Our First Hatch

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tmorgan46

tmorgan46

Songster
Sep 22, 2015
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Stafford, VA
When we started this journey, not that long ago; we anticipated problems, set backs, successes and a whole bunch of unknowns. Our own starter flock were so small that the thought of having tiny web-lings running around didn't strike us. But then as the winter snows began to melt, the eggs started piling up! We ate quite a few, and gave away to friends many as well. But then we thought about trying our hand at hatching. So, we did like most, shopped with our mouse and keyboard on that amazing thing called Amazon and within a few days we had our first incubator. We picked out the "freshest" 25 eggs we had and started the long process. At day ten we culled 4 eggs that were almost completely transparent as compared to the others. We left two very similar eggs just to make sure we were doing it right. The next week those two eggs and a few others joined the culled batch. And time marched on. Last night, the count-down timer reminded us that the big day was quickly approaching. We candled what we imagined was our last time. More eggs discarded and out of the original 25 we had 11 still kicking and growing. In the last few eggs, there was one that we noticed the shell was beginning to flake! So we took a closer look and OMG! it was dented, OUTWARD!!! We scratched the shell and listened carefully. It was returned with a little "chirp chirp"!!! So instead of locking down Tuesday night, we transitioned to the next phase last night. After reading so many threads I was expecting this long drawn out and emotional process over the next day or so. This morning as I let the dogs out and took the first few sips of the liquid of life (coffee) I heard a much louder "chirp" coming from the incubator. The little rascal had already gotten out and was doing laps around the remainder of the eggs!! He or she is loud and wanting company in the worst way. I can't wait to get home tonight and move him or her into the brooder we hastily constructed last night. I'll try to post the picture I took with my phone in just a few minutes.
One down, ten to go!!! :)
 
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Congratulations on your first hatchling! I too decided hastily to set a few eggs. I ordered 6 ducklings (2 Welsh Harlequin and 4 Cayuga females) to add to my current flock of 7 (3 WH ducks, a WH drake, and 3 Golden 300 Layer Hybrid ducks) on March 11, and then I started thinking about the probably fertile eggs I already had on hand. I am an art teacher at an elementary school where the 2nd grade does a unit on hatching chicken eggs and learning about that process, so I inquired as to when they'd be setting their eggs, not even realizing at that time that duck eggs take longer to hatch than chickens. I had wanted to have any duck eggs I set hatch around the same time as the ones I ordered so there wasn't a big size difference. As it turned out, they wouldn't be setting theirs till two weeks after my ducklings were supposed to be delivered. The teacher I talked with about all of this offered to let me take an incubator home since I'd be done with it before they would need it. I planned on setting just two eggs, but she convinced me to set four, just in case. I did so, and candled far more often than you're supposed to, getting more and more excited as I realized all four were fertile and developing. Eggs started wobbling and squeaking at me on Thursday (lockdown), and by last night I had three hatched! As it turns out, the last egg got bumped by one of the wobblers and it rolled against the side of the incubator. It started pipping on the bottom side of the egg, and was unable to get any further than that after 24 hours. I decided to intervene last night by flaking off some shell and removing some of the dried out membrane, but stopped when I saw a tiny twinge of pink. I left it for the night but woke up at 2 am and couldn't get back to sleep. Finally at 5 I got up and found that it was still in the egg, and I needed to help it the rest of the way. This time there was no hint of blood, and though I didn't get to stay with it for long before leaving for work, it did make its way to snuggle with the other duckling in the brooder.

I chose all eggs from one duck, who I was pretty sure was Golden 300, because I was curious what a cross between that and a WH would look like. The first three are mostly dark brown with little spots of yellow here and there, but the last one is mostly blonde. Can't wait to see it fluffed up when I get home!


Here is Oliver, my WH drake, with the three ladies who could be the duckies' mom. (All the eggs only came from one duck though- they're distinctively shaped and my only green ones.)



Duckie #2, hatched around 10:30 am, and Vivian (or Victor) hatched at 7 am. S/he has a black "V" marking on the bill. I moved them to the brooder yesterday late afternoon.



#3 hatched around 8 pm, and #4 hatched around 5:15 this morning. They're still in the incubator.
 
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Those are great pics!! Such cuties! Nothing further here. Uno has no playmates and spends his (her) day chirping and calling for someone to come pick him (her) up and give attention.... There's still 4 days left on the hatching count-down timer for the remainder and there are probably 20+ eggs outside that a few of the girls are sitting on. For the last week or so, there's been a fox roaming around, so as soon as those outside hatch, I'll move inside to better protect. We're still very perplexed how this one egg hatched at the 30 day mark and the others haven't pipped yet. He or she has the exact same coloring on the webs as one of the drakes we rescued from PA earlier in the year. It'll be interesting to see what kind of adult colors he (she) gets. Photos coming up tonight. Not enough hours in the day it seems!!
 

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