Thread formerly known as Hatch day is today

[learycow]

They are SO cute! My favorites are the ones like the duckling on the far right, mostly white with speckles

My favorite part of hatching is seeing the difference in the ducklings when they first come out of the egg all slimy and wet, and then dry off and look so cute and cuddly! And fuzzy!

 

[Chicken Crazy12]

No, but the rest are already spoken for. I'm keeping that one on the right though (I already named her freckles) I say she because I vent sexed it as a girl, but I'm learning on this whole vent sexing thing so who knows for sure. That one did come out of a choc egg though so thats why I'm keeping it. If it turns out to be a drake it will carry the chocolate gen and if it turns out to be a hen it will just add more diversity to my hens markings.

 

[Iain Utah]

Very cool!! I'm not sure yet what to do with our extras. I think my neighbor may take a couple, which would be awesome, but the rest will probably have to get listed in a local classified ad. Ducklings are RARE in my area, so hopefully I can be picky about where my duckies go.

But, we don't plan to start that process until we find out the genders of our group. I was told the girls start changing voices first. So... we are on the alert for that.

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

Hey Chicken: Is there any way you can tell or try to guess what ducklings will have the best markings? I know they change, I'm just wondering if you look for certain markings in the actual ducklings.

And haven't heard from PR yet.... I hope they don't give me trouble.

 

[JulieNKC]

My big ducklings voices are already starting to change. I hear peep quacks coming out of the brooder all the time. Think they are from my black/brown looking one. I really need to get their outside brooder done so they have more room to play. The little call that is hatching is doing good. It looks yellow, and has a black tip on his bill. Hoping for a snowy!

 

[Chicken Crazy12]

Yeah, it's kinda hard to tell exactly how those markings are going to look as adults because of all that fuzz. The biggest thing you want to look for is broken up pattern. The more broken up patches the better, you can have a perfect color to white ratio, but if the patches are not broken up they look like swedish or magpies. So the more spects you can get wether that be black specks on a white duck or white specks on a mostly black duck the better. I'll see about getting some examples later, I've got a mess to figure out on an ebay auction thats supposed to go out today and I got run to the vet because the shi-tzu is coughing and it's been getting worse. So at some point I'll be back on and try to get some pics of what I would consider keepers. I hate the ones that are all white with a stripe down their back, and I hate the all white with only a couple spots, I also don't like too much dark.

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

Pics when he's out. I love the peep quack. Especially when you see them do it the first time and they're like... "WTH was that? Did I do that?"


I'm hoping I'll get a peep quack out of Little Eddie. But I'm kinda losing hope on that one.

My big ducklings voices are already starting to change. I hear peep quacks coming out of the brooder all the time. Think they are from my black/brown looking one. I really need to get their outside brooder done so they have more room to play. The little call that is hatching is doing good. It looks yellow, and has a black tip on his bill. Hoping for a snowy!

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

Poor doggie. Maybe it's Kennel Cough and the vet can give you some pills. Easy fix.

Yeah, it's kinda hard to tell exactly how those markings are going to look as adults because of all that fuzz. The biggest thing you want to look for is broken up pattern. The more broken up patches the better, you can have a perfect color to white ratio, but if the patches are not broken up they look like swedish or magpies. So the more spects you can get wether that be black specks on a white duck or white specks on a mostly black duck the better. I'll see about getting some examples later, I've got a mess to figure out on an ebay auction thats supposed to go out today and I got run to the vet because the shi-tzu is coughing and it's been getting worse. So at some point I'll be back on and try to get some pics of what I would consider keepers. I hate the ones that are all white with a stripe down their back, and I hate the all white with only a couple spots, I also don't like too much dark.

 

[stillmecle]

So some of my Duck and geese eggs are suppose to go on lockdown next Wednesday. Since their air cells are such a mess should I leave them upright or laid down to hatch? I'm afraid if I leave them upright they might hatch at wrong end. What should I do???

 

[country_girl011]

no duck egg today