FernbergFarms
Songster
(Warning going to be long and detailed)
Hey guys!
So this was my first time hatching anything and I used my grandpas 40 yr old incubator that had only hatched ducks once...
So I started collecting my duck eggs and I only have one girl so this took me 6 days just to get the eggs and I was originally only going to do 2 but I ended up doing 6.
So I didn’t wash my eggs just dusted the junk off. I didn’t have a accurate thermometer or humidity gauge so I kinda had to look at the wrong gauges and guess where it was at. So finally on Oct. 5, 2020 I decided to put 2 eggs in because I thought if I were to wait any longer they would not developed. So I put eggs 1 & 2 in and I ordered a good working thermometer/humidity gauge. The on the 6th I put the rest on my 4 eggs in. The thermometer and humidity gauge came very quick so I put that in and it said it was at 99.8 & 54% humidity so I was set! Then I was turning my eggs 3-4 times a day, breakfast, lunch, dinner, bed time. On day 2 I candled them because I was so impatient and I saw nothing. Then day 3 candled them again and I could see the tiniest little speck. I was soo exited! Well as days went but that speck became and big speck and a spider and a big spider! This picture was day 4 or 5 View attachment 2407542 well then I kept turning them and kept up with their humidity! And they grew and grew!
At day 10 is when I started taking them out 10 minutes at lunch and sprayed they with warm water! I did that till day 23 (because they internally pipped early!)
One day I forgot I had token them out! And 30 minutes had passed!! I was soo worried I just messed everything up! And they were on day 19! But I came here and everyone said it would be fine. What a relief!
Well I started seeing them move and keep growing! They were like swimming in the egg! It was so cool! On day 23 I noticed 2 internally pipped at lunch! So I started reading on what to do next and people on here were telling me Lockdown was next! So I increased the humidity to 60-70% and waited ! I could here one chirping and it wanted to get out so bad!! Well the next day I didn’t notice any change except all but one internally pipped! ( the one that didn’t I wasn’t sure about.) so I started getting worried because it had been so long for those two and I thought they would run out of oxygen so I made safety holes in all the eggs! I was VERY careful! That was one of the most stressful things I’ve ever done!!!
Well no progress on those eggs for Oct 29th. Man! It felt like I was watching paint dry! I was trying to make sure the humidity wasn’t going over 74% but it kept getting up there!
There was one baby that was moving around and I noticed that she started to turn purple (this is the one I didn’t know if it internally pipped) well her shell was turning purple on the top and her air sack was sattle shaped and there looked like yellow stuff was really close to the air sack. So I was very concerned about it! Then I was watching is moving trying to get out and it stopped. It just stopped trying. I made a thin X in the purple spots to maybe try to help but I should’ve intervened earlier. That one passed. I left it in the incubator Incase I was wrong but in the end I wasnt
Well the 5 were looking great! I was so ready for the hatch to be done!
The next morning on the 30th I wanted to make sure all was well with them because I didn’t see any externally pipped. So I did open the incubator and the really chirpy one pipped!!! I was soo exited!! Finally after 2 days of waiting one finally pipped! The others were still moving and looking fine. So the whole day went on with little progress and finally at around 6:15 I was cheering the pipped baby to keep going and she hatched!!!! It was soo precious!❤
Opal Haze Krekelberg Oct. 30th, 2020 @ 6:30 p.m.
Well the first one was out and I let her spend the night in the incubator and the second one pipped and was talking to Opal!
Well the next morning On Oct 31st @ 10:14 the next baby hatched! Her name is Autumn Meg Krekelberg!
And the 3rd one pipped! I had Opal in the brooder ( she wouldn’t let me leave her side) and Autumn drying off in the incubator. The next one pipped and was ready to come out! So I wanted to check on the other two that hadn’t pipped so I took them out and noticed they were turning purple... the purple was where the air sac was and this very much concerned me because the other one that died was turning purple too. I candled them and there air sacs had shrunk over the safety hole and they weren’t moving. I immediately started taking shell off from the top. I took it off over the bill and those two were gone..
that was devastating because they were moving around that morning and were ready to hatch. I put them back in the incubator bc I hoped I saw it wrong. I didn’t want anything else to go wrong with the last duckling ( baby number three already pipped) so I started to assist. I actually did a full assist on the last one and there were no troubles
so Hazel Renèe Krekelberg was born @12:45 on Oct. 31,2020
(Here is Autumn & Hazel)
The hatch was sooo stressful!
There were things I should’ve done different, that I wish I would’ve done different. But in the end I have 3 sweet ducklings who loveee people, movies, and Christmas music! They are two weeks old today and tomorrow.
I am so glad I did this! It was a great learning experience and I think the next hatch will be so much better. But I am content with these three and surprised That my grandpas 40 yr old incubator even worked! I am sad about the babies who were fully developed and passed at hatch, I wish I could’ve known how to help, but next time I will hopefully know what to do.
I hope this helped anyone who is hatching right now for the first time or anytime. If you have any questions feel free to ask!
And they love water! Silly ducks
Hey guys!
So this was my first time hatching anything and I used my grandpas 40 yr old incubator that had only hatched ducks once...
So I started collecting my duck eggs and I only have one girl so this took me 6 days just to get the eggs and I was originally only going to do 2 but I ended up doing 6.
So I didn’t wash my eggs just dusted the junk off. I didn’t have a accurate thermometer or humidity gauge so I kinda had to look at the wrong gauges and guess where it was at. So finally on Oct. 5, 2020 I decided to put 2 eggs in because I thought if I were to wait any longer they would not developed. So I put eggs 1 & 2 in and I ordered a good working thermometer/humidity gauge. The on the 6th I put the rest on my 4 eggs in. The thermometer and humidity gauge came very quick so I put that in and it said it was at 99.8 & 54% humidity so I was set! Then I was turning my eggs 3-4 times a day, breakfast, lunch, dinner, bed time. On day 2 I candled them because I was so impatient and I saw nothing. Then day 3 candled them again and I could see the tiniest little speck. I was soo exited! Well as days went but that speck became and big speck and a spider and a big spider! This picture was day 4 or 5 View attachment 2407542 well then I kept turning them and kept up with their humidity! And they grew and grew!
At day 10 is when I started taking them out 10 minutes at lunch and sprayed they with warm water! I did that till day 23 (because they internally pipped early!)
One day I forgot I had token them out! And 30 minutes had passed!! I was soo worried I just messed everything up! And they were on day 19! But I came here and everyone said it would be fine. What a relief!
Well I started seeing them move and keep growing! They were like swimming in the egg! It was so cool! On day 23 I noticed 2 internally pipped at lunch! So I started reading on what to do next and people on here were telling me Lockdown was next! So I increased the humidity to 60-70% and waited ! I could here one chirping and it wanted to get out so bad!! Well the next day I didn’t notice any change except all but one internally pipped! ( the one that didn’t I wasn’t sure about.) so I started getting worried because it had been so long for those two and I thought they would run out of oxygen so I made safety holes in all the eggs! I was VERY careful! That was one of the most stressful things I’ve ever done!!!
Well no progress on those eggs for Oct 29th. Man! It felt like I was watching paint dry! I was trying to make sure the humidity wasn’t going over 74% but it kept getting up there!
There was one baby that was moving around and I noticed that she started to turn purple (this is the one I didn’t know if it internally pipped) well her shell was turning purple on the top and her air sack was sattle shaped and there looked like yellow stuff was really close to the air sack. So I was very concerned about it! Then I was watching is moving trying to get out and it stopped. It just stopped trying. I made a thin X in the purple spots to maybe try to help but I should’ve intervened earlier. That one passed. I left it in the incubator Incase I was wrong but in the end I wasnt
Well the 5 were looking great! I was so ready for the hatch to be done!
The next morning on the 30th I wanted to make sure all was well with them because I didn’t see any externally pipped. So I did open the incubator and the really chirpy one pipped!!! I was soo exited!! Finally after 2 days of waiting one finally pipped! The others were still moving and looking fine. So the whole day went on with little progress and finally at around 6:15 I was cheering the pipped baby to keep going and she hatched!!!! It was soo precious!❤
Opal Haze Krekelberg Oct. 30th, 2020 @ 6:30 p.m.
Well the first one was out and I let her spend the night in the incubator and the second one pipped and was talking to Opal!
Well the next morning On Oct 31st @ 10:14 the next baby hatched! Her name is Autumn Meg Krekelberg!
And the 3rd one pipped! I had Opal in the brooder ( she wouldn’t let me leave her side) and Autumn drying off in the incubator. The next one pipped and was ready to come out! So I wanted to check on the other two that hadn’t pipped so I took them out and noticed they were turning purple... the purple was where the air sac was and this very much concerned me because the other one that died was turning purple too. I candled them and there air sacs had shrunk over the safety hole and they weren’t moving. I immediately started taking shell off from the top. I took it off over the bill and those two were gone..
that was devastating because they were moving around that morning and were ready to hatch. I put them back in the incubator bc I hoped I saw it wrong. I didn’t want anything else to go wrong with the last duckling ( baby number three already pipped) so I started to assist. I actually did a full assist on the last one and there were no troubles (Here is Autumn & Hazel)
The hatch was sooo stressful!
There were things I should’ve done different, that I wish I would’ve done different. But in the end I have 3 sweet ducklings who loveee people, movies, and Christmas music! They are two weeks old today and tomorrow.
I am so glad I did this! It was a great learning experience and I think the next hatch will be so much better. But I am content with these three and surprised That my grandpas 40 yr old incubator even worked! I am sad about the babies who were fully developed and passed at hatch, I wish I could’ve known how to help, but next time I will hopefully know what to do.
I hope this helped anyone who is hatching right now for the first time or anytime. If you have any questions feel free to ask!
