Mandarin Duck thread ( for posting pictures and discussing)

[chickenlisa]

cool! Thanks!
he's looking at bill colors I think. He's got years of experience with tons of different birds, so I'll trust him on this!
Either way- I'm happy with the babies.
What about mixing ages of ducklings? Can the new ones (if I get some) be brooded with the 2 week olds?
oops I just saw your previous reply- sorry!

Thanks for your answers and vast experience!

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

no problem
and yes, at this age is just a guess a few more weeks will tell for sure, but yes it's bill color. Look at the base of the bill on a couple of them, already showing pink tint. Now look at the others, still pretty over all dark color. This is by no means 100% but can give you a early educated guess with out vent sexing.

 

[chickenlisa]

Quote:
Aubrey, what should I get the humidity up to? I'm going to pull the eggs today I think (as long as they haven't hatched yet!) and I just put some warm/hot water in hte incubator to bump up the humidity. I want to get it to the right level before putting the eggs in... I'll candle them first too and pull any duds.

edited: just saw on 1st page of this thread that 55-60% is good for incubating and increase it 10-15% at hatch time. I'll shoot to get it ~65-70 now and then candle those eggs.

edited again to add: just candled 10 eggs result 9 look great-black with great air cells at wide ends, 1 clear...I pitched that one. They're in the incubator and will let it settle around 67% for today unless someone steers me toward a different %. I wish you experienced hatchers were here to help me do this right! I don't want to mess it up and end up killing them!

 

[KansasKid]

Quote:
Aubrey, what should I get the humidity up to? I'm going to pull the eggs today I think (as long as they haven't hatched yet!) and I just put some warm/hot water in hte incubator to bump up the humidity. I want to get it to the right level before putting the eggs in... I'll candle them first too and pull any duds.

edited: just saw on 1st page of this thread that 55-60% is good for incubating and increase it 10-15% at hatch time. I'll shoot to get it ~65-70 now and then candle those eggs.

edited again to add: just candled 10 eggs result 9 look great-black with great air cells at wide ends, 1 clear...I pitched that one. They're in the incubator and will let it settle around 67% for today unless someone steers me toward a different %. I wish you experienced hatchers were here to help me do this right! I don't want to mess it up and end up killing them!

sorry, have just been skimming through this thread. are you in lockdown yet? Even with the goose eggs for lockdown i would bump 'er up to 80%

 

[chickenlisa]

I didn't see any bills poking up into the air sac or membrane when I candled quickly...but the air sacs were nice and slanted, all black looking below them except the one I tossed. So I'm not sure if I should be in lockdown- I thought she would hatch them this weekend. I added hat water to bump temp back up to 99.5, but humidity went up into the 70s while the temp stayed at 98.6 (which it went to after I added the eggs earlier today.)
What do you think?

 

[KansasKid]

Ok so i'm pretty sure i read somewhere that you didn't know what day they were on when you pulled them so you don't know when to start lockdown, correct?
If you candle and see nothing but black even near the air sac (last place i usually notice veins) then i would go ahead and bump the humidity up. And if your not on lockdown yet your eggs should be fine as long as the air cells are already the right size.

 

[chickenlisa]

yep, that sounds like where I'm at.Thanks! Not exactly sure what day they are on, b/c she didn't tell me "ok, I'm starting to sit now...tee hee" anyways, they looked black up to the air sacs, and the humidity is 71 now with temp at 98.4. I will add a bit of HOT water to up the humidity more and hopefully the temp along with it....(Forced air GQF Hovabator 1588 without any turning trays)

 

[chickenlisa]

well, nothing dramatic has happened so far this weekend- no pips or zips or anything obvious. i was worried, so I just watched closely for a bit and really looked at those eggs. 1 has fine spider-web like cracks over the middle and pointier end....never saw anything like it, so I wonder if it's just trying to bust out by cracking the shell...I saw another egg jiggle and wiggle

and when I candled the 2 closest to the edge, I saw movement in the air sac, so internal pipping looked to be done or in the process. So I just sprayed them all with warm water to increase humidity again, closed it up and will start lockdown for real now!

 

[Matapatos]

So the plan was to let the hen raise her ducklings... 9 hatched yesterday, 9 this morning, 4 this afternoon, and 1 this evening... :-( I pulled it out and have it in a brooder, but that was a big mistake. If there were less birds in there? Maybe the chiloe and ring teal and wood ducks harassed them and forced them close to the wire... I have some 3/4" wire around the bottom of the pen, but it seems like it wasn't enough...

Lesson learned, take them if you want them to live... I'm pretty bummed right now

 

[chickenlisa]

I don't understand what happened...did 23 ducklings hatch in all? Did some die? I may be missing something since it's after my bedtime here...Please explain. I had to pull mine too and brood the survivors in a wooden box with screen over the top...