Thread formerly known as Hatch day is today

[ChristineR]

cute! Metzer I think has a sexing artical.... I usually wait till I see an egg or curl.

Yes, Metzer Farms has a video that shows how to do it. You can also wait to hear their voices and tell that way.

http://www.metzerfarms.com/

 

[CricketR4]

Duckling #4 just hatched about 5 mins ago! His/her name is Valentine because the egg was layed on Valentines day and marked 2/14... Can't wait for the rest to hatch...

 

[bellah1]

ive been looking for a thread like this for a while! i candled my incubated duck eggs last night at 11:30 and 4 of them had internally pipped so i turned my temp down upped my humidity and put them into lockdown. but now i still have no external pips, when should i start worrying that those 4 havent pipped through their shell? im kinda freaking!

 

[Goin Quackrrs]

Thanks, and you have some adorable ducklings too! Congrats to you!
As long as they are external pipped they should be getting air. The little one I just hatched internal pipped friday, external pipped late Friday, and took until last night to finally come out. Some of them REALLY like to take their time, lol.

Julie: congrats on first duckling of the year!!!

Hello. I gave some eggs to my friend to incubate, thinking my ducks (who are under a year old) would not really be old enough for them to be fertile (I don't know a lot about ducks, yet). I have one Mallard Drake, 2 Mallard Hens, and one Cayuga hen. My GF called on Wednesday to tell me to come pick up the two that hatched on Wednesday and put them in my brooder. Then Saturday she brought over one that started hatching on Thursday and finally got out late Friday/Early Saturday morning. We didn't think it was going to make it as it looked very sickly and well, just a bit sad... but I put him in with the rest of the babies and put electrolites in the water and he/she is looking GREAT. My friend took 11 more eggs Saturday to start incubating to see what we get. In the picture, I have the two ducklings I purchased on Saturday last, not knowing she was hatching the eggs I gave her. The two medium sized ones are the two from Wednesday (1 full Mallard and 1 Cayuga/Mallard mix) and the smallest one is our little tough one. I do not know how to sex them at this age though... any assistance would be appreciated. I only know after they are old enough to get their drake tail.

So adorable! I can't wait until I have babies again!

Duckling #4 just hatched about 5 mins ago! His/her name is Valentine because the egg was layed on Valentines day and marked 2/14... Can't wait for the rest to hatch...

Your hatch has been going on for several days now, huh? It's so hard waiting to meet them!

ive been looking for a thread like this for a while! i candled my incubated duck eggs last night at 11:30 and 4 of them had internally pipped so i turned my temp down upped my humidity and put them into lockdown. but now i still have no external pips, when should i start worrying that those 4 havent pipped through their shell? im kinda freaking!

Welcome! Ducklings really take their time. Don't be alarmed if you don't see a pip until tomorrow and don't see a duckling until 24-48 hours after that. They really make you wait even though it's worth it!

 

[Goin Quackrrs]

I almost had a serious stink bomb goose egg Saturday night. Turned it before dinner, all was well, went to turn it before bed and it had cracked down the middle and was oozing, but luckily didn't bust through the membrane. Oh ick!!!

The cabinet bator is calibrated and turned off until I have my hygrometer and test eggs.

I'm getting itchy for some babies since my two test eggs quit on me last week. I think I have 18 going to lockdown this time around.

 

[bellah1]

Julie: congrats on first duckling of the year!!!
So adorable! I can't wait until I have babies again!
Your hatch has been going on for several days now, huh? It's so hard waiting to meet them!
Welcome! Ducklings really take their time. Don't be alarmed if you don't see a pip until tomorrow and don't see a duckling until 24-48 hours after that. They really make you wait even though it's worth it!

Thank you, I haven't hatched ducklings since I was a kid with my grandpa and I don't remember it taking so long from the internal to external pip. I know it takes quite a while from external pip to hatch, that I remember! So thanks I feel a little more at ease. I will definitely be coming on this thread from now on, I'm setting more duck eggs after this hatch.

 

[CricketR4]

Your hatch has been going on for several days now, huh? It's so hard waiting to meet them!

Yes, it has been dragging out!

Aaannnnnnddddd duckling #5 JUST hatched! We're expecting a total of 9 ducklings out of 12 incubated. So, now we wait for 4 more to hopefully hatch, although, it would be nice if the two that are iffy would turn out to be ok and hatch...

 

[bellah1]

Welcome! Ducklings really take their time. Don't be alarmed if you don't see a pip until tomorrow and don't see a duckling until 24-48 hours after that. They really make you wait even though it's worth it!

So it's been 34 hours since I saw those four runner eggs internally pipped & no externally pips. When do I start to worry?

 

[ChristineR]

This morning it looked like I have an Ancona duckling internally pipped. Hatch day is supposed to be Friday. I may get an early bird.

bellah1 - that's the hard part - trying to figure out when or if you should help. For what it's worth, this is what I do. I'm by no means an expert hatcher, but so far, it's worked well for me.

If they are internally pipped, but have made no further progress after 24+ hours, I carefully make a tiny hole through the shell into the air cell. That way, I know they can breathe. Once you do this though, you have to keep the humidity high so they don't shrink wrap. This is just what I do. Some people don't interfere at all, so you'll need to decide what you think is best.

 

[CricketR4]

This morning it looked like I have an Ancona duckling internally pipped. Hatch day is supposed to be Friday. I may get an early bird.

bellah1 - that's the hard part - trying to figure out when or if you should help. For what it's worth, this is what I do. I'm by no means an expert hatcher, but so far, it's worked well for me.

If they are internally pipped, but have made no further progress after 24+ hours, I carefully make a tiny hole through the shell into the air cell. That way, I know they can breathe. Once you do this though, you have to keep the humidity high so they don't shrink wrap. This is just what I do. Some people don't interfere at all, so you'll need to decide what you think is best.

We had two that had internally pipped, and one died. So we pipped a little hole in the other one and raised the humidity to 80%. So far it looks like it's still alive. I actually had a little funeral today for the three ducklings that didn't make it out of their shells.