Our First Hatched Duckling!!

[torbaynewfs]

 

[duckdad]

Isn't it the coolest thing to hatch a duckling?

I spent 24 hrs hatching my little girl that was an egg that I rescued from a nest that was abandoned. It took forever. The moment that her little beak popped out and her head emerged was a miracle. I first thought that this duck was going to be deformed from what I saw as part of the shell broke away. I saw something on her head that looked like the comb on a rooster...as she emerged I finally saw that it was just her foot ! That duck was folded up like a cheap Texas road map... I watched her free herself and dry over the next day and take her first wobbly steps. Just as exciting for me as anything I have ever done.

Today she is 4 mts old, fat, fully feathered, with an over-bite and missing a couple long tail feathers on the left side. But that will all improve as she matures. That little duck is the most loving creature I have ever known and it seems to form a bond instantly when you hatch them opposed to a hen sitting and doing the work for 28 days then raising them. Whatever their destiny they are special when you hatch them and raise them yourself.

Congrats on the new duck !!

 

[Ducks and Banny hens]

It's funny: fresh out of the egg, they're so ugly that they're cute...
It's sort of a suprise. I see you've used an incubator, but I use hens. For me it's sometimes a matter of
-Wake up: No hen or hatchlings
-Do chores: No hen or hatchlings
-Breakfast: No hen of hatchlings
-Go to church: No hen or hatchlings
-Come back: Nearly run over 19 hatchlings and get chased all over the place by the hen.
It's an interesting surprise....