Barnyard Mix Duck Hatch-A-Long April 2021

[SailorV]

This is my third attempt at hatching - no success to date. My first was from a friend’s pair and I don’t think they were fertile. The second batch was $30 down the drain from someone on Etsy. One egg was smashed on arrival and the others showed no veining by day 12. Both were set in a shoddy homemade cardboard and foil incubator that had fluctuating temps between 95 and 102 (yes bad I know).

This time, I’m doing it right! I bought a reputable incubator (Farm Innovators Pro Series) and put a second digital thermometer inside. I bought 8 supposedly fertile eggs from a strange man on Craigslist who could not tell me, out of the 20 ducks he had, any particular breed other than “there’s a mallard, some runners, and the kind from TractorSupply”. He would not let me see the flock either so this will truly be a surprise!

They were set 3 days ago so no candling yet. I can already see one of the eggs has a dent in it so I don’t know what do there. Another egg is weirdly oblong and from what I’ve read this means it’s probably a dud.

 

[Cecisflock]

good luck!

 

[SailorV]

Candled last night and there are 5 eggs with very distinct veining and 4 with tiny little heartbeats!!

 

[JoJoM]

Good luck with your hatch. I just had 4 mixes hatch yesterday with 3 more in the incubator. I know for sure the ducks were pekin and blue runner, but the drakes could be cayuga, khaki campbell, pekin or rouen! I used a cheap Amazon incubator and had issues with humidity and ended up with about 60% hatch rate if the last three hatch out okay.

 

[kerryb90]

I have two barnyard mix eggs that I set within the last week or so and both are showing great development so far! They're the only eggs I've gotten that aren't from my hookbills and I don't know which of my ducks laid them. I have khaki campbells, pekins, and indian runners, all nearing about 5 months old now. Pekins apparently don't start laying till 6 months so I'm guessing they're from a khaki or a runner. All my drakes are hookbills. I'm excited to watch these develop and I hope they both hatch so I can learn which duck breed started laying first! Will post candling pics later.

 

[chickiebaby1]

Not a very good hatch this weekend! Only 6/12 Cochin hatched and I had to help 3 of them out of their shells because they were stuck like glue. I did have 6/9 silkies hatch with no issues. What could cause them having so much trouble getting out of their eggs. I’ve had one or two in the past , but never this many in one hatch. My humidity stayed over 50% for most of the lockdown and even got higher at some points. I’m just at a loss with this hatch. Any suggestions because I go into lockdown on Wednesday for my next hatch.

 

[Crazy Duck Lover]

How’s it going? They should hatch in the next couple of days right?

 

[SailorV]

How’s it going? They should hatch in the next couple of days right?

I had 3 hatch! There were shrink wrap issues but with some help they were fine - now I've got 2 little Pekin babies and 1 Pekin/Cayuga baby. Oddly I thought they'd imprint on me since they practically hatched in my hands but it seems they've imprinted on themselves instead. I guess that's a good thing?

 

[Crazy Duck Lover]

I had 3 hatch! There were shrink wrap issues but with some help they were fine - now I've got 2 little Pekin babies and 1 Pekin/Cayuga baby. Oddly I thought they'd imprint on me since they practically hatched in my hands but it seems they've imprinted on themselves instead. I guess that's a good thing?

Aww yay! Pictures!!!!!

The same thing happened to me with imprinting.. so weird