Dutch Hookbill Hatch!

[JacinLarkwell]

I always thought they were big babies, haha. Then I hatched emus and now even they look small to me, lol.

Here's perspective: goose babies at the store are the size of my 7 week old Breese

 

[Ducksmom]

And That is exactly what i hear about the Dutch Hookbill over and over again: They develop normal and are not able to hatch without assistance…
@Pyxis could that have something to do with the curved bill itself or is that a sign of genetic degeneration due to not enough variance?

The problem was that they did not pip externally, so I did not know when to assist. For those eggs, I had saddle air cells, and while they were incubated straight, the ducklings could not reach the shell to pip. I don’t think was a breed issue. I hatched a bunch of ducklings, and this saddle air cell was almost always fatal. I could assist when they pipped the wrong side or in « yoga » positions.

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

Good point! - Or maybe not: Maybe their bills are so ever slightly different that our inferior humon eyes can't see it. - Anyways, the Dutch would not have bred a duck breed with hatching difficulties 200 years ago, would they? I mean during that time people had more important tasks to do than helping their ducklings hatch…

The Dutch are known to be thrifty... they may have been on sale.. they are suckers for a bargain.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

The Dutch are known to be thrifty... they may have been on sale.. they are suckers for a bargain.

Not this time: Those ducks were very hard workers, they had to keep the channels through the country (aka as "Grachten" or "Kanaalen") free from vegetation and pests like mosquito larvae during the day and produce eggs for the public during the night. The Dutch Hookbill was known as the most hardy duck breed in Europe, they lived almost wild (today called free-range) and went back in their houses only during the night. And Dutch Hookbills can fly like wild mallards.

 

[Pyxis]

 

[Pyxis]

It's hard to get pictures right now because they swarm over to the side of the brooder when I come over - hoping I'm bringing them scrambled egg, lol.

But hopefully you can see from this picture that we are starting to get bill curvature:

 

[igorsMistress]

They are so cute! How many hatched total?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Well, if i would not know that they're Hookbills, i would just think they were cute ducklings with a wonky bill. But ducklings grow soooo fast…
Enjoy the time when they all come running at you, all too soon you will become the »axe-murderess« and they will run from you as fast as they can.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

@Pyxis i know you're busy, but do you have some more Hookbill pictures, pleeeease!

 

[Pyxis]

@Pyxis i know you're busy, but do you have some more Hookbill pictures, pleeeease!

Can I offer you an emu picture instead? Lol.

But yes, I really do need to snap some new Hookbill pictures.