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Barnyard Buddies:  Anyone Hatched Ducks? Quick Help Needed!!  |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
 Posted - May 12 2008 : 12:34:57 PM
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A <insert expletive here> mink got one of my muscovy ducks last night. She was sitting on a nest of 18 eggs that were due to start hatching today. The five eggs that I quickly candled all appear to be viable.
So the nest had cooled and I brought the eggs in the house. I've been warming them slowly over the past couple hours. I have no incubator and quickly improvised with a slatted plastic crate, a damp towel around the edges and a chick brooding light. I'm checking the temp every 15 minutes to try and slowly achieve 92.
Bottom line...too late?? all in vain??
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2008 : 12:47:30 PM
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Diane, I can't help you, but wanted you to know how sorry (and hopeful) I am...I know how excited you were about that nest. Darn minks! Too bad you're not in need of a stole ;)
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2008 : 1:02:38 PM
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Thanks Tina and Jonni...I will just hope for the best I guess. All I can do is try right? Yep, this was heartbreaking all right, this was the duck that followed me around everywhere! Nature can be so fantastically beautiful and so harshly cruel all at the same time.
I don't need a stole, but I do have a have-a-heart trap set as we speak...and frankly at the moment, I don't have a heart that's not stone cold when it comes to mink.
Amazing thing though..my spoiled yellow lab went over to where the nest was and instantly bristled. She sniffed around the nest and I could tell that she knew something was wrong, so I asked her "where's duck?". She right away started tracking and went several hundred feet away and up a hillside and just stood still. I just knew. By the time I caught up with her, she was standing over her. I need to get this dog into something productive.
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2008 : 1:05:54 PM
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I will do the same, Diane. I was afraid that was the one who's nest was marauded. Jerky minks.
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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MsCwick
True Blue Farmgirl
775 Posts
Cristine
Farmville
Virginia
USA
775 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2008 : 1:09:47 PM
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| a heating pad under several layers of towels may help? do ducks turn their eggs every so often? u should look online and find out, if so, put a dot on it and rotate it every now and then. |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2008 : 1:25:53 PM
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That's what I've done Cristine. I've been pouring over the internet and my book stash all morning. From what I've read online, it says not to turn the eggs in the last three days prior to hatching. Does this sound right to you? I'm finding some conflicting information on ideal temperatures too.
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MullersLaneFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
596 Posts
Rock Falls
IL
596 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2008 : 1:29:21 PM
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Diane's correct - no turning the last few days. Would you happen to have a broody chicken on the place??
Cyndi
Muller's Lane Farm http://www.mullerslanefarm.com
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2008 : 2:11:39 PM
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As luck would have it Cyndi, I did up until about a week or so ago. She finally gave up trying to hatch the hay she was sitting on!
I think I've got the temp in my "incubator" stabilized at 90-92 now. I've been checking it every 10 minutes for the last three hours! Who's neurotic?
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OregonGal
True Blue Farmgirl
511 Posts
Chris
No. IL
USA
511 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2008 : 7:18:50 PM
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From the hatching I've done in the past, your temp is too low - get it up to 100 - at the least 99.5. They need moisture to
hatch especially in the last few days. Don't put the eggs on anything wet, but put wet rags around the perimeter to add
moisture to the box, or spray the eggs with water once or twice a day. Good luck hatching. A coyote got all my muscovys. |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2008 : 7:42:15 PM
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Thank you so much Chris, I am going to go and lower the lamp right now. Do you think they've been too cool for too long now? I figure it's been about twelve hours now, only the last eight at about 92. The eggs weren't cold, but they were cool to the touch when I brought them in the house this morning. I have done the wet towel thing, just as you suggested, around the perimeter of their box. I also have put a vented, large clear plastic sheet cake cover over the box with the hope it will keep the humidity up.
I'm so sorry about your Muscovy's...it's so disheartening when you work so hard to keep them happy and healthy. I felt really bad about my little female, I called her my duck buddy as she followed me everywhere.
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OregonGal
True Blue Farmgirl
511 Posts
Chris
No. IL
USA
511 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2008 : 8:15:07 PM
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Some of my ducks were quite friendly - I really like the muscovy breed - they aren't really ducks, you know. I think if the
eggs were really close to hatch that you have a good chance of hatching if you are sure they were fertile. You got them up
to at least a more reasonable temp of 92 in a good short time relatively speaking - you may have saved them! The lower
temp may delay the hatching, but give them some time - try peeping to them and see if any will peep back to you, or after
you get them up to temp, hold each up to your ear and see if you can hear any scratching or pecking (called 'pipping') going
on. I wish you luck, you'll just have to wait and see, but i think you may be in luck yet. Let us know! |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
Posted - May 13 2008 : 01:57:07 AM
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what are muscovy's then ...if not ducks? sorry but that statement has me really curious.
(yeah..my dad always said I asked too many questions..ha) but you don't learn unless you ask... and inquiring minds wanna know..right? so do tell.
~Seize the Day! Live, Love, Laugh~
visit me at:
http://gardengoose.blogspot.com/
and at www.stliving.net
you can also check out my etsy shops at:http://GardenGooseGifts.etsy.com |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
Posted - May 13 2008 : 02:06:31 AM
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ok I googled it and found a statement that said they are actually a type of goose. hmm so that explains why they hiss and don't quack. cool! who'd have known? that's neat..and also probably explains why they have a bit different oil glands in their wings and so forth. neat.
you learn something new every day.
~Seize the Day! Live, Love, Laugh~
visit me at:
http://gardengoose.blogspot.com/
and at www.stliving.net
you can also check out my etsy shops at:http://GardenGooseGifts.etsy.com |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - May 14 2008 : 10:20:30 AM
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No, I was out by a week. I had originally thought a 28 day incubation like chickens and other ducks, so the date I had originally put on the calendar was wrong...it's not til next Monday. The air sac is about on par with that calculation as well.
So I have been turning them 180 twice a day and very lightly misting them with warm water.
I'm not real optimistic as from what I've read, the conditions for incubating are a pretty exact science. But we shall see. I've raised hundreds of day old chicks, so if I can get them to hatch, I'm pretty sure they will fair well.
Any input or suggestions are always welcome!
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - May 14 2008 : 10:25:04 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by OregonGal
try peeping to them and see if any will peep back to you
Geez, my dh already thinks I'm nuts...this would pretty much confirm it for him!! 
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OregonGal
True Blue Farmgirl
511 Posts
Chris
No. IL
USA
511 Posts |
Posted - May 14 2008 : 7:20:39 PM
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LOL, you are too funny! I know it sounds corny, but that's what the mommy's do, talk to their
unborn babies. If you've hatched chicks, then perhaps you've even heard them peeping to
each other in their eggs b4 they hatch? I've heard it. My dh thought I was kooky when
he heard me doing that, but didn't think it was kooky when they peeped back - he thought
that was pretty darn coooool! All my chicks know who the mommy is by her peep. Maybe it
means in my next life I'm going to be a chicken? Or when I die I'll go to that great henhouse
in the sky to peep for eternity to all the unhatched chicks. Maybe I should rethink this peeping
thing. This ain't no peeping thing, right brain, left brain....could be a song, huh? Oh well, let
us know when they start hatching! I'm so hoping they will.
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Barnyard Buddies: Anyone Hatched Ducks? Quick Help Needed!! |
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Anyone Hatched Ducks? Quick Help Needed!!
