January to February 2024 Duckling Hatch-Along!

[Antiocheggers]

I have hatched eggs in a styrofoam cooler with a 40 watt bulb pointed towards it and a cup of water in with it with the cover on. I had a reading lamp clamped to the side of the cooler and cut a hole for the neck of it so that it would keep the heat in. It worked and I have hatched out three ducklings this way before. I turned them 7 times a day and candled them once a week until closer to hatch time. Muscovy eggs take 35 days instead of the regular 28. Don't give up on it if you see any signs of life at all .

Tell me what you see ? What is the dark Shadow that's in there?

 

[KathiQuacks]

View attachment 3745075
Tell me what you see ? What is the dark Shadow that's in there?

In the future, it’s best to candle from the other side of the egg, aka the fat end, where the clear air cell is.
The dark shadow you see at the beginning is the yolk. You won’t be able to see the embryo developing for about a week or so.
I’m not sure if the red spot near the bottom is something or not..

 

[Luv Ducks]

View attachment 3745075
Tell me what you see ? What is the dark Shadow that's in there?

I think it is the little duck developing myself. My eggs would turn practically black at one end when my little Mallards were about to hatch out. Just my opinion, others may not agree.

 

[Luv Ducks]

Never be sorry to ask! They’re a big mix of breeds. I believe they are around 50% Pekin, 25% Buff Orpington, 12.5% Khaki, and 12.5% Blue Swedish.

I’ve had success putting 2 week olds with day olds, but no more than that. Since Lemon hatched, they’re now only ever all together when I’m watching. Otherwise, I have them separated, with 3 on each side of the brooder.

When the last 5 eggs hatch, I will be moving Laffy, Peach, and the “triplets” to their own brooder, and Lemon and the new 5 will stay back in their current brooder box. I will be attempting to have all ducklings together during the day so they may get to know each other while they’re young, but the new little ones may just be too small for that

Were the eggs from your own ducks or did you buy them shipped. They have done really well. Thanks for the information, I was just curious because of the different looks and sizes of them.

 

[KathiQuacks]

Were the eggs from your own ducks or did you buy them shipped. They have done really well. Thanks for the information, I was just curious because of the different looks and sizes of them.

My own ducks, you can see pictures of them in the first post of this thread, but here’s another picture as well

Brown duck at the front is their mama Caramel, and the Crested Pekin at the back is their dad Cherry. My Swedish mix in the middle is Pitaya, but she wasn’t involved in this
I’m very curious about their different looks, too! Though, varied appearances tend to be more common in mixed breeds. All of the ducklings are 100% full siblings with each other

 

[Sally PB]

Lincoln, today is your big day! (Unless it's tomorrow, lol.)

 

[GreenJay]

good morning little duckies!
Can't wait to see you Lucky Duck!

 

[Antiocheggers]

let's go let's go !

 

[Luv Ducks]

My own ducks, you can see pictures of them in the first post of this thread, but here’s another picture as well
View attachment 3745361
Brown duck at the front is their mama Caramel, and the Crested Pekin at the back is their dad Cherry. My Swedish mix in the middle is Pitaya, but she wasn’t involved in this
I’m very curious about their different looks, too! Though, varied appearances tend to be more common in mixed breeds. All of the ducklings are 100% full siblings with each other

Thanks so much for the beautiful picture of the parents. I didn't know how prevalent the crested gene was in ducks. I wonder how many will end up with the crest? Does Cherry have any nerve problems from his crest? A lot of them are just fine. It is good that he was the male so that he would not get injured when mating since he was not having his head feathers pulled out, lol.

 

[KathiQuacks]

Thanks so much for the beautiful picture of the parents. I didn't know how prevalent the crested gene was in ducks. I wonder how many will end up with the crest? Does Cherry have any nerve problems from his crest? A lot of them are just fine. It is good that he was the male so that he would not get injured when mating since he was not having his head feathers pulled out, lol.

Yeah, the crest is a dominant gene. I believe it’s meant to be around a 50 / 50 chance, but I haven’t had that with my ducklings lol. I’m very curious to see if any of the remaining 5 will have it or not.

Not really, no. The only big thing I’ve noticed is, whenever I hand-feed him, he will miss the food dramatically - 9/10 times, he’ll try to bite under my hand before correcting himself. Not sure if that’s from the crest but I’ve never had another duck do that before.

I inherited Cherry and a few other ducks from the previous house owners, back when I knew nothing about ducks or IDing gender. I learned early on what the crest was and prayed so badly that he was a boy Very glad he ended up being one.