Diary & Notes ~ Air Cell Detatched SHIPPED Chicken Eggs for incubation and hatching

[Sally Sunshine]

@Shellz what breed is your avy? love it!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Good news, 6 external duckie pips noted 5AM now we wait and wait and wait, there are 7 other eggs in there I am so curious about, I know three are bad for sure....


my thoughts on those three...... you all may think I am whacked, perhaps I am, but I am seriously debating trying to assist the three duck eggs that have huge areas of chorio membrane that only goes half or less, they are not pipped and are receding, but I can tell they are not into correct position because of all the clear at the top of the eggs, I THINK I see slight movements, the veins were blobbing like they are dying when I checked yesterday, its been almost 24 hours so they may already be croaked. Not sure if I would help or cause more grief to them. Part of me says, if you dont try you will never know. I dont want to compromise anyone else so I would have to pull all three eggs at once. I have saved some chicks unpipped, but I have lost equal amount. I swore I would never assist unpips anymore and I dont, but I really want to try to save what I can from these ducks.

 

[Shellz]

Now you two cant make those statements without explaining! lol

Ok, ok! Well, thing is...in winter the water freezes, so you have to be prepared to buy a de-icer for their water source. I forgot to plug it in a couple of times overnight & next day, it was a pain to break out all the ice. The other hard part is lugging buckets of water to their 'pool' to clean it out, on a slippery trail made from an ice storm. Making a new habitat for ducks closer to house now. Thought I was going to break my neck on that ice! Anyway, there's a few things to consider. Others may chime in with more.

 

[Gardeningmama]

Quote: My husband and I were just talking about getting rid of chickens for ducks! ha ha ha

I said we need to write pros and cons!

Con#1 no pond! ha ha ha

wonder if they are overall healthier than chickens, health diseases and such. idk much about them, didnt keep my ancona long enough for anything.
I didn't have many issues with over wintering once I discovered the rubber buckets that I could kick the ice out of. Before that it was a nightmare. I honestly had more issues with constantly thawing frozen metal waterers for the chickens. On really bad days I did have to carry out a few gallons of water, kick the ice out and dump fresh, but I had to do that for the chickens too. The one thing Ray did for my ducks that I love, and consider a necessity for my sanity was the preformed rigid liner he sunk into the ground in the pen. Installed a screw on valve towards the bottom that's connected to 16 ft. of underground PVC piping to drain it. It works beautifully. I have small ducks though, and they are probably much easier to deal with than the larger breeds.

Edited to add: I closed down the "pond" for the winter. They only had access to the shallow rubber buckets for water, and at night they are locked in the hut with no food or water.

Good news, 6 external duckie pips noted 5AM now we wait and wait and wait, there are 7 other eggs in there I am so curious about, I know three are bad for sure....


my thoughts on those three...... you all may think I am whacked, perhaps I am, but I am seriously debating trying to assist the three duck eggs that have huge areas of chorio membrane that only goes half or less, they are not pipped and are receding, but I can tell they are not into correct position because of all the clear at the top of the eggs, I THINK I see slight movements, the veins were blobbing like they are dying when I checked yesterday, its been almost 24 hours so they may already be croaked. Not sure if I would help or cause more grief to them. Part of me says, if you dont try you will never know. I dont want to compromise anyone else so I would have to pull all three eggs at once. I have saved some chicks unpipped, but I have lost equal amount. I swore I would never assist unpips anymore and I dont, but I really want to try to save what I can from these ducks.

That's amazing! See, you're almost home free! I always say if anybody can it's you... I would try the assist. The worst that's gonna happen is they don't make it, which they won't if you don't try anyway. You got this!

 

[Shellz]

@Shellz
   what breed is your avy? love it! 

He is a Belgian Cuckoo Malines. A rare breed that is fast feathering, docile & provides a large, tender carcass at harvest. Best birds I've ever raised.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/862591/belgian-cuckoo-malines-next-generation
Shameless plug, I know. Sorry.

I say go for the assist! You seem to be very knowledgeable about the process. You won't know unless you try. Best of luck to you Sally, no matter what you decide.

 

[foxvalleyfarm]

Good news, 6 external duckie pips noted 5AM now we wait and wait and wait, there are 7 other eggs in there I am so curious about, I know three are bad for sure.... 


my thoughts on those three...... you all may think I am whacked, perhaps I am, but I am seriously debating trying to assist the three duck eggs that have huge areas of chorio membrane that only goes half or less, they are not pipped and are receding, but I can tell they are not into correct position because of all the clear at the top of the eggs, I THINK I see slight movements, the veins were blobbing like they are dying when I checked yesterday, its been almost 24 hours so they may already be croaked.  Not sure if I would help or cause more grief to them.  Part of me says, if you dont try you will never know.  I dont want to compromise anyone else so I would have to pull all three eggs at once. I have saved some chicks unpipped, but I have lost equal amount.  I swore I would never assist unpips anymore and I dont, but I really want to try to save what I can from these ducks.  :/      

I say go for it. The one I had that didn't go all the way down hatched on it's own and is the 2nd smallest but the most active. I found it stuck in the water bottle this morning. Just chilling. A quick bath and it was back to causing trouble.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote:

I dont think I would give them a winter pond, and I see on the heated dish, I would love that for my chickens too, what a pain. they dont need heat over winter do they?

Quote: My husband and I were just talking about getting rid of chickens for ducks! ha ha ha

I said we need to write pros and cons!

Con#1 no pond! ha ha ha

wonder if they are overall healthier than chickens, health diseases and such. idk much about them, didnt keep my ancona long enough for anything.
I didn't have many issues with over wintering once I discovered the rubber buckets that I could kick the ice out of. Before that it was a nightmare. I honestly had more issues with constantly thawing frozen metal waterers for the chickens. On really bad days I did have to carry out a few gallons of water, kick the ice out and dump fresh, but I had to do that for the chickens too. The one thing Ray did for my ducks that I love, and consider a necessity for my sanity was the preformed rigid liner he sunk into the ground in the pen. Installed a screw on valve towards the bottom that's connected to 16 ft. of underground PVC piping to drain it. It works beautifully. I have small ducks though, and they are probably much easier to deal with than the larger breeds.

Edited to add: I closed down the "pond" for the winter. They only had access to the shallow rubber buckets for water, and at night they are locked in the hut with no food or water.

Good news, 6 external duckie pips noted 5AM now we wait and wait and wait, there are 7 other eggs in there I am so curious about, I know three are bad for sure....


my thoughts on those three...... you all may think I am whacked, perhaps I am, but I am seriously debating trying to assist the three duck eggs that have huge areas of chorio membrane that only goes half or less, they are not pipped and are receding, but I can tell they are not into correct position because of all the clear at the top of the eggs, I THINK I see slight movements, the veins were blobbing like they are dying when I checked yesterday, its been almost 24 hours so they may already be croaked. Not sure if I would help or cause more grief to them. Part of me says, if you dont try you will never know. I dont want to compromise anyone else so I would have to pull all three eggs at once. I have saved some chicks unpipped, but I have lost equal amount. I swore I would never assist unpips anymore and I dont, but I really want to try to save what I can from these ducks.

That's amazing! See, you're almost home free! I always say if anybody can it's you... I would try the assist. The worst that's gonna happen is they don't make it, which they won't if you don't try anyway. You got this!

they are already dead, I should have tried last night when I seen all the others had internals, oh well... I took pics and stuff, a few were bacteria ridden and the veins looked like we discussed too, I knew they were croaking. two may have made it if I would have freed the beaks or are they bills in a duck? lol idk

six are what we wait on

Quote: sweet! thanks for sharing! read above, they are already dead

Quote:

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I am gathering the death data and images, have to compare to the excel file and look into weight loss and the chor membrane issues.

I will NOT give up hope for the six external!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Egg 14~

Day 25 No movement on candle, Dead

This is a real disappointment, it broke its yolk and looks to have drowned and recent to my break out.
This is only a second time I ever had a yolk break that I know of since I dont break out eggs anymore.

Weight loss at 21st day = 16.31%

Air Cell: NO MOVEMENT/SIZE S/ Chor Membrane Almost reached bottom of egg/Breakout showed ruptured yolk, unpipped full size duckling

IMAGE is of BOTTOM OF EGG aka small end (Chor Membranes outlined)

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Egg 1~

Day 25 No movement on candle, Dead

Air cell=Small movement Med sized/Chor Membrane only halfway, HUGE SPACE/breakout showed early death (19-20) Bacteria ridden color fluids



Look at how little this chor membrane went down! hardly at all!