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Woke up this morning and went to check the temps and humidity in the incubator and heard some peeping. Couldn't be, I thought, today is only day 30. Haven't even started lockdown, and I'm dry hatching this batch.

I hurriedly removed the upper tray of newly incubating eggs I had added to my incubator only two days ago, to look down on the first batch. And there was Lemon, ready to greet me, all dry and fluffed out. No idea what kind of duck he/she is, maybe a late hatching mallard type, or possibly a Muscovy hybrid. But extremely cute, and VERY athletic, he hopped out of his brooder, which is twice as tall as he is, while I went inside to get a heat lamp bulb. I quickly added some poultry fencing to the top of the brooder to prevent a repeat...
 

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Thailander said:
Woke up this morning and went to check the temps and humidity in the incubator and heard some peeping. Couldn't be, I thought, today is only day 30. Haven't even started lockdown, and I'm dry hatching this batch.

I hurriedly removed the upper tray of newly incubating eggs I had added to my incubator only two days ago, to look down on the first batch. And there was Lemon, ready to greet me, all dry and fluffed out. No idea what kind of duck he/she is, maybe a late hatching mallard type, or possibly a Muscovy hybrid. But extremely cute, and VERY athletic, he hopped out of his brooder, which is twice as tall as he is, while I went inside to get a heat lamp bulb. I quickly added some poultry fencing to the top of the brooder to prevent a repeat...
Click to expand...
He's so cute! Congrats on your new duckling!
 
Thailander said:
Woke up this morning and went to check the temps and humidity in the incubator and heard some peeping. Couldn't be, I thought, today is only day 30. Haven't even started lockdown, and I'm dry hatching this batch.

I hurriedly removed the upper tray of newly incubating eggs I had added to my incubator only two days ago, to look down on the first batch. And there was Lemon, ready to greet me, all dry and fluffed out. No idea what kind of duck he/she is, maybe a late hatching mallard type, or possibly a Muscovy hybrid. But extremely cute, and VERY athletic, he hopped out of his brooder, which is twice as tall as he is, while I went inside to get a heat lamp bulb. I quickly added some poultry fencing to the top of the brooder to prevent a repeat...
Click to expand...

Congrats on Lemon being an early bird, so adorably cute 😍
 
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Today there was more chirping from the incubator when I woke up this morning. But looking inside I saw nothing out of the ordinary. Putting on my glasses and peering more carefully through the window, I noted one of the Jungle Fowl eggs had a small piece of shell missing, though the outer membrane seemed intact. On closer inspection, I could see a small tear in the membrane, which moved every time I heard a peep. My first encounter with a pipping chick!

There began the longest 12 hour vigil since my wife gave birth a few decades ago... My chick kept struggling and chirping for help, and it was all I could do to leave well enough be and let nature take it's course. I'd read enough warnings here not to interfere that I knew attempting to assist the struggling young bird would likely do more harm than good. So hard as it was, I refrained and only observed. For the next 10 hours, my little chickadee made little progress, though eventually the membrane tear got a little longer and a couple of additional small eggshell pieces fell off. So I went out to pick up a take home meal, and when I got back, I could see a crack had developed in the shell at the edge of the hole. Over the next 30 minutes the crack got longer and longer, and the little chick kept pushing and pushing, till the crack gave way and the whole circumference was breached. Zippering had succeeded! 10 minutes later and the chick was free of confinement and ready to explore her new world.

Those of you who have hatched hundreds of birds before would not have been as anxious or excited about such a common event as I was. But as it was my first time, I was worried had I done everything right. Was the humidity too high or low? How bout the temps? They say you never forget your first time?? How about you? Do you still recall the first time a chick unveiled for you?

Above is a picture of Woodstock. She's now resting comfortably waiting for her siblings to join her.
 

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