Hi!
I have 2 female muscovy ducks, 1 male Pekin. The females have their own coop/run. This is the second time one of my females has gone broody. I really wanted to let her hatch her own babies but we've run into a problem. I've noticed that any time an egg is cracked (by her smashing, or when I accidentally cracked one), she eats it. I have been worried, that once her ducklings started hatching, she would eat them. I went out yesterday and found an egg smashed open with a baby still inside. I went to pick it up and it was still breathing. I brought it in under a heat lamp and kept misting but unfortunately he passed. She has 2 more duck eggs that are due to hatch in the next few days and one that's due to hatch in about 8 days. I brought the two that are close to hatching in and made a quick incubator using a cooler, lamp, saucer of water and thermostat. I don't have the money for a proper incubator at this time. Was this the best thing to do? How do I keep the temp and humidity stable? Thanks!
I have 2 female muscovy ducks, 1 male Pekin. The females have their own coop/run. This is the second time one of my females has gone broody. I really wanted to let her hatch her own babies but we've run into a problem. I've noticed that any time an egg is cracked (by her smashing, or when I accidentally cracked one), she eats it. I have been worried, that once her ducklings started hatching, she would eat them. I went out yesterday and found an egg smashed open with a baby still inside. I went to pick it up and it was still breathing. I brought it in under a heat lamp and kept misting but unfortunately he passed. She has 2 more duck eggs that are due to hatch in the next few days and one that's due to hatch in about 8 days. I brought the two that are close to hatching in and made a quick incubator using a cooler, lamp, saucer of water and thermostat. I don't have the money for a proper incubator at this time. Was this the best thing to do? How do I keep the temp and humidity stable? Thanks!
