Thread formerly known as Hatch day is today

[Iain Utah]

Thank you every one! to make it worse was my son was looking forward to picking them up

poor little guy was crushed, but i promised him me would hatch some to have for easter

also we got home and she had messaged back asking if we could get to her by 3 to get them (plan was 4) i messaged her back and told her if she was sure she wanted to get rid of them i would come up tomorrow but i wasnt spending 2 hour roundtrip in the car with kids if she wasnt or getting my sons hopes up!

Hope it works out after all!!

I'm down to 8 from the dozen Welsh Harlequin eggs I started with. One clear, three blood rings. Soon, there shall be duckies!

I wonder if it would be lame of me to keep all the girls and take the boys to auction?

Not lame to only want to keep the girls. Last year, I had no problems selling all my drakes in pairs/trios for people's ponds. Could you do that instead of auction? Just an idea.......

 

[Iain Utah]

Peeps, I have great news and a question........ Hubby got a call last night from a chef he knows who has an expensive restaurant in town that does breakfast/dinner. He asked to buy all of our duck eggs because he wants to make it a menu item. He is also getting a sample goose egg and we think he will buy them too. But my ducks are not laying yet. If we put artificial light in their coop for a few hours at night, how long would it take to trigger them into laying?

 

[Amiga]

Congrats!

Can't answer the light question, but I did find with my runners that raising their nighttime temperature to 40F or so increased egg production within a week, conservatively. For them, temperature was more of a factor than light, apparently.

 

[Iain Utah]

Amiga, thanks for the tip!! That makes total sense. They are in a coop at night, but it is well ventilated and not insulated, and our temps get super cold at night.

 

[ChristineR]

Peeps, I have great news and a question........ Hubby got a call last night from a chef he knows who has an expensive restaurant in town that does breakfast/dinner. He asked to buy all of our duck eggs because he wants to make it a menu item. He is also getting a sample goose egg and we think he will buy them too. But my ducks are not laying yet. If we put artificial light in their coop for a few hours at night, how long would it take to trigger them into laying?

Very cool! I can't answer your lighting question, though. I've never put lights on my ducks.

 

[Goin Quackrrs]

Hope it works out after all!!

Not lame to only want to keep the girls. Last year, I had no problems selling all my drakes in pairs/trios for people's ponds. Could you do that instead of auction? Just an idea.......

I'm going to try to craigslist them first. I want an excuse to go hit the auction, but it's a long drive.

Congrats!

Can't answer the light question, but I did find with my runners that raising their nighttime temperature to 40F or so increased egg production within a week, conservatively. For them, temperature was more of a factor than light, apparently.

Even lit, mine stopped laying when nighttime temps got low. I was told that you want the equivalent of 14 hours of natural light to stimulate laying.

That said, I moved my breeding groups out of the lit house into their temp housing and after three days, their production increased.

 

[psue]

NEW BABIES

 

[JulieNKC]

NEW BABIES

That's true "chicken" math there. Sell 3 turkeys, replace with 6 geese. Lol, seriously, love them Paulla and Jerry. All of your birds are beautiful.

 

[Goin Quackrrs]

NEW BABIES

 

[Marty1876]

Quote: LOL, hmmm guess this is goose math.