January to February 2024 Duckling Hatch-Along!

[KathiQuacks]

Hello everyone of BYC!

I already have names in mind, but feel free to root for an egg, if you’d like!

Around 5 weeks ago, I got two new hens for my lone drake, Cherry. One of the hens, Caramel, has laid a nice stream of eggs ever since. I decided to incubate, and after some days with no eggs, a few eggs dying, and many eggs being infertile, here are the eggs that remain!

Hatch Dates - Underlined = Claimed!
January 21 - 22nd
- Egg 12
January 28 - 29th
- Eggs 16, 17, 19, 20, and 21
February 4 - 5th
- Eggs 22, 23, 24, and 25
February 11 - 12th
- Eggs 27, 28, 30, 31, and 32
*At least 7 of these eggs are alive right now - I’ll have to wait and see for the other 8

Their mother, Caramel, is a Buff x Khaki mix

And their father, Cherry, is a Crested Pekin

I’ve already had one duckling hatch this past weekend - Egg 9. I’ve named them Laffy Taffy! They’ll be hanging out with me 24 / 7 until they get some siblings

I’m very excited to see the rest and to share this experience with y’all!

 

[KathiQuacks]

It’s update time!

@TwoCrows Egg 12 is doing very well! They internally pipped last night and have since gone into lockdown

@QueenofKings Egg 16, aka “Turmeric” is going strong. Their whole egg is super dark and still has clear veining.

@NagemTX Egg 17 is doing well. A bit hard to see veins with how dark the egg is, but they’re there!

@fluffycrow Egg 19 is also very dark and hard to see veining, but I can tell they’re still kicking!

@ElfenLied89 your husband’s egg, Egg 20, aka “Michael Quackson” is going on strong and is very dark.

@Debbie292d Egg 21 is doing well and has good, strong veining.

@GirlsHuntToo Unfortunately, it looks like Egg 22 quit a few days ago, around day 7 I’m sorry.

@ElfenLied89 Egg 23, aka “Quack Sparrow” is alive and well! They’ve got clear veins and are making lots of movement!

@Antiocheggers Unfortunately, it looks like Egg 24, aka “Ducky” quit very early on, maybe around day 4 or 5 So sorry.

Egg 25 never made any development, but that’s okay. The egg was most likely just infertile.

@2ndTink Egg 27, aka “Quacker Jack” is too early on to see veining, but I do see a mass on the yolk, so hopefully that’s a good sign.

@Sally PB Egg 28, aka “Lincoln” has nothing yet, but that’s fine. They‘re only 3 days along!

@Luv Ducks welcome to the party! Egg 30, aka “Tinker Bell” has no veining yet, but they do have a dark yolk - That’s usually been a good sign for me!

@tlcmurphy Egg 31 also has no veining yet, but has a dark yolk.

@GreenJay Egg 32, aka “Lucky Duck” has nothing so far, but that’s alright!

We’re down to 12 eggs now. Hopefully eggs 27 - 32 will start to show some signs of development, and may all the remaining eggs hatch! The next update will be on Tuesday, the 23rd

 

[KathiQuacks]

It’s update time! (3)

@QueenofKings Turmeric, @NagemTX Howard, @fluffycrow Egg 19, @ElfenLied89 and @Nero70002 Michael Quackson, and @Debbie292d Egg 21 have all internally pipped and gone into lockdown! I’ve never had more than 2 ducklings hatch at the same time, so I’m a little nervous for this chaos But more excited than anything!

@ElfenLied89 and @Antiocheggers Quack Sparrow is soo dark, I can barely see anything anymore! But I did see a couple sneaky veins, so I know they’re doing great

@2ndTink Quacker Jack, @Sally PB Lincoln, @Luv Ducks Tinker Bell, @tlcmurphy Egg 31, and @GreenJay Lucky Duck are all growing like crazy! Everyone has super strong veins and were dancing around in their egg when I candled

Also, an update on Laffy and @TwoCrows Peach, if you’d like

Also this video of them playing in a rain puddle

We’ve still got 11 eggs to go! I’m so pleased with everyone’s progress! The next update will be on Tuesday, the 30th May it contain a cuteness overload

 

[KathiQuacks]

Update time (4)

I will preface by saying that this update is a little sad It will get better, though

————————————————

@QueenofKings I’m sorry to say that Turmeric didn’t make it. 24+ hours after internal pip, they hadn’t made an external pip, so I gave them a safety hole. They were fine for many hours, but sometime during the night, the poor baby accidentally covered their safety hole with their body, and they didn’t have the egg tooth to make a new pip

@NagemTX The same thing happened to Howard. I gave them a safety hole, and during the night, the baby accidentally covered the hole. However, they weren’t in the right position to make a new pip - it was almost like an in between of a normal positioning and “bill away from air cell.” They had an egg tooth. If only they’d been positioned right

Turmeric was a bright yellow, like Laffy, and Howard a bit darker, like Peach. I’ve laid them both to rest together in my front yard. May they rest in peace.

I feel pretty bad that I wasn’t there to help, but I can’t really fault myself for being asleep, either I really thought they’d be okay.

One thing that’s made me feel better, though, is a few hours later, I had some friends visit my lake - TWO friends.

I’d like to believe this is Turmeric and Howard visiting in spirit. They stuck around for a couple minutes before taking off.

————————————————

Whew.. on a brighter note, the other 3 eggs have hatched just fine

@ElfenLied89 and @Nero70002 Michael Quackson was the first to hatch! They were given a safety hole after not pipping in time. 24 hours later, I did a partial assist to check out their progress, and they still had a little bit of veining + were chewing, so I gave them time to rest. A couple hours later, they were clearly trying to zip, but I noticed they had no egg tooth, so I ended up having to finish the hatch for them. I’ve given them the official name of Prickly Pear, but they will always be Michael Quackson in spirit!

@Debbie292d Egg 21 was the first to pip, but second to hatch. 36 hours after their initial pip, they hatched all by themself with no assistance necessary! Such a strong ducky. I’ve given them the name Banana Split.

@fluffycrow Egg 19 was also given a safety hole. 27 hours later, I did a partial assist, and they were clearly not ready yet. Super strong veining + chewing, so I gave them a lot of time to rest. They sat still for a whopping 16 hours before finally attempting to hatch. They did a lot of work, but got stuck part way, so I finished the hatch for them. I’ve given them the name Guava Marmalade.

And of course, pictures of them all dried off

First meeting with Laffy and Peach

Laffy trying to steal the show

Also, if you’re curious, I am working on drawings for each of the new ducklings, but I haven’t gotten around to finishing them yet. I’ll make a new post later today / tomorrow with the drawings.

One extra picture of Laffy and Peach - I think this is my favorite one so far!

As for the remaining eggs

@ElfenLied89 and @Antiocheggers Quack Sparrow is looking really good! They’re definitely getting close to lockdown

@2ndTink Quacker Jack is looking fantastic. They have all the strong veining you could ask for.

@Sally PB Lincoln is doing great! I don’t know if it was a vein or what, but it looked like Lincoln was waving to me from inside the egg

@Luv Ducks Tinker Bell is really kicking! We have a lot of strong duckies here

@tlcmurphy Egg 31 is looking pretty good. Still has that great veining from last time.

@GreenJay Lucky Duck is getting a bit harder to see veining - makes me think they are the most progressed

6 more eggs are on their way. May they all hatch! The next update will be on Friday, February 2nd

 

[KathiQuacks]

Okay, here’s the drawings! My friend suggested I also draw the foods they’re named after - great idea, in my opinion

@ElfenLied89 and @Nero70002

@Debbie292d

@fluffycrow

 

[KathiQuacks]

I’ve let the eggs know y’all are rooting for them! I’m sure they appreciate it

I’ll post an update on this thread every Tuesday and Friday until all the eggs are hatched!

I also forgot to mention, I’m going to be drawing all the ducklings! Here’s the one for Laffy Taffy

 

[ElfenLied89]

My husband said he wants an egg named Michael Quackson if there are any left

 

[ElfenLied89]

If there aren't, I haven't named mine and I will share

I told him my name and he wanted a punny name too lol. Now to get him to have ducks for real >_>

 

[QueenofKings]

LETS GOOOO TURMERIC!

And of course, everyone else's eggs as well. May Egg 12 have a succesful hatch!

 

[KathiQuacks]

Can I please get 20 and 25? And do you have names for the eggs yet, or names for after they hatch? And Laffy Taffy is so cute! Any more updates/pictures on her?

Sorry, I can’t update the original post anymore, but all eggs have been claimed already + Egg 25 was found to be infertile. You may still root for an egg anyway!
I have names for after they hatch
Sure, here’s some more pictures of her

Also does anyone know how crested turns out in an uncrested x crested pairing?

I’m pretty sure it’s a 50 / 50 chance of crested or non-crested. Though, my crested boy had 4 ducklings in the past, and they were all non-crested lol. Laffy is my first crested duckling