hatching or ducklings help!!!!!!!

[alwayslovely14]

My mom wants to hatch eggs in a home made incubator but i want to order ducklings and raise them. Any opinions on which is better for the first time with ducks ever????

 

[Amiga]

The learning curve for brooding ducklings (starting with day-olds) is

S T E E P !!!!!

I started three years ago with day-olds.

I am not emotionally prepared for hatching at this point in time. And what if you get a bunch of drakelets (little boys)? They often do not get along once they become mature. Then what?

Hatching is not for the faint of heart. Take a look through the archives at some of the heart-rending, white-knuckle experiences of members. And some people seem virtually addicted to hatching! They are brave hearts, they are. Don't know how they do it.

Look closely at the stickies that explain how to hatch, and how to brood (raise to adulthood).

You may decide to go with hatching. The learning curve for that, from what I hear, is also - well, you know - steep.

 

[charlindabob]

Hatching out ducks can be a rewarding experience, but losing one, some or all can be an emotional challenge.

Generally speaking, I'd say if you are only wanting a few ducks, buying day olds or little ducklings would be the best bet and cheaper too.

 

[Animal lover342]

It really is not all that hard to hatch ducks or chicks, but at the same time not all the eggs might hatch and the ones that do might die. If you order them from a hatchery I would not expect for all of them to hatch as I have only had about a %50 hatch rate with it. But like I said it is not hard to hatch them and usually the one that do hatch don't die, I've never had a problem after they hatched. As long as you keep the temperature right and the humidity around where it should be then you'll do just fine. The first time I ever hatched a duck egg was with a ten gallon tank and a 60 watt bulb and she hatched with a little help (only cause the humidity wasn't right ) but when I had an actual incubator it was a breeze.

 

[Animal lover342]

But for first time with ducks I would suggest getting day old ducks just so you don't have to worry about if they are going to hatch or not. Then later if you still want to hatch them, then go right ahead and it's a learning experience you will learn as you go.

 

[alwayslovely14]

That's what I thought too. I even tried to tell my mom we could get ducklings now and hatch next year, but she feels that hatching will be beneficial for me so we've ordered the eggs from metzer farm and I'm going to build an incubator out of a styrofoam cooler. I think I'll be absolutely crushed if none of them hatch. She promised that if this doesn't work I can get ducklings right after. I honestly hope the hatching works out except I'll be starting high school as a junior and I'm worried about getting the ducks into a routine and my mom drives school bus so she won't always be there. I will do whatever it takes to keep these ducks happy and healthy when they hatch though.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

I am one of the loonies that love hatch. ...But I let the moms do all the work! One word of caution that I want to pass on-- think of your climate. For example, here in MI, we sometimes get cold temps well before "Winter". Last year I allowed a duck to sit around the middle of Sept. -- and then I said never again. When cold arrives it is just too stressful (on me) to have little ones around. Of course, duck moms know exactly how to handle this, but if you're incubating without a mom, cold temps will = more work for you.