Aztec Ducks!

[hfchristy]

Did you buy them (the Aztec eggs) on eBay?

No. I had some Australian Spotted and Mini Silver Appleyard ebay eggs in there, but half of those weren't even fertile in the first place!
I got the Aztec eggs from Duck Buddies. They seemed like they had handled the uneven heat in my incubator better than the other breeds, then suddenly all of them died.
I think I'm down to one of his "Pachaug Forest Ducks", two of the extras he sent - from one generation back in his breeding program, and maybe one of the ebay Australian Spotteds.

 

[Knighstar679]

No. I had some Australian Spotted and Mini Silver Appleyard ebay eggs in there, but half of those weren't even fertile in the first place!
I got the Aztec eggs from Duck Buddies. They seemed like they had handled the uneven heat in my incubator better than the other breeds, then suddenly all of them died.
I think I'm down to one of his "Pachaug Forest Ducks", two of the extras he sent - from one generation back in his breeding program, and maybe one of the ebay Australian Spotteds.

I PMed you just so you know

 

[Pyxis]

No. I had some Australian Spotted and Mini Silver Appleyard ebay eggs in there, but half of those weren't even fertile in the first place!
I got the Aztec eggs from Duck Buddies. They seemed like they had handled the uneven heat in my incubator better than the other breeds, then suddenly all of them died.
I think I'm down to one of his "Pachaug Forest Ducks", two of the extras he sent - from one generation back in his breeding program, and maybe one of the ebay Australian Spotteds.

Ah, Duck Buddies is who does, or at least used to, sell them on eBay. None of the other breeders sell them there, as far as I know.

There's just a small group of us still and I think aside from them, none of us are selling them regularly, at this point. Mostly we're all concentrating on hatching for ourselves and growing them out and picking the best examples to keep, since the breed needs lots of work after nearly going extinct. Plus playing with outcrossings to mallards to increase the gene pool and bring back Blue Pearl as a color. Small numbers of eggs are going out to new people who want to help preserve them (like knightstar!). Lots of work going on with them

 

[Knighstar679]

My little Aztec eggs got an official candle tonight. Out of 18 eggs, 2 where clears, 1 was red ringed. The rest have lots of veins in them. Hopefully in three more weeks I will be welcoming a bunch of little Aztecs into my fold.

 

[WilderWoods]

We have had some great success this spring with the Aztecs - the group of dedicated breeders in VT is really working hard at this project! We currently have 8 broody Aztec hens at our little farm, so we're hoping they can successfully incubate in this chilly spring weather in VT. The ducklings that we've hatched at Wilder Woods have been about half Porcelain and half Blue. The blue color is a work in progress, but we're at the 2nd and 3rd step in our flocks, so we're making progress! I will share more pictures in the near future! We hope that we can share eggs and ducklings with more people in the future, but the breed numbers are very low, so our current focus is to produce ducks to increase the numbers and improve their type. When we do, we'll be providing high quality, genetically diverse stock and generously sharing them, not selling them for high profit.

 

[Knighstar679]

Its been a long month waiting, but the Aztec eggs are in lock down. Hopefully I will get some fuzz butts starting to hatch out on the 26th. Excited as all get out to see these little babies finally!

 

[Knighstar679]

I have my first external pips 3 of them and at least one internal pip!

 

[Isaac 0]

 

[Knighstar679]

We are up to six pips now. One even wiggled this morning when I was checking on humidity. I safety holed the ones from last night that external pipped that way there is air as they try to turn.

 

[Isaac 0]

Ya still better watch out, my last hatch a few died because they turned to zip and blocked their safety hole, and their external pip hole.