What is so hard about hatching call ducks??

[tonini3059]

i have 7 due to hatch on the 14th. This is my first time hatching any egg so I have no clue what I am in for. Any words of advice and what to expect? I have been hearing that calls are hard to hatch but i am not hearing why.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

They are just really sensitive to temp changes & the humidity has to be JUST right. That is why I've held off for almost a full year with my silky ducks...I cannot hatch them without a broody Muscovy!!

 

[monarc23]

I was told it's something with thier beaks and heads? they're shaped funny so it causes problems with hatching?

 

[Fudgie]

well here we go, with my first hand experience which is not anything to write home about.

Had calls due on the 1-5th, as well as 8th-10th.

None of the ones on the 1st or 2nd attempted to pip. poked through the air sack and nothing else. We lost them.

The ones due on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th I decided to help out. I poked a simple pin hole in the air sac end since the other had issues pipping. We watched and listened and watched and nothing....when I first made the pin hole it appeared that the inside lining was dry. Humidity was 60%. NOT GOOD ENOUGH evidently. SOOO. I chipped away the shell to the membrane and saw where the beak was and gently broke the membrane away so he/she could breathe and stopped. I did this on all 3. One stretched and wiggled and tried to get out and lost strength and died. the other 2 slowly made their way out. The whole time they were trying, I put deep bowls that they could not climb into with a washcloth drenched in warm water and water to up that humidity. Got it to 89%. also put a papertowel over them that was dampened with warm water to help the humidity. Finally those 2 came out and are running around quacking like mad lively little buggers. the ones due on the 8th and 9th look like they are dead already. Makes me so danged mad. What are we doing wrong here. Should we have helped earlier? I have some more and they are almost ready to switch to the hatcher.

 

[Katy]

I gave up trying to hatch calls a long time ago and just let the hens do it. They have great results and almost 100% hatches so I think the issues are more with the artificial incubating and not with the ducklings themselves. Sometimes we just can't replace mother nature.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Last year I had my best hatch ever with calls, I hatched 7 out of 8 in the incubator by themselves. I cool the eggs for about 5 min each day and mist them sometime during the cooling period. Start doing that on day 4 till you stop turning, around day 24.

They hatch on day 26 or 27. Usually, the call ducklings will need to be helped out of the shell.

They have big large round heads, and tiny beaks, which make it hard for them to peck the shell. I check the eggs daily before the hatch, once they pip their air sac, I wait about 12-14 hours, then I make a hole in the shell so the duckling can breath, 12-14 hours later, if all the veins look sucked up (keep moisting the membrane), I break the duck out. Set it on a dishcloth in the incubator, and let the duckling disconnect himself from the shell.

 

[tonini3059]

mine won't sit at all. That would mean that they would have to leave the water.

 

[monarc23]

"Are Call duck eggs difficult to hatch ?

Yes. Many animals or birds which are not 'average' and are pushed to extremes of size (large or small) become more difficult to breed. Calls have been selected to be small and round and so are nothing like the average mallard. "

I think i remember that its specifically that their head is too big and they just cannot position correclty enough all the time to hatch properly

 

[Fudgie]

Yes, I would agree with the heads being too big to position correctly. Once we slowly pulled the beak and head out, the ducklings hatched on the rest of the way. Problem is we waited too late to help out I think.

 

[Katy]

Mine have nice round heads and hatch out just fine under mama. They do it on their own without any help from me.