Pirate ducklings with chicken mama!

What day would you candle to look for first signs of development?

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PirateGirl said:
Day 21: I stole one egg this morning to candle and it was dancing!


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So neat! I haven't candled mine yet. We're on day 14 (roughly). Annabelle is sitting firmly on her nest and barely budges. I've finally seen her nudge off of her nest enough to eat and drink a smidge of food and water. I was out there and didn't have my flashlight. :barnie But seriously, I've been fretting over her starving. Thankfully she is ok. I'm a first timer here so I chalk up my worry to that LOL. ;) I was watching a tv show last night and I had the camera of her and the duck area pulled up on my computer. My hubby looks at it and says, "she's off the nest!". I'm like, oooh, lets go try to candle the eggs!. We didn't even get out the door before she was back on the nest. :barnie I guess she went and took a dip in the pool because she was preening her feathers and airing out her wings. And hissing at me fiercely if I tried to get close. One of these days I will catch her off of the nest and take a peek at the eggs. :fl She has been a very diligent and protective momma to be so far.
 
CrazyCrttr75 said:
So neat! I haven't candled mine yet. We're on day 14 (roughly). Annabelle is sitting firmly on her nest and barely budges. I've finally seen her nudge off of her nest enough to eat and drink a smidge of food and water. I was out there and didn't have my flashlight. :barnie But seriously, I've been fretting over her starving. Thankfully she is ok. I'm a first timer here so I chalk up my worry to that LOL. ;) I was watching a tv show last night and I had the camera of her and the duck area pulled up on my computer. My hubby looks at it and says, "she's off the nest!". I'm like, oooh, lets go try to candle the eggs!. We didn't even get out the door before she was back on the nest. :barnie I guess she went and took a dip in the pool because she was preening her feathers and airing out her wings. And hissing at me fiercely if I tried to get close. One of these days I will catch her off of the nest and take a peek at the eggs. :fl She has been a very diligent and protective momma to be so far.
Click to expand...

The first time I could see any movement was when I candled around day 13. (though I only candled once before early on to check viability) I just stick my hand in and steal an egg and take in the bathroom without a window and candle it and then bring it back out and stick it back under her. It's my first hatch too and I'm so nervous and excited. I have only seen my broody get off the nest 3 times in 3 weeks, but she is still alive so I guess she does it daily while I'm not around. I saw her eat and drink and dust bathe, so I guess she's good.
 
Update on the prairie dog situation. My 14 year old dog has now caught/killed two from the wood pile, with assistance from my other pets. Old girl still has it. The cat got one recently too, but it got away, not sure if it survived or not. I discovered another mama with babies (or perhaps the same one relocated) living under the duck house :barnie. The weather is finally taking a turn towards summer and I might actually be able to plant something soon.
 
My friend M came over last night. She is going to take any/all ducklings that hatch. She has never had ducks and is extremely excited. We candled 2 eggs and she saw a foot kicking. We talked about predators and fencing and water and winter weather etc. She is very handy (career in construction) and can probably build whatever she wants/needs for the ducks pretty easily with all scrap materials from job sites. I loaned her Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks (fingers crossed I get it back). She asked me to film the birth! I told her we'll both be calling out of work to watch the hatch! I feel better about all this now. I hope the rest goes well. Now I'm just hoping mama chicken will take good care of them until feathered and they can live here until they can be totally off heat/mama and be fine outdoors in our weather 24/7. I'm still debating leaving all as is in my coop or setting up a separation area for big mama. I know I have the dog crate as a fall back I guess, so I'll probably wait until hatch and go from there.
 

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