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

[Conan]

Wow. That's good to know! One person I was talking with hatched some of another breed that I hatched, from same breeder and everything. She had multiple deaths after hatch. They were completely fine and then just dropped dead, as late as 4 months old. She lost 50% of her hatchers and decided to rehome the rest. She said that she suspected it was from too much in breeding. I didn't ask because I was just too worried. There's nothing I can do now but hope for the best and care for them as best as I can.

Genetic diversity is a wonderful thing! I also had 3 runts this year... 2 didn't make it. Both died at about 5 days old. Dinky is the only runt that lived. I'm keeping him but only because I know he won't be able to breed.... and he's spatial. ❤

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Genetic diversity is a wonderful thing! I also had 3 runts this year... 2 didn't make it. Both died at about 5 days old. Dinky is the only runt that lived. I'm keeping him but only because I know he won't be able to breed.... and he's spatial. ❤

Awe! Is he teeny tiny like Bobbles?

 

[Conan]

Awe! Is he teeny tiny like Bobbles?

Pretty much, yeah. He's a tiny little thing with knobby knees and a silly waddle. He trips over his own feet a lot.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Pretty much, yeah. He's a tiny little thing with knobby knees and a silly waddle. He trips over his own feet a lot.

Oh my! The knees does make it sound like a type of dwarfism. I bet he's so adorable! I remember reading his name so I need to go find his picture now

 

[Painted Calls]

Oh, my, YES. Let me tell you, it sure as hell does cause issues. I lived that nightmare this year. I think you can get by just fine with parent x offspring breeding for a bit, but full siblings are problematic.
Last year, I had a ton of genetic diversity, and every egg I set was fertile, and hatched.
I only kept babies from one pairing, and the mom. Mistake. Less than 50% fertility rates, and a ton of quitters throughout. Bad news bears. Never again for me. That's why I am only keeping girls from that group, and boys from entirely different lines.

I decided to wait until late winter to order my boujee ducks. (That way I can focus on these guys going through winter). Once I've got them and get them established and breeding, I'll send you some eggs to hopefully get some nice new blood.

 

[Kittys Coop]

Hello all! I am preparing to set 4 pekin/crested mix and 10-12 call duck eggs this Saturday! I have hatched Pekins for years with good luck but haven’t had good luck with calls. Last spring I had one call duckling make it all the way to hatch day but never internally pip and die. I also had one that I had to assist in hatching because it was backwards That little fella sadly had some defects and didn’t make it. His leg was fused at the joint and he couldn’t move it. I’m hoping to have a good hatch this time around. These eggs are from my own flock. I have black bibbed, pastel, grey, white, blue fawn, snowy, and blue fawn pied. I have collected them daily and have marked dates + hens on each egg. The oldest one is from January 31, 2021. I have been storing them at room temp ( around 55 degrees). I have stored them air cell up and have rotated them once daily. I started my incubator yesterday, checked the temp (it is a forced air nr 360), and I salt tested my hygrometer and double checked the humidity. The readings on the incubator are correct. It is running stable at 99.5 degrees and the humidity is around 47. I am going to put the pekin eggs in tonight and the call eggs on Saturday because the calls usually take 26 days and pekins take 28. I figure by doing this then hatch day will be around the same day. Does this all sound good? I will continue to update this thread throughout incubation!

@Isaac 0 @WVduckchick @shawluvsbirds
@Conan
Any input? You guys and countless others helped me so much last time with my little call duckling that was backwards.

Best wishes for your hatch! Keep us updated

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I should be OK with my initial Calls, because both Gray's are males. I'm unsure about my latest 2. I believe they're both black bibbed, but I'm not 100% sure as the handwriting on the egg was questionable. It seems like the only possibility with the groups she has. If that's the case and they're the same sex, I should be good to go. My daughter thinks it's a pair though.

 

[Conan]

Oh my! The knees does make it sound like a type of dwarfism. I bet he's so adorable! I remember reading his name so I need to go find his picture now

Here is dinky. Hard to see how small he is, but he's just a tiny little turd.

 

[Conan]

Fabulous! I will never turn down call eggs.

I decided to wait until late winter to order my boujee ducks. (That way I can focus on these guys going through winter). Once I've got them and get them established and breeding, I'll send you some eggs to hopefully get some nice new blood.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I've noticed that Lylah is beginning to molt now, but it seems like their plumage changes with the seasons, at least for drakes. Of course I may be wrong, so don't trust this. @Conan @FunnyfarmMidwest @shawluvsbirds @WVduckchick @BirdsBeesTrees
When do Calls molt into nuptial plumage?

I guess I never paid attention...