hello all you birdy peeps!
update on our first attempt at hatching eggs of any type: we ended up with 15 eggs hatching from 19 put in the incubator, that's a rate almost 80%. from what I gather, that is better than most in my area this year. and all those from a >$15 'bator. not bad if I do say so myself. one small hitch in the program--one baby quacker was born lame, with his right leg out behind him. it was hard for him to get around, so my 11 yo daughter adopted him, took him under her wing, so to speak, and made sure he got lots to eat and drink, altho he could not do so for himself. today, we got home and he had passed away. she took it very hard, but it is a situation that she must learn in life, and she did so bravely. my heart went out to her, since we both share the same affection for the babies in our care. that being said, I reminded her that we still have 14 little quackerbutts to take care of and make sure they grow up strong. our next project, which she and I will do together, is to see how many pheasants we can hatch from 15 eggs. we still have 7 Muscovy eggs in the bator, but I doubt very much whether any will hatch, since we had a malfunction in the dimmer device controlling the temp of the bator. for a time of about an hour, the temp had gone to 147 degrees in the bator, so I dont hold out much hope of the survival of the eggs. today is day 32 for the muscovies, which usually take 33-37 days to make an appearance. im keeping my fingers crossed, tho.
update on our first attempt at hatching eggs of any type: we ended up with 15 eggs hatching from 19 put in the incubator, that's a rate almost 80%. from what I gather, that is better than most in my area this year. and all those from a >$15 'bator. not bad if I do say so myself. one small hitch in the program--one baby quacker was born lame, with his right leg out behind him. it was hard for him to get around, so my 11 yo daughter adopted him, took him under her wing, so to speak, and made sure he got lots to eat and drink, altho he could not do so for himself. today, we got home and he had passed away. she took it very hard, but it is a situation that she must learn in life, and she did so bravely. my heart went out to her, since we both share the same affection for the babies in our care. that being said, I reminded her that we still have 14 little quackerbutts to take care of and make sure they grow up strong. our next project, which she and I will do together, is to see how many pheasants we can hatch from 15 eggs. we still have 7 Muscovy eggs in the bator, but I doubt very much whether any will hatch, since we had a malfunction in the dimmer device controlling the temp of the bator. for a time of about an hour, the temp had gone to 147 degrees in the bator, so I dont hold out much hope of the survival of the eggs. today is day 32 for the muscovies, which usually take 33-37 days to make an appearance. im keeping my fingers crossed, tho.
