First Time Duck Mom To Be

[kenzie7775]

Hello!
I am a senior in highschool, and I am hatching ducklings for my senior project! I have made my own incubator (which still needs some tweaking) and I hope to start incubation next week! I am a 100% newbie, and I would love any knowledge or wisdom that you guys could share with me! I'm also an all around animal nutt! I officially will be attending college in the fall for veterinary Technology! I have so many questions, and I'm so excited!!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC - great that you have joined us. If you search DIY incubators, you'll find lots of threads that may be of interest. The duck forum will also be a good place for you to hang out - https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/42/ducks

You'll find lots of info in the Learning Centre - https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center and if you have a specific topic in mind, just type it in the search box - there's a wealth of information on past and present threads.

You may wish to consider joining your state thread as it will put you in touch with other BYC members in your area - https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270925/find-your-states-thread#post_3239224

All the best
CT

 

[drumstick diva]

Nice to meet you Kenzie, Sending good hatching vibes your way

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Glad you could join us here! This article is a fantastic read ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101 It really is packed with wonderful info on incubating and hatching. Good luck with your first hatch and enjoy your time here on BYC

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, Kenzie, and

! Pleased you joined our flock! CTKen gave you some great advice and links so all I will say is best wishes and happy hatching!

 

[N F C]

It's nice to have you here, good luck with your hatching project!

 

[nunnablue]

Hello!
I am a senior in highschool, and I am hatching ducklings for my senior project! I have made my own incubator (which still needs some tweaking) and I hope to start incubation next week! I am a 100% newbie, and I would love any knowledge or wisdom that you guys could share with me! I'm also an all around animal nutt! I officially will be attending college in the fall for veterinary Technology! I have so many questions, and I'm so excited!!

 

[nunnablue]

Hi there! I am new to commenting on backyard chickens, but have been reading and learning since last summer. This site is so informative. All you have to do is type in your topic and search to see which forum best suits you. I incubated 6 ducks last August with my granddaughters 5 &7, and it was a very rewarding experience. Don't over think things and you will do fine. As long as your incubator is at the right temp and humidity, and you turn the eggs as needed you will be successful. We ordered our eggs from metzer farms and asked for 6 mallards as we live on a lake and wanted them to free range and be safe. Well they sent us 6 mallard eggs marked mal and a bonus egg marked bs. Though the eggs looked different I was new to it and didn't think too much of it. After 7 days we candled them and one egg marked mal was infertile. Long story short, in my brinsea mini advance, 28 days produced 5 mallards, but the bs egg wasn't even moving. My husband said just leave it and see what happens... 4 days later after affectionately calling the bs egg bullsh.t, out came a blue Swedish duckling?! The plan was mallards and I ended up with 4 mallard hens, one blue swedish Drake, and a mallard Drake (who I had to give away because the blue swedish Drake was going to kill him over fighting over the girls). We enjoy them so much! I've taught 'blue' how to fetch and they are all very friendly and sweet. If you want them to be tame you must spend considerable time with them. I put them in a very lavish setup for the winter and it was so cozy that the hens started laying eggs! Blue, my blue Swedish was so gentle with them! He would balance on his wings as to not put all his weight on their backs and one by one they accepted him. I have an insulated duck house with poultry pads for warmth as I live in Maine. I ended up having 3 ducks sharing 1 nest of 18 eggs. All 4 have laid 58 eggs this winter. I was taking them until "Daisy" went broody. I let her keep some but then she started to egg nap the other ducks' eggs until she was sitting on 28! Then "Sunny" went broody & started sitting w/Daisy. I candled the eggs about a week later. ALL but 2 of 32 were fertile. I decided to leave them 18 eggs. A few days later they had 28! Gladys & Layla were laying & Daisy was taking them. I took out the newest and left 18 again! Then Gladys went broody. She started sitting w/her sisters. All these eggs have been fertilized by Blue! Some are due any day, some were laid only a week or so ago. It's very rare for a mallard to lay & go broody in winter, Unusual for them to 'gladly' share their nest. But what's craziest is these precious ducks let me move them & their eggs to clean without any objections. They're normally fiercely protective of their eggs. Hen #4 Layla has laid eggs & shown signs of broodiness. I'm sure they'll just scoot over for her. I've had 2 poultry heating pads going all winter, but it still gets cold enough to freeze their poop some nights. Daisy (left), gets up to eat & Gladys (middle), pulls Daisy's eggs under herself. Daisy gets back then Sunny (right) gets up to eat and Daisy sits on those eggs. Then Sunny comes back and Gladys gets up allowing Sunny to sit on her eggs. Now it gets funny... Gladys gets back, drives Sunny off the middle, Sunny drives Daisy off the right, Daisy sits on the left where there there are no eggs, but when Gladys closes her eyes Daisy reaches under & steals her eggs back! It's hilarious! Ducks are so much work, but they are very therapeutic! Have fun and God bless you in your future endeavors!

 

[nunnablue]

Hi there! I am new to commenting on backyard chickens, but have been reading and learning since last summer. This site is so informative. All you have to do is type in your topic and search to see which forum best suits you. I incubated 6 ducks last August with my granddaughters 5 &7, and it was a very rewarding experience. Don't over think things and you will do fine. As long as your incubator is at the right temp and humidity, and you turn the eggs as needed you will be successful. We ordered our eggs from metzer farms and asked for 6 mallards as we live on a lake and wanted them to free range and be safe. Well they sent us 6 mallard eggs marked mal and a bonus egg marked bs. Though the eggs looked different I was new to it and didn't think too much of it. After 7 days we candled them and one egg marked mal was infertile. Long story short, in my brinsea mini advance, 28 days produced 5 mallards, but the bs egg wasn't even moving. My husband said just leave it and see what happens... 4 days later after affectionately calling the bs egg bullsh.t, out came a blue Swedish duckling?! The plan was mallards and I ended up with 4 mallard hens, one blue swedish Drake, and a mallard Drake (who I had to give away because the blue swedish Drake was going to kill him over fighting over the girls). We enjoy them so much! I've taught 'blue' how to fetch and they are all very friendly and sweet. If you want them to be tame you must spend considerable time with them. I put them in a very lavish setup for the winter and it was so cozy that the hens started laying eggs! Blue, my blue Swedish was so gentle with them! He would balance on his wings as to not put all his weight on their backs and one by one they accepted him. I have an insulated duck house with poultry pads for warmth as I live in Maine. I ended up having 3 ducks sharing 1 nest of 18 eggs. All 4 have laid 58 eggs this winter. I was taking them until "Daisy" went broody. I let her keep some but then she started to egg nap the other ducks' eggs until she was sitting on 28! Then "Sunny" went broody & started sitting w/Daisy. I candled the eggs about a week later. ALL but 2 of 32 were fertile. I decided to leave them 18 eggs. A few days later they had 28! Gladys & Layla were laying & Daisy was taking them. I took out the newest and left 18 again! Then Gladys went broody. She started sitting w/her sisters. All these eggs have been fertilized by Blue! Some are due any day, some were laid only a week or so ago. It's very rare for a mallard to lay & go broody in winter, Unusual for them to 'gladly' share their nest. But what's craziest is these precious ducks let me move them & their eggs to clean without any objections. They're normally fiercely protective of their eggs. Hen #4 Layla has laid eggs & shown signs of broodiness. I'm sure they'll just scoot over for her. I've had 2 poultry heating pads going all winter, but it still gets cold enough to freeze their poop some nights. Daisy (left), gets up to eat & Gladys (middle), pulls Daisy's eggs under herself. Daisy gets back then Sunny (right) gets up to eat and Daisy sits on those eggs. Then Sunny comes back and Gladys gets up allowing Sunny to sit on her eggs. Now it gets funny... Gladys gets back, drives Sunny off the middle, Sunny drives Daisy off the right, Daisy sits on the left where there there are no eggs, but when Gladys closes her eyes Daisy reaches under & steals her eggs back! It's hilarious! Ducks are so much work, but they are very therapeutic! Have fun and God bless you in your future endeavors!

I have an update... We are in a cold snap and I candled the eggs and one had internally pipped ahead of the others so I brought it in and look what you get when you cross a mallard hens with a blue swedish Drake!!! I am curious to see the others...

 

[kenzie7775]

I just wanted to say thank you so much!!! To everyone who has provided me with amazingly useful links and ideas! Also a big thank you to everyone sending me luck and good hatching vibes

And thank you Nunnablue for your wonderful information and your experience! I looked up Metzer farm and I think that's were I will get my eggs! So thank you thank you!