My husband, who is not really an animal person or into poultry, was mentioning something about hatching duck eggs. I said “Really? You told me last year that you never want me to hatch ducklings again.” He didn’t recall any of it and said he must not have noticed the ducklings. I said “Oh no, you remember, you just blocked it out. Picture this: you smell something unpleasant in the kitchen. So, you follow the smell and walk into the garage and there’s this really terrible smell.” It all came rushing back to him, and he looked queasy! By the time we got the coop done, I had 15 ducklings, 15 chicks, and 15 keets (all 1 month old by then) in a brooder in the garage. The mess generated every day was awe inspiring. Every evening, I spent several hours changing all of the brooder bedding (puppy pads by then), cleaned all of their dishes, and then replaced it all. It was a 4 x 8 ft brooder, and it smelled great overnight, then by the time I got home from work the next day... ugh! And my mom and cousin and goddaughter were visiting! Those ducklings were incredibly cute little abominable snowmen!!!
Wow, I hadn’t heard that things were so bad! That’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself! There is some still in your control but a lot that you can’t do anything about at this point. It can be very stressful. Your hatch might fail completely, or it might be great! You can’t know right now, and you’ve clearly done your best either way.
Our first hatch was last year! I had an old Hova bator with a waffle thermostat, no fan, hand turning, and eggs of unknown breed and quality. I had read.... the old old pamphlet that came with the incubator 20 years before! My humidity was 65% the whole time, and my temps were 101.5 at the center and 98 at the periphery! And... almost every egg hatched, with zero help. Every chick that hatched lived. Most recently, I upgraded the incubator and sat over those eggs like they were my children and.... almost none hatched. 
Ignorance is indeed bliss!!!
I’ve been wondering how backyard breeders in S CA were handling things... I’m so sorry that it’s been so rough!!!
Oh my goodness!! The cuteness factor of those sweet babies is what saves them while you're doing all that cleaning! Soooo adorable!
Brilliant. I'll try that. I've been using a gallon milk jug with a hole cut at head level but they need a bigger one now. And I don't have an empty gallon
I did have pretty good luck reusing Chinese takeout plastic containers to make cleaner waterers though. I just cut the lid so they could get their whole bill in there without actually going for a swim. lol
I'm using a janoel12 incubator which is basically the same thing. I have a secondary thermometer/hydrometer I bought off Amazon that I use to monitor temp and humidity. I had a lot of trouble getting my humidity up my last (and first) hatch but it was recommended to me on her to add a small bowl of water or a damp sponge. That helped a TON.
