Setting eggs today...20th May...anyone else?

[Alaskan]

Oh Amy!

I am so so sorry! I would have been the biggest puddle of unhappiness if none of my eggs had hatched!

Are you sure it is dead? Not just so big that the veins are hidden?

I am SO VERY sorry!

Super big hugs!

 

[Amykins]

Oh Amy!

I am so so sorry! I would have been the biggest puddle of unhappiness if none of my eggs had hatched!

Are you sure it is dead? Not just so big that the veins are hidden?

I am SO VERY sorry!

Super big hugs!

I eggtopsied it...it's gone. I don't understand, everything seemed fine, it was fully formed, not shrink wrapped at all, it had the tiniest little bill you ever saw. Maybe it just couldn't break the membrane, I don't know. All I know is my breeder's hens are done laying for the year and I won't be able to try again unless I can somehow find another good quality local call duck breeder.

Edit: So I got hold of my egg man and we spoke for a while. He's one of the best call duck breeders in the nation so he knows his stuff. When I told him how tiny the bill was he said that was a VERY good quality call duck, and they almost always need assistance hatching. He said I did everything right, and I shouldn't be too hard on myself, but if I'd only intervened on day 24 when I knew he was still alive maybe this would have had a different outcome. :/

 

[Alaskan]

I am so sorry Amy!

At the same time though, wow! Ducks bred so that they NEED assistance when they hatch? I never would have guessed.

And the breeder didn't have one extra baby to sell you? I am so sorry for our loss. I can't even imagine the heartbreak you are feeling.

 

[ashem0]

Amykins

so sad sweet. I had hopes of coming back online to hear good news of your duckie. I'm sorry it did not work out positively for you.


A sad update at our end - the one with the bad legs was on it's little way out, and I could not stand watching it. So I finished it. It was sad, having become quite attached to it over 3 days full of hope that my nursing would help it. Afterward, I realised I had been neglecting the happy healthy chicks in the breeder box next door and not enjoying them. So, even though I lost the little scooter, I still have Disco and Blossom. Who appear to be thriving. I might post an updated pic of Disco soon, I think it is a Roo, and would like a 2nd opinion.

 

[Amykins]

I am so sorry Amy!

At the same time though, wow! Ducks bred so that they NEED assistance when they hatch? I never would have guessed.

And the breeder didn't have one extra baby to sell you?

I am so sorry for our loss. I can't even imagine the heartbreak you are feeling.

These are what the breed standards refer to as "super calls", they have teeny tiny bills, super round heads and are smaller than the average call duck. Very high quality, but unfortunately they suffer the same problem as bulldogs - they have difficulty breeding naturally. It's not impossible for them, but...yeah. At least I know I did everything else right, the temp, humidity and egg position I was told were ideal. I just got unlucky.

Also apparently the laying season is over, because all three call duck breeders I've contacted told me that their hens are done for the year. :/ But I won't give up hope, I'll spend winter "duckifying" my house! I plan to build a wooden duck run going the length of my stairway do my future duck can follow me around the house with ease. This also gives me time to build my pond box, too.

 

[Alaskan]

Good for you Amy!

 

[ashem0]

So here's Beauty and the Beast!... the one with his butt in the air. Both are going great-guns... but I'm suspicious of Disco... I reckon it's a Roo. Those tail feathers a give away... what do you think? He has a crazy personality... absolutely psycho! And his stance looks like a Roo.. plus his neck is sooo long when he stretches it. Any thoughts?

 

[Alaskan]

Well.....it is a sorta general rule that the fathers grow in more slowly on boys....but you really need a bunch of them together, to compare. I like staring at the comb, but you need to know what kind of comb the bird is going to have at maturity for that to work. since we have no idea what Disco is....how will we guess?

Did the breeder you got Disco from every figure out what the black ones are?

They were all his eggs, right? How many different kinds of birds does he have? If all of his birds have the same kind of comb, we could guess more accurately with Disco.

Single combs are more common.....with a male, the comb will often have larger more distinct points even at hatch verses a more serrated look on the females.

Go back in this thread and look at that picture I posted of my first chick. That one definitely looks like a boy comb.

Since my chicks have hatched I have been staring at comb pictures!

 

[Alaskan]

ok, it took me forever to get the pictures uploaded!!!!!!!

but here they are!

yeah!

OK, I went back to look, and here is the picture..

See the clear spikes on the comb? The girls have smaller points, they look more serrated.

 

[loopy12]

Amykins: I'm so sorry about wobbles. Call ducks are really hard to hatch. Notorious for it. But you learnt a lot, and next year you'll be totally prepared...
Are you dead set on a call, wouldn't consider something else that's still in season?

Ashem: Sorry about your chick. You did your best for it though. I think disco has boy knees...I always think the thicker knees and lower leg are a sign of a roo, but as Alaskan says it can be hard to tell without a few others to compare to. Here's hoping Blossom is a girl.

My nine are doing fine. I'm pretty sure the barred rocks are 3 girls and one boy, but the buff orpingtons are really tough. Slightly educated guess would be two of each just on their posture because otherwise everything looks the same - combs, legs, coloring, wing feathers...ugh. And the Brahma I'm guessing is a boy - hard to tell with no comparison. I pick up the replacement eggs for all those infertile ones on Saturday, and that will be my last hatch of the year.

Here they all are, enjoying the sun while I cleaned out their brooder.