So... do I plug in the incubator and set 3-4 of them to see what Black Swedish x Saxony looks like? Would make a utility cross, large, good layer.
Or do I wait out the two Saxony hens and hatch only purebred ducks starting at about January.
I'm glad to see at least one of the boys is ready. They've sure been trying, but I never saw one with Quackers. I guess they got sneaky when the Saxony girls weren't looking.
If anyone has a photo of the cross to alleviate my curiosity, that would work too.
Otherwise... I lied earlier... I already have the incubator plugged in.
Besides, raising ducklings in the basement in the winter has got to be the best idea ever, right? I have a new brooder I want to test run before hatching a larger number, it will have a drain out of the bottom into the drain in the floor, no more carrying totes to the sink... in theory. Like I said, I need a test run.
I have this idea of selling the chickens in the Spring and having layer ducks instead, this utility cross and any sub-par Saxony hens resulting from future hatches would fill that pen. Hatching now will give me layer ducks in May to kickstart it.
Course my luck could run out and I get a pile of boys. Though I have never actually hatched a boy duck before... out of 3 batches, I got 10 girls, 0 boys. Pekin, Mallard, Mallard/Pekin cross in the first two batches, and a batch of Saxony eggs, resulting in one girl. So weird!
Or do I wait out the two Saxony hens and hatch only purebred ducks starting at about January.
I'm glad to see at least one of the boys is ready. They've sure been trying, but I never saw one with Quackers. I guess they got sneaky when the Saxony girls weren't looking.
If anyone has a photo of the cross to alleviate my curiosity, that would work too.
Besides, raising ducklings in the basement in the winter has got to be the best idea ever, right? I have a new brooder I want to test run before hatching a larger number, it will have a drain out of the bottom into the drain in the floor, no more carrying totes to the sink... in theory. Like I said, I need a test run.
I have this idea of selling the chickens in the Spring and having layer ducks instead, this utility cross and any sub-par Saxony hens resulting from future hatches would fill that pen. Hatching now will give me layer ducks in May to kickstart it.
Course my luck could run out and I get a pile of boys. Though I have never actually hatched a boy duck before... out of 3 batches, I got 10 girls, 0 boys. Pekin, Mallard, Mallard/Pekin cross in the first two batches, and a batch of Saxony eggs, resulting in one girl. So weird!
