I had two more Bantam Cochins hatch last Thursday:
And I have Indian Runner ducklings hatching right now. They started hatching the day before lockdown was supposed to begin (no idea what happened, they're in the same Octagon 20 incubator that's been running for two months straight now and has had 4 normal hatches so far,
Brinsea Spot-Check thermometer verifies that the temperature is correct and stable...) and I think I lost two that got shrink-wrapped and suffocated.
I started with 8 eggs, right now I have 2 ducklings hatched (both have
just-barely healed navels, and one had a bit of yolk left, but it smeared off on the incubator tray and the duckling looks okay), two eggs pipped, two eggs assumed dead, and two eggs that look a few days behind in development that may not hatch until the end of the week if they hatch at all.
This is the one hatch I've really been looking forward to all spring - these are the first eggs from my Indian Runner pair, and the duck only laid 14 eggs this year before I started doing some construction on the duck pens and she quit laying - I dunno when she'll start back up again, so these may be the
only ducklings from her this year, and I have a waiting list of people wanting to buy the ducklings.
I added some bantam eggs to the incubator last Friday, and I suspect that caused a heat-spike, which is why the ducklings started hatching pre-maturely. The two that are out are the most
gorgeous silvery-blue with a golden tinge - genetically, I believe they're both extended black with a brown, buff, and blue dilution. Pictures to come soon.
EDIT: - The only duckling that's out of the incubator is hanging out with those two Bantam Cochin chicks until some more ducklings are dried off. It's so cute how the duckling follows the chicks around, and the chicks curl up around the duckling to sleep. They're really all quite fond of one another!
The duckling photographs much darker-colored than it actually is - it's the prettiest color I've ever seen, the picture doesn't do it justice!