day 5 candling

[Kleonaptra]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/925337/how-long-can-a-duck-hold-on-to-an-egg

Theres a link to my other thread, theres a pic of her. She is so gorgeous. Yes Im sure that is what she is doing...But when she finally sits I hope I will find her and the eggs. She was gorgeous in the lilys - I thought she was a lily and walked right by her a dozen times.

I have 4 eggs marked definitely live, 5 maybes and I chucked the rest. In my later candling the one of Leelus that is moving looks like a little duck head doing laps inside the egg. In one other Ive got as live it is totally dark, with a big vien visible near the top. It certainly seems further along than the others. Not sure whats going on there as I set them all at the same time. The 5 maybes I will check again.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

She's beautiful, and I agree that it's very exciting to see the duckling shifting around inside the egg.

It's not uncommon for a clutch to have embryos at different stages of development but, when you say "totally dark," you mean besides the air cell, right? There should always be some amount of air cell, which varies in size depending on where they are in development.

I think this might be a dumb question, but I was looking back at what you said about hoping Wist is the daddy. I guess you realize that, if he is, the ducklings probably aren't going to look anything like your beautiful little Leelu?

 

[Kleonaptra]

She's beautiful, and I agree that it's very exciting to see the duckling shifting around inside the egg.

It's not uncommon for a clutch to have embryos at different stages of development but, when you say "totally dark," you mean besides the air cell, right? There should always be some amount of air cell, which varies in size depending on where they are in development.

I think this might be a dumb question, but I was looking back at what you said about hoping Wist is the daddy. I guess you realize that, if he is, the ducklings probably aren't going to look anything like your beautiful little Leelu?

Yes, dark except for the air sac, of course!

Day 19 today, and the eggs have changed colour a little. I dont really want to candle again, that last time I really got that sense of 'intruding' if you know what I mean, and I tend to get rather obsessed and agressive at the end of an incubation, not unlike a mother duck! Best to just let them do their thing, it wont be long now. Every time I swing by the incubator I stop and watch for a minute, certain I'll see something. No matter how often I incubate Im always convinced Im going to see something! Im also prepared for the possibility that I'll wake up one morning and the bator will be full of ducks!

If Wist could just father some babies I wouldnt care what they looked like. I bought call ducks specifically because they are supposed to breed well with pacific black. So much so that it is an offense to have calls with unclipped wings - they are not to be allowed to fly and mingle with the wild populations of pacific blacks because they dilute their purity, breeding out their characteristics in only a few generations. We are very funny about that in Australia, letting introduced species interfere with wild ones.

Pacific black and calls are almost identical in body shape, size and feature, its only the colours that differ. So if Leelu and Wist made ducklings I imagine the colours would be glorious, as well as patterns. Both ducks have that gorgeous green/ purple luminoius feathers on the wing ends.

Being the first bird ever hand hatched by me, Wist is very special to me. He lived in my bedroom for the first few weeks because I had so many rescue birds going I was out of room. He peeped away at my bedside keeping me up, and now Im still his mommy, or his mate depending on his mood!

 

[JadeComputerGal]

Yes, dark except for the air sac, of course!

Day 19 today, and the eggs have changed colour a little. I dont really want to candle again, that last time I really got that sense of 'intruding' if you know what I mean, and I tend to get rather obsessed and agressive at the end of an incubation, not unlike a mother duck! Best to just let them do their thing, it wont be long now. Every time I swing by the incubator I stop and watch for a minute, certain I'll see something. No matter how often I incubate Im always convinced Im going to see something! Im also prepared for the possibility that I'll wake up one morning and the bator will be full of ducks!

If Wist could just father some babies I wouldnt care what they looked like. I bought call ducks specifically because they are supposed to breed well with pacific black. So much so that it is an offense to have calls with unclipped wings - they are not to be allowed to fly and mingle with the wild populations of pacific blacks because they dilute their purity, breeding out their characteristics in only a few generations. We are very funny about that in Australia, letting introduced species interfere with wild ones.

Pacific black and calls are almost identical in body shape, size and feature, its only the colours that differ. So if Leelu and Wist made ducklings I imagine the colours would be glorious, as well as patterns. Both ducks have that gorgeous green/ purple luminoius feathers on the wing ends.

Being the first bird ever hand hatched by me, Wist is very special to me. He lived in my bedroom for the first few weeks because I had so many rescue birds going I was out of room. He peeped away at my bedside keeping me up, and now Im still his mommy, or his mate depending on his mood!

LOL. I can tell you're excited, and I'm excited for you. I hope you'll post some pics a couple of days after they hatch. It won't be long now!

When you say having unclipped Calls is an "offense," I take that to mean it's against some law or regulation in Australia. I do definitely understand the reasoning, but are there exceptions, like being able to apply for a permit to leave their wings intact? Not that it will ever affect me, mostly just curious since in the US currently clipped wings on a duck (probably all birds) is a show disqualification.

 

[Kleonaptra]

LOL. I can tell you're excited, and I'm excited for you. I hope you'll post some pics a couple of days after they hatch. It won't be long now!

When you say having unclipped Calls is an "offense," I take that to mean it's against some law or regulation in Australia. I do definitely understand the reasoning, but are there exceptions, like being able to apply for a permit to leave their wings intact? Not that it will ever affect me, mostly just curious since in the US currently clipped wings on a duck (probably all birds) is a show disqualification.

I will definitely be posting pics if I get babies. Im getting very anxious now. So many times Ive been let down!

Yes, against certain laws or regulations. But like most things in Australia (I do believe this is where we get our 'laid back' stereotype) its not like someone is sneaking around backyards looking under your ducks. There will be certain wildlife officers that with go frothing mouth mad if they find any domestic duck breed mixed with wild ones, but finding someone to punish for it is extremely difficult. I clip simply because I dont want them flying off. They are domestic (Almost especially Wist, despite wild heritage, he's bedroom raised!) and cant fend for themselves in the wild so it would devastate me to lose them. I think generally most people would clip for that reason. There are lots of our laws like that - all stock brands must be government registered, no hosing hard surfaces with water, no letting domestic stock mingle/ breed with wild populations. The laws are more a deterrant that sound good to say for authority figures, really, it would be very hard to get caught.

Most of these 'hard screw' laws only apply if you have a commercial amount of stock. Then you are on the database, monitored and recorded. Its done by a property code showing animals moving from point to point. I only know a little about it as horses recently went on the list for monitoring due to Hendra virus.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I can hardly wait to be able to candle my first Call eggs. I can't imagine what that will be like since I'm used to the eggs of much larger ducks. I keep thinking it seems like it would be hard to even tell what's going on inside since they're so much smaller, and I can't wait to find out!