As I'm sitting here too tired and overwhelmed to do much more, I thought I would post a few updates. I'm waiting on a little Rouen duck to finish hatching so I can put it in with the other one that just hatched. After that I have another two dozen Rouen and Mallard eggs in my HovaBator on my bathroom counter that still have another couple of weeks.
I've learned a few things - Mallards lay green eggs and they only take 23 days to hatch. It was funny because I gathered a few green eggs from duck house thinking they were from my Araucana that lays in there. I eventually figured out they were duck eggs when they started showing up by the dozens and no way, no how, one little Araucana could be laying that many. So, that's cool, I have Mallard eggs in bator - good thing I learned that before they hatched or I would have been really surprised to see a duck come out of the egg. But at the time of hatch I did not know they only take 23 days. So when they started hatching just two days after all the little chicks hatched I thought they were premature or miracle duck babies.
Finally went back to internet to look up more info on Mallards and yep, 23-28 days and green eggs.
The 14 little chicks and two Mallards were evicted from my bathroom today and moved to hutch in coop with a heat lamp - it's getting cool at night here. They are all doing great. I've lost track of time but I think they all hatched from the 28th to the 30th but they were outgrowing the plastic brooder box and really stinking things up so out they went. The peachicks weren't too happy about it because the new babies took over their hutch and light. The peachicks no longer need the light for warmth but seem to be really attached to it and would get in hutch every night and lay under light - hutch door was always open.
I now have yet another broody. My little Araucana went broody in coop in a nest box and was constantly getting picked on and made to move by the older hens. So I moved her and her eggs to a cage on coop floor and she is setting and rarely budges from nest. I'm having to put her food directly in front of her to get her to eat.
My broody in laundry room is doing great. I made a nest in a round wicker basket and added hay and put the 13 eggs in it because before they were spreading out all over the floor and weren't all getting under her. She comes and goes from the nest when I go in with food/water and sometimes she's just walking around in there when I go in but quickly runs to nest. She seems quite comfortable and safe. I'm so glad since I lost the other two broodies. Seems a nice, quiet place is the best thing for them.
My broody duck is also doing well. I see her leave the nest in early evenings to run out and get food and water which gives me a quick moment to check the nest. It keeps growing with white and green eggs. There is a moutain of them. I've figured out that she is stealing all the other eggs that the other three females are laying because one day there will be two other nests started with eggs in them and then the next day they are gone and suddenly the setting duck's nest has several more eggs.
If she keeps stealing eggs she will literally be sitting on a mountain of them. At this point I'm guessing she will leave the nest when the first ones start hatching and since she's been adding eggs to the nest the whole time, I'll have to take whatever is left and candle them and add them to bator to finish hatching. Of course I have no idea how the oldest eggs, on the very bottom and literally buried in a hole will ever be able to hatch and make it to the surface.
I got my new Sportsman incubator in and it is already full of eggs. Got 6 dozen specialty eggs from Terry and today got 40 Araucana eggs from Gary plus added 2-3 dozen I found in barn so it's going to be really busy around here. I'm now officially in the hatchery business. I'll be selling chicks and ducks and hatching eggs soon.
An update on Bitsy the goat if you haven't seen my goat thread - bad news today - her leg has not healed. So it was off to LSU vet school for surgery in the morning to put a plate in leg. Seems they made us a "special deal" of only $400 to do everything since they want to specialize in goats but no one is willing to pay for major bone surgery on a goat. Even our local vet said the farmers around here pay $35 for a goat and if it breaks it's leg, they have a barbeque. Another $400 will make Bitsy the $1,000 goat and with the metal plate in her leg she won't be much different from Lee Majors' $1,000,000 man or was it $6,000,00 man???
Those are today's updates - Let the journey continue.
