Preparing to set call and pekin duck eggs! Hatch day should be March 4, 2021 if all goes well!

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I just tried to put the 3rd hatcher in the brooder with the first two and I took her back out after she had some water. She's half the size of the other two! Of course I am worried about her but she's acting just like they did and peeping loudly, I suppose she's looking for them. The last egg is in the incubator with her and it cheeps some but I'm sure she wants some active company. I hope she catches up to them in size and will be OK.
 
Well Squeegee lost another egg then gave up on the rest. I quickly stuck them in the incubator. :(

There’s three left. One I’m currently assisting and the other has hatched! ❤️
 

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FunnyfarmMidwest said:
@HeatherKellyB

I’m so glad you joined this thread and glad the people that helped me out along the way have been able to help you! :D
Lol 9 years old going on 90 cracked me up! :gig

Hope the last one makes it out safely! You’ve done an amazing job! ❤️:celebrate
Click to expand...
That's so kind of you. You've been an amazing help to me too!

#4 has finally left her shell. This one is also tiny like #3 (Tallulah). I was finally able to put #3 (Tallulah) with her hatchmates late last night. She kept tugging at whatever she could grab on #4 while she was still in the shell! Before bed I removed more shell and tried to free the shrink wrapping. Since I was going to bed, I placed her into a tiny bowl just in case there were any problems. Whenever I woke up she was still in the bowl but out of the shell. I've got to remove the piece of membrane that still stuck on her back and wing. I've noticed the others try to "help" their hatchmates by ripping off the dried membrane :eek: This newest little one has yellow down and light skin. It's like I've got a medium and small of both colors :D They're so precious! I can't get over their teeny tiny bills! I found that my quail drinker is working perfectly for the moment. I don't have to worry about them falling in and they can safely learn to drink. They LOVE the feed but I'm going to need to grind up the crumbles further. They are willing to try to larger pieces but it seems to take them a while to get them down. I figured that giving the crumbles a quick spin in the baby bullet will make them perfect for right now. Another funny thing I noticed is that they act like the thermometer that's in the brooder is a throne that's up for grabs! Speaking of thermometers in brooders, do you keep a thermometer or watch their behavior for signs of them being too cool or hot?
 
In other duckling/waterfowl news, I've got a wild Mallard that started sitting on her nest within a day or 2 of my placing these eggs in the incubator. Since she's wild, I can't /won't get close enough to inspect. She always comes off the nest to eat but I didn't see her coming to eat yesterday. She was definitely still on the nest. Also she's usually extremely difficult to find from a distance but yesterday she was moving about on her nest and very easily spotted. I haven't seen her Drake in at least 2 weeks, maybe more. I'm worried that something has happened to him. On the other hand, the wild Canada Goose that nests here every year started sitting about 2.5 weeks ago and she's only about 12 to maybe 15 feet at the most, away from the duck. I know they're wild and there's nothing I can do but I am so worried that the geese are going to hurt the ducklings whenever they hatch! The gander already tries to run the duck off whenever she's trying to eat, to the point where I've had to change where she eats on multiple occasions. So I imagine there will be some adorable wild ducklings here soon and I hope they'll be OK. With the threat of the geese, I'm guessing the Mallard will be leaving with her ducklings as soon as possible. Once the Canada Geese hatch their goslings, they usually stay a little while but not long enough, in my opinion. I just love watching them!

Hopefully that was my rambling for the day. My apologies. Thankfully it's duck related
 
HeatherKellyB said:
That's so kind of you. You've been an amazing help to me too!

#4 has finally left her shell. This one is also tiny like #3 (Tallulah). I was finally able to put #3 (Tallulah) with her hatchmates late last night. She kept tugging at whatever she could grab on #4 while she was still in the shell! Before bed I removed more shell and tried to free the shrink wrapping. Since I was going to bed, I placed her into a tiny bowl just in case there were any problems. Whenever I woke up she was still in the bowl but out of the shell. I've got to remove the piece of membrane that still stuck on her back and wing. I've noticed the others try to "help" their hatchmates by ripping off the dried membrane :eek: This newest little one has yellow down and light skin. It's like I've got a medium and small of both colors :D They're so precious! I can't get over their teeny tiny bills! I found that my quail drinker is working perfectly for the moment. I don't have to worry about them falling in and they can safely learn to drink. They LOVE the feed but I'm going to need to grind up the crumbles further. They are willing to try to larger pieces but it seems to take them a while to get them down. I figured that giving the crumbles a quick spin in the baby bullet will make them perfect for right now. Another funny thing I noticed is that they act like the thermometer that's in the brooder is a throne that's up for grabs! Speaking of thermometers in brooders, do you keep a thermometer or watch their behavior for signs of them being too cool or hot?
Click to expand...
Aww glad 4 has hatched! I’ve had very small and very large calls from the same incubation. The small ones usually catch up. I have one right now that will be two weeks old and is itty bitty. Tallulah sounds like a feisty one! :p
Their tiny bills are beyond adorable!
Ooh yellow down! Looking foreword to seeing pictures of all of them! 🥰
I usually crush up the crumbles I give mine just to make them smaller for the first few days.
Lol that’s funny that they treat the thermometer like a throne!
I personally don’t use a thermometer I just monitor the babies and change the temp depending on their behavior. :)
 
HeatherKellyB said:
In other duckling/waterfowl news, I've got a wild Mallard that started sitting on her nest within a day or 2 of my placing these eggs in the incubator. Since she's wild, I can't /won't get close enough to inspect. She always comes off the nest to eat but I didn't see her coming to eat yesterday. She was definitely still on the nest. Also she's usually extremely difficult to find from a distance but yesterday she was moving about on her nest and very easily spotted. I haven't seen her Drake in at least 2 weeks, maybe more. I'm worried that something has happened to him. On the other hand, the wild Canada Goose that nests here every year started sitting about 2.5 weeks ago and she's only about 12 to maybe 15 feet at the most, away from the duck. I know they're wild and there's nothing I can do but I am so worried that the geese are going to hurt the ducklings whenever they hatch! The gander already tries to run the duck off whenever she's trying to eat, to the point where I've had to change where she eats on multiple occasions. So I imagine there will be some adorable wild ducklings here soon and I hope they'll be OK. With the threat of the geese, I'm guessing the Mallard will be leaving with her ducklings as soon as possible. Once the Canada Geese hatch their goslings, they usually stay a little while but not long enough, in my opinion. I just love watching them!

Hopefully that was my rambling for the day. My apologies. Thankfully it's duck related
Click to expand...
Hopefully nothing happened to the wild drake. Hopefully the Mallard hen hatches out some babies. I love watching the wild ducks next door (my neighbors have a pond). Last week I saw the most beautiful wood duck pair! ❤️

I’m betting things will go ok. I’ve seen wild ducks hatch out ducklings at the pond when there were Canadian geese over there.
 

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