I'm gonna add a couple of photos here that I found with some size comparisons for reference as I also struggled to differentiate. I can't say if any are pure breeds but there are some distinctive features. Pekin (Cherry Valley) vs German Pekin (vs a Runner) It seems the German (or...
  13. fredwck

    Aylesbury or Pekin? Pictures

    I had a lot of trouble trying to tell these 2 breeds apart too based on photos online, including this previous post. I think there are likely so many crosses out there that it is hard to find "pure" breed, whatever that means. The consensus I reached was orange bill being a typical Pekin...
  14. fredwck

    Sexing Aylesbury and Pekin Ducks

    For future reference, sound is indeed the easiest and earliest way to tell. I think by 5-8 weeks you can already tell. Any earlier you'll need to vent (risky) or genotype (if you have access to a PCR)
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