Incubation progress of Muscovy eggs

[Lacrystol]

It's official! Pictures of baby ducks are *cuter* than baby chickens in real life!
Don't tell my chicks.

 

[Lacrystol]

Good morning! Here is the morning update:

Skippy is the cutest thing in the world! Drinking water on her own - I still have not seen her eat, but she's spilling crumbles out of the bowl, so I am not sure if she is eating or just making a mess!

Tulip is ACTIVE! She was JUMPING in the incubator this morning, so much so that my husband was afraid she was going to hit the heating coils! So, he took her out and put her with Skippy in the brooder. INSTANT BFFs!

Tulip hasn't had anything to drink yet, but Mark did dip her beak in the water. I think she wore herself out because now she is sleeping.

#9 (day 36) has pipped! There is actually a little crack on the outside of the shell! HOORAY! I am not sure what it is supposed to look like, but it looks like a bike tire, with the spokes radiating out. Does that make sense? The shell is not OFF, but cracked. We can hear the pecking! We will get a picture.

#10 - (day 35) We actually noticed a "crack" last night I thought either Skippy or Tulip did it when thrashing around in the bator, because the crack is closer to the pointy end of the egg, NOT the round egg. However, after seeing #9, I think it's a pip on 10 - and she's malpositioned! We candled her really good this morning, and I see what appears to me to be the cord up in the air sac - or, at least a thick vein. And a small piece of the shell is off on the crack near the pointed end, but the membrane is still covering. If I candle by the crack, I can see the rhythmic movement. We also hear peeping as well as the pecking this morning. Looks like 10 is going to be another challenge!

We moved #13 (day 32) to lockdown.

THOUGHTS?

OMG, WE ARE DOING GREAT, WE ARE BACK ON TRACK, I KNEW THAT NUMBER NINE WILL GIVE US OUR ANSWERS AND SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS.. woooo hooo, LET number nine do all of it on his own. NO NEED TO HELP HIM. Will give him 48 hours.. he should be out by then but will give him that LONG.. Number nine, is getting ready to come out on his OWN that is GREAT!!!!

OK, give Number 10 sometime, he has his hole so he can BREATH, by Tonight We will need to help him. Don't do anything with him YET...

 

[Lacrystol]

Darn these cute ducklings! THAT'S the ENTIRE reason we got a duck last spring! We went to buy chicks - that was the plan! But as soon as Mark saw the little yellow ducklings running around, and discovered they were Muscovies, he wanted one! That was Zippy! She came home with three chicks, but then Mark decided she needed a ducky friend, so we went back and got her a friend. Of course, the farmer wasn't sexing them, so duckling #2 is Claude....great! Now we have a male and a female...sigh...so of course, I see them mating and can't bear the thought of NOT incubating potentially fertile eggs...so here we are!

However, I did find another duck egg yesterday morning in the coop, and another one this morning. Darn if I didn't bring them straight into the house! What's the procedure for potentially fertile eggs you don't want to hatch? I have heard yes and no as far as if they are OK to eat...I have yet to eat a duck egg! Worse case scenario - our dog would love to eat a raw duck egg!

You can eat Fertiled eggs, they are thicker and according to my other half, they are richer..

 

[Lacrystol]

Eat em, you can't tell the difference between fertile and infertile. When you crack them you can always look to see if they were fertile. But maybe you shouldn't share that with other people who may be eating them.

Agree EAT THEM..

 

[subhanalah]

"Where's your hall pass?" Hahahaha

 

[Lacrystol]

Do I put them immediately in to the refrigerator when I bring them in? We often leave chicken eggs UNWASHED on the kitchen counter for a few days. Do the potentially fertile eggs have to be refrigerated, or can they stay out, too, since they wouldn't really develop at room temperature, right?

No they won't develop unless your house is 100 degrees? lol, they will be fine..

 

[Miss Lydia]

"Where's your hall pass?" Hahahaha

 

[Lacrystol]

"Where's your hall pass?" Hahahaha

OMG, that's a GOOD ONE....

 

[Lacrystol]

Keep an eye on number 10, check on him every two hours, let me know if he is making any progress, if he is at the wrong end, HE will need help. Sometimes they can still make it out on there own AND if he does, He will be a VERY VERY STRONG DUCK, so we don't want to jump on him yet. Lets see if he can make ANY progress before the day is over. We are going to have to be EXTREMELY careful with him. He's in a very BAD spot. The DANGER ZONE, so working with him it's GOING to take a LOT OF PATIENCE, we CAN NOT rush him like we were able to with the others. He is going to be TRICKY!! but we can get him out OK..

 

[Lacrystol]

You do not need to show them how to drink or eat, They pick up on that stuff REALLY FAST and on there own. Don't dip any more beaks in water or force them to eat. Remember, they can go THREE days without eating.

Check your water, do you see food in the water, if so, THEY ARE EATING. They take the food and mix it with there water, usually they get most of it in the water but then they will go back and do that little smacking thing with the water and that's where problems arise. OMG, they get it EVERYWHERE... MESSY MESSY MESSS...

Remember NO swimming for a week, when the week is over, they can bath in warm water, at first they will be freaked out but as they calm down, BOOOM they start doing that swim under the water thing where they look like dolphins. LOL They get sooooo excited.. That's when the fun begins, now after about 2 1/2 weeks, they develop this Lovely smell and you just want to throw them out. No matter how many times you clean them WOOOOO HOOOO that smell will hit ya. They also will have WATER EVERY WHERE, even places that you'll look and say HOW THE HECK DID YOU GET WATER ON THE CEILING??? sort of.. LOL..