She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[WVduckchick]

Here are some updated pics of the commune. Fabio is starting to look like a cult leader

You can see that the chicks range from fluffy yellows to two week olds with wing feathers, and they were all hatched from the same nest by 3 different hens. The juvenile is a leftover from May

I can see the resemblance!

 

[lazy gardener]

It's a German Giant. This is my first year trying indeterminates, and I don't think I will ever plant another hybrid. I have never had a yield like I'm getting this year. The only problem is I didn't know how big the plants got. I will be building trellises for next year

I highly recommend cattle panels for trellises. There are so many different ways they can be used. One of the most versatile items you can have for a small homestead.

Well duck egg number 3 is getting very close to hatch, I'd say within an hour or so. Can feel movement from both eggs due in a few days so they are all still looking good. If even 6 outta the 8 eggs I had left hatch will be far better than I expected with this this experimental test run on the homemade incubator.

I'm wondering if staggered hatches are more successful with ducks than they are with chickens. That's my guess. That you're having such high success without using a thermostat speaks volumes to your attention to detail. Kudos to you.

I was under the impression that they absorb the yolk before the pip the air cell. Is this not the case?

Sorry if this is TMI but... I had fully developed chicks in my last two hatches. Some of them even defecated inside the egg. None of them pipped the air cell. I'm sure there are many reasons they fail at 19-20 days but In my case I'm pretty sure they suffocated on CO2. As they get bigger they put off more CO2 and I didn't have air coming in from the outside of the incubator to exchange oxygen for CO2 through the shell.

I will know If that's the case if this batch I'm hatching this weekend has a higher success rate. I have given them a lot more oxygen this time around with air vents open the whole time.

Another theory I have from reading a scientific paper about incubators. The chick starts to generate it's own heat at about day 14. Everyone leaves the temp alone thinking it will be the same for the egg, but it's not. Using my temp gun I realized that even keeping my incubator steady from day 14 to 21 the egg shell temps themselves went from 100 to 103 degrees from day 14 to day 20. I honestly think that's why it works in a still air incubator to turn it down to 99.5. I think the beginning of the hatch is slow and then accelerates towards the end, but that is hard on the chicks and results in losses. I now turn it down .5 degree every other day after about day 15. I watch the shell temps closely and try to keep them at 100 degrees. We will see if it pays off this time, but they are shipped eggs so it's not a perfect test.

I'm rambling.....

Not TMI at all. This thread is the perfect place to do such thought provoking rambling! I've noticed that I need to be LOOKING for a temp spike around day 7 and day 14. I've also noticed that I need to keep an eye on temp from 14 - 21, because it tends to creep up. That makes no sense, since I DO have a thermostat... but... that's where experience trumps book learning!

 

[FridayYet]

Here are some updated pics of the commune. Fabio is starting to look like a cult leader

You can see that the chicks range from fluffy yellows to two week olds with wing feathers, and they were all hatched from the same nest by 3 different hens. The juvenile is a leftover from May

Really cute little fluffball family!

 

[scflock]

I can see the resemblance!

I can't tell which one is which

 

[scflock]

Really cute little fluffball family!

Fuzzy little egg hatching machines

 

[dan26552]

Fuzzy little egg hatching machines

Its the same way with muscovy ducks, my uncles had some hatch over 20 ducklings

 

[AmyPaperlady]

I can see the resemblance!

I can't tell which one is which

The attractive one's the rooster *shudder*

 

[cppeace]

I highly recommend cattle panels for trellises.  There are so many different ways they can be used.  One of the most versatile items you can have for a small homestead.

I'm wondering if staggered hatches are more successful with ducks than they are with chickens.  That's my guess.  That you're having such high success without using a thermostat speaks volumes to your attention to detail.  Kudos to you.
Not TMI at all.  This thread is the perfect place to do such thought provoking rambling!  I've noticed that I need to be LOOKING for a temp spike around day 7 and day 14.  I've also noticed that I need to keep an eye on temp from 14 - 21, because it tends to creep up.  That makes no sense, since I DO have a thermostat... but... that's where experience trumps book learning!

It's possible, ducks are tougher than chickens in most ways so that is why I asked earlier if ducks were in general easier to hatch. Yeah the incubator is 5 feet from the sofa so we can see the temp/humidity very easy unless in bed. I do my best to monitor them closely as I was doing this as a test run.

 

[scflock]

The attractive one's the rooster *shudder*

I was thinking one has a bird's face, and one took a bird to the face

How ya' been, Alice?

 

[WVduckchick]

The attractive one's the rooster *shudder*