~*Third Annual Cinco de Mayo Turkey Hatch-Athon*~ all poultry welcome!

[winteree]

awesomeness

 

[HEChicken]

Quote: If they do, the ducks produced will be "mules". Since muscovy and mallard are not related species they can interbreed but the offspring will all be infertile.

 

[JennaLynn122]

I'm on day 4 of the new hatch and trying to watch my fertility, growth, and hatchabilty in my eggs very carefully. Right now I'm pretty focused on the fertility in particular, but also noting everything else to study the results. Looks like so far with all questionables counted as clears on paper that my fertility rate is about 82% for this roo and his ratio.
But my question is, what is an "acceptable" % for selling hatching eggs? I know you cant guarantee a hatch or fertility but what would you say is acceptable in your opinion to sell them fairly?

 

[SilkieSensation]

I'm on day 4 of the new hatch and trying to watch my fertility, growth, and hatchabilty in my eggs very carefully. Right now I'm pretty focused on the fertility in particular, but also noting everything else to study the results. Looks like so far with all questionables counted as clears on paper that my fertility rate is about 82% for this roo and his ratio.
But my question is, what is an "acceptable" % for selling hatching eggs? I know you cant guarantee a hatch or fertility but what would you say is acceptable in your opinion to sell them fairly?

I've never calculated percentages on mine, but for my ducks, if I can set a batch of 10-15 eggs & have all but 1 at least start to vein then I consider that good enough. On the chickens, if I set a batch of 25+ and only have 1-2 clears then that is good enough. I have set batches of 60+ chicken & not had a single clear. They did not all hatch, of course, but they all at least started.

 

[Arielle]

I haven't seen her in about 3 days. The drake calls for her occasionally. I havent seen any feathers and I didn't see any feathers where they sleep, which unfortunately is no longer their coop or pen. They vetoed that a few weeks ago. I was thinking possibly broody because she stopped laying eggs in her coop and started going elsewhere. the last few days before she went missing she spent more time each day gone while laying her eggs like from 1 hour and over a period of a few day was gone for up to about 5 hours until the next day she was just gone.

Sounds like she is on a nest.

I'll keep my blood rings in. Thanks! My incubator wouldn't get up to temp today. I might be out. It dropped to 86 and wasn't heating up. We moved the whole stinking contraption next to a heater so that it's getting heat all over but I'm afraid it's too late.

Do you have an electric fry pan with a lid, or a crockpot??

 

[Arielle]

Quote: I'm no duck expert bit as I recall I do think the mallard can do the job-- most of the domestic ducks are derived from mallard.

Quote: great idea-- I use a small wattage bulb in my homemade incubator.

Can you make a coolerbator: styrofoam cooler, bottle lamp kit, lightbulb, WHT.

Candled the chicken eggs tonight. 2 blood rings, a couple of saddle shaped air sacks, but I left all 45 in. Add the 6 duck and 5 turkey eggs under the goose thigs are going good.

I left some questionable ones in too. But I didn't add any. Removed 14 eggs.

Well i just did a candleing today i don't really know what i'm looking at so any help would be awesome here are the pics
RIR egg #1


RIR egg #2

RIR egg#3 looks clear

Cream bantam egg

White bantam egg


Blue bantam egg i couldn't see anything with the detached air cell
So all but one The white bantam egg have detached air cells It is ealry but at least two of the egg looks clear to me what you yall think are they fertile?

The last one looks promising!!

 

[chicken pickin]

Sounds like she is on a nest.


Do you have an electric fry pan with a lid, or a crockpot??

I sure hope so. I feel so bad for my drake.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: THe poor guy-- and you too for having to listen to his calls. I'm surprised he doesn't know where she is, Do the males help out?? GUess I never thought about this much.

My ratios are more girls to males-- just the way it worked out---not planned. but as it seems to work. I keep planning to cull 2 of the extra males . . . . doesn't get any further than that.

 

[chicken pickin]

Last year I had 3 ducks and 1 drake. Two ducks gotten taken somewhere along the way and now we just have the pair.

My thought was that the males don't go to the nest as it will draw attention to her while hes pacing about or foraging or what not. He never went with her when she wandered off to lay, he just hung out in the front yard. So I don't think he knows where she is.

 

[HEChicken]

If they do, the ducks produced will be "mules". Since muscovy and mallard are not related species they can interbreed but the offspring will all be infertile.

For some reason I thought I read that your mallard drakes are over muscovy ducks but I went back and re-read and now I know I was dreaming LOL. So as long as the ducks are not muscovies, the mallard drakes should do the job just fine.