Recent content by JoyAnna

  1. JoyAnna

    How long is a drake good?

    I have a wonderful Ancona drake who is about four years old. I wonder how long he will remain fertile. I bought Benedict as a young adult and he has been such a gentleman from the very beginning. Last year, he tried to teach some manners to a hatched drake, Grendal, who just wouldn't learn and...
  2. JoyAnna

    Ducks stopped laying eggs !

    I'm having the same problem. Out of the four layers, I am getting maybe one or two eggs a week. This was the heaviest molt I have ever seen. Our weather is changing here in Washington state so I hope they will get started again. This is about normal for January. I also have young ducks, about 3...
  3. JoyAnna

    Ethical question

    Framk, it is never an easy choice. Recently, I had to make that choice for a dear little cat who had looked after ME for quite a few years. She knew when my sugar levels got too high or low, would holler at me in the most annoying way. But it became pretty clear that it was a struggle for her to...
  4. JoyAnna

    Toys for ducks???

    Toss a whole ear of sweet corn into their pool (try not to hit one of them as I did). They nibbled away for hours since the corn kept getting away from them in the water.
  5. JoyAnna

    Incuview Incubator

    The eggs were from our own flock, and less that a week old when set. I didn't candle early, but when we candled at about day 20, the air cells were properly established. Somehow the birds just didn't get themselves into proper position. I made mistakes (temperature and humidity) early in the...
  6. JoyAnna

    Incuview Incubator

    I also wondered about that HTR%. I wish there were a list somewhere for all the abbreviations in the controls. I just finished a first hatch. It was not a complete success but we have 11 strong, healthy Ancona ducklings out of the 18 set. I had problems at the beginning getting the temp and...
  7. JoyAnna

    INCUBATING w/FRIENDS! w/Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs No problem!

    Thanks for the welcome, and I truly appreciate all the great advice and links everyone provided. I wonder if I will ever be able to keep up with this thread. What a wealth of information.
  8. JoyAnna

    Incuview Incubator

    Thanks, aart, for the link on calibrating. I got the humidity down by lifting the turner with the eggs, rinsing the bottom and drying it thoroughly before I had to leave for town this morning. Now the hydrometer is reading around 28% and the gauge is sitting on the edge of the add...
  9. JoyAnna

    INCUBATING w/FRIENDS! w/Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs No problem!

    Wow, thank you for all this info. I had to go into town today so haven't yet got into all the links you suggested. Before I left, however, I lifted the turner w/eggs, rinsed and dried all the channels. When I got home this evening, the gage in the bater was sittingt on the edge of the...
  10. JoyAnna

    Incuview Incubator

    Thank you junebuggena. I did add a small hydrometer which is showing roughly the same area as the built-in one. Thanks for the info on filling the smallest reservoir first. That makes sense. I had no idea how to bring the humidity down. I'll give your suggestion a try. Thanks so much.
  11. JoyAnna

    INCUBATING w/FRIENDS! w/Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs No problem!

    Hello all. Here comes another newby! I thought I would try to catch up from the beginning, but you all are just too far ahead of me and I have a question and can use a bit of encouragement. I set 18 Ancona duck eggs in my Incuview on June 8. This is the first time I have tried incubating. So far...
  12. JoyAnna

    Incuview Incubator

    I set 18 Ancona duck eggs in my Incuview on June 8. This is the first time I have tried incubating. One of my ducks hatched out a dozen last summer, but I want to be able tosell ducklings, so started the Incuview. So far the temperature is holding steady at 99.5 but I am concerned that the...
  13. JoyAnna

    Daily Duck Egg Report for 2016

    Yesterday and again today, I found one egg out in the muddy pen. I think this is from Beatrice, the oldest girl. There are three others who laid last year and the youngest who has not yet begun. It has warmed a lot these past two weeks here in nw Washington. I looked back and last year they did...
  14. JoyAnna

    Heated water hack

    I discovered the same solution. When I used the heated bowl alone, it was cumbersome to empty and clean it with the wired cord attached. Just lifting out the bucket to empty, clean, and refill was so much easier. Now, with more ducks I have two of these setups going.
  15. JoyAnna

    Show me your WINTER duck waterers!

    For the past two winters (upper Washington state) I have used a heated dog bowl. I found it really hard and clumsy to dump the water with the attached wired cord. I then set a bucket of water into the dog bowl. Enough heat from the bowl kept the small, plastic bucket of water from freezing and...
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