Australians - Where are you all????

[duckyfromoz]

Hi Ash.. Glad you found this page...There arent too many Aussies on this site.... So its nice to see a another newbie...

Anyway..here are four of the ducklings I have hatched recently. The biggest is a very vocal little girl who loves attention and lots of cuddles. I have 10 of the 15 hatched so far still here ...But no way was I going to be able to get a photo of them all at once...Wrangling these 4 to stay on the towel was hard enough.

 

[Chik-n-legs]

Hello everyone, I'm an Aussie who just found this forum, lots of very interesting reading and info. I'm not new to keeping chooks, geese, or turkeys over the years but had a long break from keeping any these last few years. Just started again with 3 ISA Brown hens at the moment in a smallish coop (my last coop was blown down and destroyed in one all mighty storm) used to keep Light Sussex and Silkies.
I live with my husband and animals on a rural property at a little place called Valencia Creek, it's in Gippsland Victoria, in the foothills of the high country. We have been here now going on 20 years. I have 3 grown kids and 2 grandkids a boy and a girl.

I have 2 large bird avaries joined together, all built by hand using gum tree posts, large ones, wire and corrugated iron that was already here when we first bought the property 20 years ago, (we used to keep birds in them, finches one end and Budgies in the other end, the aviary would be about 40 years old and had become overgrown with creepers and vines. My DS is presently renovating to make a new coop and yard for my chooks. So far he has cleared the creepers ( a chain saw was necessary lol) demolished the roof and wire sides. Basically all that will be left is the 6 large main posts, then he will take out the old divider build the coop with roosts and nest boxes one end and the other end will be the enclosed run. It will be fabulous when it is all finished. It will be bigger than anything I have ever had, I will be able to walk into it and stand upright, yay!!!! the 3 girls will be very happy and I can get a few more when it is finished because I will have oodles of room.

Hi ya Aussies

 

[wooklet]

Welcome Chicknlegs, sounds like you are an animal lover/bird lover/chicken lover! Love the sound of your aviary. Keep up the good work!

I have just posted a long saga on the hatching and incubating forum, I think DH may have cooked my latest lot of eggs in the incubator! There is an icy silence in this house tonight!

Let's hope not too much damage was done!

Anyone know how high a temperature embryos can stand, and for how long? I think they had about 10 minutes at 120 degrees!!

Ducky from Oz, I adore your ducklings - they seem to be all beask and feet when they are just hatched and make me feel like I need a few ducks around! I've always loved Indian Runners, but DH says no ducks! Maybe next time he goes away I'll get just a couple ? I know once they are here he won't throw them out!

 

[duckyfromoz]

Hi there Chik-n-legs ..Nice to see a fellow Victorian on here...

Wooklet - eggs take a while to absorb the heat and rise in temp- 10 minutes shouldnt have killed them all..if any- If it was two hours...I would be worried but ten minutes may have raised the inner temp of the middle of the egg by only a fraction. Im sure hoping you still get some chicks from this lt of eggs.

Let me know if you ever want some Indian Runner eggs. I did advertise some earlier- and will again in the future..But I am happy to send you some free of charge if you pay for the postage cost. I have so many here at the moment with 5 girls laying- I have way to many for my own bator. Last night was bin night...I threw out a heap...a dozen that were ordered - but the guy never paid me..So I had to toss them... GGGGGRRRRRRRRRR ...I wont even start on how angry that made me!! and all the small and dirty eggs as well...I felt so horrible just throwing them...I thought maybe I might whisk some up and pour it over some pellets for the ducks- But I dont want them getting a taste for eggs- or they might start eating them once laid in the mornings. Anyway...I can mark them as sussex or something too...and then your hubby would get a real suprise when they hatched late with webbed feet and all.....

 

[wooklet]

Quote:
thank you so much for the best laugh! I needed it - when you say that you will put duck eggs in and say they are chickens, and the surprise he will get when they hatch with webbed feet!

You really cheered me up. And thank you for your offer - I will certainly think on it - could you send 6? Of course I will pay for the postage - brilliant idea! And I am so sorry that you had to destroy eggs, that must have been awful for you. My eggs all take on a life even before the chicks hatch. ( Just a thought, maybe you could hard boil the eggs and crumble them up with a little bit of honey - that way they may not connect the egg they are eating with the egg that they lay.)

Still upset about last night and the incubator - I honestly don't know what got into DH, he is usually so savvy, someone told me to candle them to see if they have survived, but I really don't know what I am looking for, can you tell me? There are some Partridge show quality silkies in there, and I was SO looking forward to them hatching. I know there'll be plenty more but.... you know what I mean don't you?

Enjoy your duckllings they are SO adorable

 

[duckyfromoz]

It was a little sad to throw the eggs.... But they were small and dirty ones mostly- But it still didnt feel good...So many little duckies that could have lived. No way I could incubate all of them - At 5 eggs a day- thats over 30 a week, I have 2 incubators that hold 50 eggs each... So since they need 4 weeks incubation I would still have 20 or so eggs a month that wouldnt make it in there anyway...

With your eggs...Te ones that are due to hatch- if you candle them- you should see some movement down the bottom end of the air cell. I find that candling at the end of incubation it is hard to see anything- so watch for movement there as I sign of life. With the others that are still in the turner - how far along are they??

Also - Just be careful with the turner still going in there- I tried that once with some eggs in the turner and some laying down to hatch. I had a duckling hatch during the night- and when I got woke up - it was right beside the turner- with its head stuck- Lucky i woke when i did or the poor little may have been squished. I turned the turner off for a few hours- turned it back on while I was watching the eggs and babies hatch- and turned it off again when I had to leave the room...

 

[wooklet]

I candled one egg and as you said found it really hard to see anything, just a dark shadow, so I candled another one and there was movement

yeah! So just maybe they are o.k., they are due to start pecking through tomorrow , and now that I have seen the movement I have HOPE again! Thank you. The others are a week behind, but having seen that movement I closed the incubator up and will now just wait - patiently (?) - maybe .....
About the turner, DH is going to put a partition down the centre of the incubator tomorrow, but your advice is good, turn it off when not there, and turn it on again when we can keep an eye on it, chicks flopping around in the incubator seem to get into trouble no matter what one does to keep them safe!
It's so good to be able to come to this site for help, and I am learning all the time - sadly one has to make mistakes to learn, often at the expense of the chicks, but then I have to look at the bigger picture , further down the line these experiences will help me to actually save many more! Hope that makes sense, sometimes have trouble putting thoughts down onto paper.
I'll let you know how the hatch is going - watch this space!

 

[duckyfromoz]

Looking forward to hearing about your hatch... Hope all goes well for you.....Fingers crossed...

 

[duckyfromoz]

Any hatching action yet wooklet... I need an update!!!!

 

[wooklet]

2 pipping! Just happened a few minutes ago, I have been checking them about every 10 minutes today! These two are not the silkie eggs, they are the cross between our black bantam and Pekin Rooster that I threw in at the last minute! I'll keep you up to date as it happens -

- so far so good!