Thread formerly known as Hatch day is today

[DutchChic]

he is moving thats all I now

Hope things are well with your babies.....

Morning all...
DG you did what was best last night
Dutch.... Yep they will be on their way Monday for sure to avoid the Easter end of week rush.
Iain catching up on your over night hatch. Sorry about the loss, but good going with the others.
The pictures of the 4 SA ducklings is two boys (both dark colored) and two girls (both light colored). SA can hatch dark and be a girl, but won't adult feather dark and be a girl. The darker (almost mallard/Rouen look) is male, even the heads are dark. The girls are always light and look like they are wearing Willma Flintstones dress.
Today is no hatch day, the last two Sebbies were out this morning and now drying. Have the new open air chicken pens to work on, baby lambs to go see and laundry. I need a maid so I can focus only on the critters and kids.

Perfect timing.....we've been high 80's all week, 90 today....then Monday drops us back into the 70's. And, I have their pens done! woohoo! Need to move a hutch around and double check it for the little ones, but that will be an easy quick job.

Ok...incubating advice please? With the Calls, do you incubate them laying down like geese, or on end like chicken eggs? 10 days in, and the 5 I had going have quit...

. Now these were out of the first 20 eggs of the season that I set, so I'm hoping it's because of that and not something I've done. I've hatched multitudes of geese and chickens with success, but these are my first duck eggs. I like to dry hatch, and maintain humidity between 25-30%. I have bantam chicks due in 3 or 4 days and they are doing fine...they were my test batch...go figure!

 

[Iain Utah]

They are both trying to free heads. One is trying so hard, he is rocking egg side to side.

 

[DutchChic]

Here is my Day 31, 7am picture update:


The toulouse are starting to wake up... as soon as my african gets his legs under him better, I will move him to his temporary brooder box and continue working on my toulouse babies.

Told ya I had faith!! And my cheerleading for ya probably helped, too!

 

[DutchChic]

I did thankfully catch a 90 minute nap right after African hatched out. Hubby stood vigil over bator so I could sleep.

You have a very good hubby!

 

[Iain Utah]

Thanks Dutch!!

 

[DutchChic]

Thanks Dutch!!

You're welcome!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Dutch, I keep CD eggs standing up in pulp style cartons trimmed way down. I also hatch them that way. Those little buggers are hard to hatch and I had better results that way. I dry hatch them, 30% or less incubation and ramp it up to 70% + at lockdown.


Iain they should easily be able to twist from that spot to get loose. You can always gentlely free their heads if you think they are spinning inward and becoming more stuck then free.

 

[jerryford]

Morning all the embden waited till this morning the pop out and doing great the other one we lost Iain hope yours all hatch soon all nighters are for the birds

not us LOL

 

[DutchChic]

Dutch, I keep CD eggs standing up in pulp style cartons trimmed way down. I also hatch them that way. Those little buggers are hard to hatch and I had better results that way. I dry hatch them, 30% or less incubation and ramp it up to 70% + at lockdown.
Iain they should easily be able to twist from that spot to get loose. You can always gentlely free their heads if you think they are spinning inward and becoming more stuck then free.

Yep....that's how I started them, exactly. It's how I do chicken eggs, too, and I had high hatches on them even if they were shipped. BUT, I questioned whether to lay the Calls down or not, so I laid them down yesterday. Guess they didn't like that. I won't do that again.......

 

[Iain Utah]

My African has been moved to his own special box in bathroom. I dipped his beak in vitamin sugar water and he drank nicely for me.

I took just a touch more off the one Toulouse shell. I think he can free his head now. The other one looks ok without having to take more shell off. He has gotten his wing out and has decent movement with his head. I keep hoping the backwards baby can zip on his own. He looks to be positioned right, just facing bottom, not top side up.