The Quack Shack

[Canadian Wind]

I don't mind gross... much of life could be considered gross, it's just mislabeled The eggs smell fine, no special effects.

Perfect. You're clear to go!

 

[Supercow]

As we candled the eggs there was some chirping [from the birds outside in the orchard] and we thought ohh....?? ... is it possible? ... You know, first time duck parents.

 

[Supercow]

When in the final stage, ie. the lockdown, is it OK if the eggs touch each other?

(Since the plastic holders which were needed for rotation are removed from the incubator and corrugated cardboard inserted instead ... on which eggs can roll)

 

[Canadian Wind]

When in the final stage, ie. the lockdown, is it OK if the eggs touch each other?

(Since the plastic holders which were needed for rotation are removed from the incubator and corrugated cardboard inserted instead ... on which eggs can roll)

I have never had issues with this. In fact, it's sometimes difficult to keep the hatchlings from knocking into the other egg!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

We're switching the incubator to high humidity, no rotation and non-slip bottom tomorrow night in preparation for Friday's big event.

So today we "candled" (mobiled) the eggs again. For the most part we can see dark and reddish areas and some slight movement, everything as expected.

What came as a surprise was:

1. one egg was only black and white (see photo). We thought ohhh this one is dead... until

2. we got another one just like that, and LOTS of very obvious movement

So now we don't know what to think. Any ideas? Thank you everybody.

Hold the egg close to your nose and smell: If it smells bad, its bad. If no rotten egg smell is noticeable its a keeper until day ~32.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

OK, so no worries about it maybe exploding (if dead) while the others hatch? Sorry if it's a silly question, I'm 100% new to this.

Out of over 20 eggs last year, none of the bad ones exploded. They all start to smell really bad, noticeable when you open the incubator. If you still did not got it by then, they start to sweat. At this time you can be sure its dead.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I don't mind gross... much of life could be considered gross, it's just mislabeled The eggs smell fine, no special effects.

Its a keeper for now!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

As we candled the eggs there was some chirping [from the birds outside in the orchard] and we thought ohh....?? ... is it possible? ... You know, first time duck parents.

Chirp back! - The little one(s) will answer. And they start bonding with you.

And be patient!!!

If you can see the little bill moving in the air bubble while candling, you may want to drill a little safety hole. I used the egg-poker from the kitchen last year… Just be careful that you neither smash the egg, nor poke the duckling.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

When in the final stage, ie. the lockdown, is it OK if the eggs touch each other?

(Since the plastic holders which were needed for rotation are removed from the incubator and corrugated cardboard inserted instead ... on which eggs can roll)

Quackfectly okay! - Even a little duckling thrashing around between the unhatched eggs is fine. All those sounds and movements motivate the siblings to absorb their yolks faster and hatch.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Sad News from Big Chimney: It looks like Chaos Duck has been taken by a predator last night.

As usual she insisted to sleep on the pond yesterday evening together with Mayhem, Walgreens, Stibbel Entron and some Mallards. Shortly after sunset they all ran up the hill and jumped into the pond.
At around 10pm, i was transplanting tomatoes on the patio, i heart a strange noise from up the hill. It sounded as if two cats were fighting each other, so i grabbed the flashlight and the machete and walked up to the pond. In the flashlight's cone i could see three drakes and a Mallard pair. Today morning, when i let the dux out, only Sunny Sunshine jumped on the porch to eat some meal-worms and Chaos Duck was nowhere to be seen.

Rest in Piece Chaos Duck. 2023-08-27 - 2024-04-22​