The Duck Thread

[Ren2014]

Are you incubating the eggs vertically? If so the embryo tends to form at the top of the egg instead of in the middle. Also if you give the egg a 180 degree rotation each day, even if it's in an automatic turner, the chorio-allantioc membrane doesn't develop as quickly/uniformly, which can lead to seeing veining on only one side

Yes in an automatic turner. And dugh Renee... this does make sense. Thank you.

How do you incubate your eggs?

 

[Pyxis]

Yes in an automatic turner.  And dugh Renee... this does make sense.  Thank you.

How do you incubate your eggs?

I do mine horizontally if I have the room, but I usually don't so mostly they end up vertical But for eggs like geese and peafowl I make the room and only incubate horizontally - they seem to do better that way.

 

[Lamaremybabies]

Is it normal for my broody duck to be aggressive towards my other ducks and have very thin feathering?

 

[Ren2014]

I do mine horizontally if I have the room, but I usually don't so mostly they end up vertical

But for eggs like geese and peafowl I make the room and only incubate horizontally - they seem to do better that way.

I just moved a broody to a safer location and she went buck wild. I'm afraid I messed up real bad. I took some of her eggs and put them in the incubator just incase she abandons. I candled them and they were the opposite of what I usually see that I mentioned earlier. They were completely clear on one side and the other has the embryo and veins. Is that to be expected?? I put them in the incubator horizontally

IF she settles down and returns to sitting, can I put these eggs back?

 

[Pyxis]

I just moved a broody to a safer location and she went buck wild.  I'm afraid I messed up real bad.  I took some of her eggs and put them in the incubator just incase she abandons.  I candled them and they were the opposite of what I usually see that I mentioned earlier.  They were completely clear on one side and the other has the embryo and veins.  Is that to be expected??  I put them in the incubator horizontally
IF she settles down and returns to sitting, can I put these eggs back?

In early development it's totally normal to see veins only on one side. By about two weeks or so the chorio-allantoic membrane has usually grown enough to be around the whole egg, but until then you won't see veins all the way around (this is also when eggs that have loose air cells no longer have loose air cells, because the growth of the membrane holds them in place, just hatched a KC egg with a rolling air cell this way).

If she settles down and still seems committed it would be safe to take them back. Just be sure she's committed to the new place you moved her to because sometimes when moved broodies will just go back to sitting where they were, or they'll break completely and give up on the idea of hatching.

 

[Ren2014]

In early development it's totally normal to see veins only on one side. By about two weeks or so the chorio-allantoic membrane has usually grown enough to be around the whole egg, but until then you won't see veins all the way around (this is also when eggs that have loose air cells no longer have loose air cells, because the growth of the membrane holds them in place, just hatched a KC egg with a rolling air cell this way).

If she settles down and still seems committed it would be safe to take them back. Just be sure she's committed to the new place you moved her to because sometimes when moved broodies will just go back to sitting where they were, or they'll break completely and give up on the idea of hatching.

She's locked in now. I moved a Swedish broody successfully once. When I put food and water in with her and she drank for like 5 mins. I didn't think she was getting up to take care of business. When she let out an enormous broody poop that kind of confirmed it. She was sitting on them when I left her for the night.

 

[AuroraDoerksen]

I want to start breeding a duck breed that has either been listed in the critical or threatened status by the Livestock Conservancy. Wondering if it is a good idea or not? I am really interested in the Aylesbury but have had zero luck finding any starting birds. Dutch hookbill intrigue me but I have found a lady selling two Saxony pairs. The one female is white and she claims that she produces the correctly colored offspring but I am unsure. Would it even be advisable to breed ducks? Thank you for any input

 

[Pyxis]

I want to start breeding a duck breed that has either been listed in the critical or threatened status by the Livestock Conservancy. Wondering if it is a good idea or not? I am really interested in the Aylesbury but have had zero luck finding any starting birds. Dutch hookbill intrigue me but I have found a lady selling two Saxony pairs. The one female is white and she claims that she produces the correctly colored offspring but I am unsure. Would it even be advisable to breed ducks? Thank you for any input

Go for it! I breed Welsh Harlequins, and until this year they were listed as Critical, but they have made a comeback and are back from the brink. Now they're only Watch with is much better. It's thanks to people who decide to preserve the breeds on the lists that comebacks like these are possible

 

[AxolotlLove]

I want to start breeding a duck breed that has either been listed in the critical or threatened status by the Livestock Conservancy. Wondering if it is a good idea or not? I am really interested in the Aylesbury but have had zero luck finding any starting birds. Dutch hookbill intrigue me but I have found a lady selling two Saxony pairs. The one female is white and she claims that she produces the correctly colored offspring but I am unsure. Would it even be advisable to breed ducks? Thank you for any input

Sounds like a good idea, if you wanted to breed ducks I would get more than one pair,.i think you should go for Hookbills or Alyesberry. For the white Saxony you'd probably get some other white Saxonys from her.

 

[mama2girlies]

I am in need of some help deciding what to do with a slightly aggressive male pekin I have. My first group of ducklings I got this year gave me 2 females and 4 males. Then we rescued 4 more ducklings which gave us 3 males and 1 female. So now we have an abundance of males but we love them all and thought we would see how things worked out. Well now the male pekin, who seems to be closely guarding the female pekin, is now chasing the other males and has pulled some feathers out. I'm thinking of finding a home for this aggressive guy but he is mated with the female and I don't know if that will mess her up. I still have two other male pekins in the bunch. I don't really have the space to add more females to the group but I don't really want to rehome any either. I would love any suggestions on how to make sure everyone is happy