July Hatch-a-Long (including 4th of July hatch-a-long)

[Muscovy Wunda]

Yay for ducklings! My pekins were the cutest babies

 

[StormsnSaugeye]

Morning update. Second duckling hatched overnight. Peking coloration. I'll name it kashima.
Pics tonight

 

[AgnesGray]

For the first one no. And the second one more or less just looks like this reference from an assisted hatching article.
Not my egg. Just an image pulled from this site as a reference. View attachment 2222736

Morning update. Second duckling hatched overnight. Peking coloration. I'll name it kashima.
Pics tonight

Good! This picture looks pretty much like my duck that's hatching this morning. Except that it's got a lot of shell peeled back. Was going to send a picture of my duck egg, but I'm glad it hatched.

 

[AgnesGray]

I ran across this video (in my inbox) today. I thought you might find it interesting:

I love watching them! Will take a look at that one tonight. Thanks! They have a no-knead crusty bread recipe that we make sometimes that's pretty good.

 

[AgnesGray]

A second guinea hatched overnight.

My husband doesn't know they're guineas and has remarked how cute and quiet these chicks are. I think he likes them more than usual as he seems fascinated by them and their calm demeanor. I should have told him about a month ago, but we talked about them for tick control and he was on board. A deal came up and I bought them. He saw a youtube of guineas before I got a chance to tell him I bought some, heard them yelling, and swore them off forever. These little guys are super sweet and quiet (for now). And we do have a major tick problem. So will have to have that discussion this weekend and either keep them or let them go live with a friend who I know would take them.

They're mostly white with some black on the top of their heads and back. Not the usual pearl keet markings. Will snap some pics tonight after work.

 

[Motojeff]

Hatch day here we got 9 eggs that we expect developed, at 12:30 am day 21 the first one hatched. 3:15 on the next and another at 6:30am. Another zipping at the moment.

 

[StormsnSaugeye]

It's always a personal gripe if they hatch overnight because I have to put the duck directly into a broader and then work with them for a few hours when I get home rather than them hatching in the morning and me doing the same. I found minor behavioural changes when that happens.
Since I found out 1 of the additional eggs I wrote off as deceased was actually alive I'm not only waiting on that last one. Since it's the slowest to hatch I'm going to call it shimakaze as a bit of a joke. Shimakaze means island wind and is used to describe great speed. Since that last one is so slow to hatch I feel like it's a good joke sort of name

 

[Oldhallchicks]

So my hen that I thought was going broody was out some yesterday, but she’s been in all day today, apart from about 30 min this morning. My son went up to get eggs, and he had to push her off of the best to get the egg she was on. (Thankfully she wasnt aggressive! Lol)

I gave her aegg and a fake egg to sit on, and I’ll see what she does the next couple days, but think she might want to be a mama!!

I’m not sure if it’s just a coincidence because she doesn’t like rain, but It’s unlike her to be in all day even if it’s rainy.

I’ve never had a broody before, but if she is I’m going to give her a few of the eggs out of the incubator to sit on to see how she does.

how long should I wait to be sure before I give her eggs?

 

[CindyinSD]

Ok I'm sorry I'm not really doing much else but hogging a spotlight but I just went back out to the spot where I found the two live eggs. The nest was indeed ransacked but one egg was left.
Here's the friggin weird part. I thought it was a dead egg butit felt warm to the touch. So I decided to candle it in my truck. I saw movement in the shadows caused by drawdown. Still no sign of a ducky mother. I rushed home and did a quick float test and the egg was twitching away.

How homeothermic are ducklings? Especially if the egg is covered in down feathers and it's been left sitting all night in 70 degree temperature? I thought for sure that the previous nights chill would have killed the egg if it was still alive.

To say I'm confused is...not a stretch.

If you find a warm egg, it was either recently laid or the mother just recently left the nest for a snack or the mother is gathering a clutch and will return the next day to lay another egg. When she has enough eggs or has despaired of ever gathering enough eggs, she will begin sitting.

 

[Perris]

how long should I wait to be sure before I give her eggs?

I'd wait 3 days. If she's still sitting tight most of the day and sleeping in the nest (not on the roost) at night, then she's probably gonna go the distance.