First time hatching ducks

I candelled again today, eggs are 11 days in and it was AMAZING!!! the children loved it and even some of the parents! Lol. So amazed by the whole process. So far I have 14 viable eggs out of 20 :)
 
Good news! Incredible isn't it? :-)08 :-)08

Can make you feel a bit differently about scrambled egg for a while though! :D :roll:
 
Hello all, just a quick question...how much candling is too much candling? So far this week the lid if the incubator has been off daily and the eggs candled for various groups of children but I'm aware that each time I candle that I'm changing the position of the duckling inside the egg and moving it around. I haven't candled each egg every day but each day some out of the 14 have been looked at. Is there any harm in this? I'm going to try and leave them alone tomorrow and obviously over they weekend they won't be disturbed. Also today, the last egg I looked at, it was difficult to see a wriggling duckling at I had to watch very closely to see a slight twitch but some of my other embryos are bigger, seem stronger and easier to see. Does this mean that this one is very weak and probably won't make it? :(

Hannah
 
The more they are disturbed and wriggle the more energy they use up from their limited supply. But they will move around anyway. One not active may be weak but may also be a bit slower developing so too early to tell. Very important they are not moved for the last three days before hatching as they are orientating themselves for hatching. Humidity raised and no opening the lid or disturbance at all. When hatched need at least 12 hours drying and recovery before going into the rearer. Leave two days at least for the remainder to hatch as some can be that late. Should start hatching on Thursday so best no disturbance from then until now and switch autoturning off on Monday.
 
Thanks Chrismahon, the 28th day is weds 7th march so I stop them Turning on Monday 5th? Or do I need to go up to school on Sunday 4th to stop them? If some eggs are late hatching will they be affected when I take any hatched ducklings out? as the humidity will drop as I do so?

Hannah
 
Do you mean the 18th day Hanlills ? Or the 21st ? Anyway I'd stop them first thing Monday morning and adjust the settings as they will start to hatch on 21st and may 'pip' day before. Unless anyone else thinks a special drive over is important.

Removing them after 12 hours drying and the empty shells will be OK if it is done quickly. You could always sprinkle a bit of tepid water in to be sure the humidity remains high and doesn't take too long to recover because someone has posted recently that opening up the incubator caused the last hatchlings to get stuck to the membrane.
 
I'm hatching ducks not chicks so is it 28 days incubation? I counted that Wednesday 7th of march is the 28th day, going up on the Sunday shouldn't be a problem as I live a 5 min walk away so would Sunday be better than Monday?
 
Yes you are quite right Hanlills 28 days but allow up to 30 days before giving up. Temp for hatching is 37 degrees but humidity according to Katie Thear is 75%. So Sunday then, as it is better than Monday as you say. Probably give you more uninterrupted time as well to readjust the settings. Good luck.
 
chrismahon said:
So Sunday then, as it is better than Monday as you say. Probably give you more uninterrupted time as well to readjust the settings. Good luck.
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-and to get the brooder sorted out, warmed up and temperature tested!
Have you found out what conditions you need in the brooder for baby ducklings? I would imagine that, with the longer incubation time, they come out more mature than chickens and thus less in need of heat, but with other species eg chickens and quail at least, you have to be careful to give them the same temperature in the brooder as in the incubator initially, so they don't get the shock of a chill. I do watch fluffy babies on the river with their Mums, at what appears to be a very early stage. I expect some of the duck experts on here can advise you about that.
 
I am deffo going to set the brooder up a few days in advance and try and get it as close to incubator temp as I can cos I don't want them to get cold
 
Candled for the last day today and unfortunately in one egg I could see no move me t at all and m assuming I have lost this little one. Also, in two of the eggs, some movement looked to be inside the air sack? I saw a shadow moving in there but unsure of whether they can break into there early or if they were simply moving very close to the air sack and so it looked like they were in it, although to be honest, I really think they were. Is this possible? And if it is I'm guessing that with still 5 days to go till their 28th day, they will die? :(
 
The air sac has a membrane across it. They haven't necessarily punctured the membrane even if they have moved into the sac area. They are just adjusting themselves to break out already and so they may be hatching early.
 
I can thoroughly recommend the books by Katie Thear. You'll refer to them again and again.

Don't forget, don't give the ducklings medicated feed.
http://poultrykeeper.com/waterfowl-ducks-geese/frequently-asked-questions-ducks/can-you-feed-chick-crumbs-to-ducklings-or-goslings.html
 
Is it possible for them to hatch so early Chris? I hope they'll be ok if they do as they're still in the cradle being turned and obviously have been on their own this weekend
 
Well you are switching off tomorrow morning so you should be fine. And they should. Earliest is Call Ducks that can be 26 days. Yours should be 28 -30 according to Katie T.
 
Thanks :) I'm going to set humidity at about 70% and take temp down to 37 and hope for the best, I am so so excited, I want weds/Thursday to come now! :)
 
I am excited for you lol!!......if things go right my first ever call ducks will be hatched the same day as yours! yayyyy :-)08
 
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