The Duck Thread

[JadeComputerGal]

A cpl questions I keep forgetting to ask...

First, I use straw for their beds right now. I've noticed lately at TSC timothy hay/alfalfa either together or separate. Can I use either of those instead of straw for bedding. They prefer straw over pine bedding but of course Lily makes her nest out of straw but the alfalfa or timothy grass are in bales just like it.

Second, I use bleach to clean their room downstairs, I'm a bleach fanatic, I use it to clean everything. Should I use something else? /

Amiga answered the part about the bleach, so I just wanted to throw in a comment about the hay/alfalfa. Those shouldn't be used for bedding, only for feed. Hay molds very quickly when it gets wet and develops spores that can cause respiratory issues.

 

[OldMissionChick]

Put an egg in a bowl of warm water, if it moves, the baby is moving... Also, in every one of my hatches, I run my bator dry. I add no moisture unless it drops into the 20s. Despite problem eggs and some electrical issues, mine hatch. This is only my opinion and the way I do things though. And if you do the float test, only for short moments.
Let us know how things are going. I would love to try to figure out what's going on with your eggs.
Any chance you took pics of your candlings?

This was a few days ago. I thought it was an internal pip. Then the shell started turning black

this was today. My phone takes horrible candling pictures.

 

[OldMissionChick]

You mean it was at that range in the first 25 days, right? Not during lockdown?

yes before lockdown. Now its in the 70's

 

[JadeComputerGal]

This was a few days ago. I thought it was an internal pip. Then the shell started turning black

this was today. My phone takes horrible candling pictures.

Oh dear. I'm really sorry, but those don't look viable. Were those the last two?

 

[caesargirl]

This was a few days ago. I thought it was an internal pip. Then the shell started turning black

this was today. My phone takes horrible candling pictures.

Can u see any veins in any of the eggs? If you can, how are they? I ask if they look like well defined lines or are they blurry on the edges.....
And in that last pic, I see the light, air cell, yellowish ring, then dark mass. When I see that in my eggs, that means one of two things: sticky baby(yes, sticky even when I run dry!) or bacteria.
If you shine a light on to the rest of the egg, do you have clear spaces, places where inside the egg it appears empty, like the baby didn't grow into that spot?

 

[OldMissionChick]

Can u see any veins in any of the eggs? If you can, how are they? I ask if they look like well defined lines or are they blurry on the edges.....
And in that last pic, I see the light, air cell, yellowish ring, then dark mass. When I see that in my eggs, that means one of two things: sticky baby(yes, sticky even when I run dry!) or bacteria.
If you shine a light on to the rest of the egg, do you have clear spaces, places where inside the egg it appears empty, like the baby didn't grow into that spot?

So out of the 34 I started with 13 were duds and I was sure 14 quit. There were 7 that were developing filling up the egg with dark movement. Last Friday I saw movement then Monday nothing. 2 eggs were dark when candled, even from the bottom. That last picture yes there are a few small spots with open spaces.

 

[OldMissionChick]

There was an old thread I found that said something about hatching by the moon. Has anyone here tried this? I want to try it to see if that would help me. If I try again it probably won't be until February and probably from someone on BYC or a hatchery.

 

[Blue Godz]

So I'm getting some sweedish blues next week and I'd like to order some good egg layers.

From experience, would you recommend 1) Khaki Campbell 2) Welsh Harlequin 3) Other

I like calm ducks and loud cackling. Are Campbells really "nervous"

 

[JadeComputerGal]

So I'm getting some sweedish blues next week and I'd like to order some good egg layers.

From experience, would you recommend 1) Khaki Campbell 2) Welsh Harlequin 3) Other

I like calm ducks and loud cackling. Are Campbells really "nervous"

My KCs were never nervous. You could also consider Pekins and Runners.

 

[caesargirl]

So out of the 34 I started with 13 were duds and I was sure 14 quit. There were 7 that were developing filling up the egg with dark movement. Last Friday I saw movement then Monday nothing. 2 eggs were dark when candled, even from the bottom. That last picture yes there are a few small spots with open spaces.

At the end of this hatch, if you were to eggtopsy, I feel like they might be sticky. In those open spaces, you would most likely find globs of sticky stuff. I did. My house duck came from a sticky egg. I had to assist. I literally pulled out, with my fingers, glos of that stuff. In one egg, the duckling was unable to fully develop because it only had 2/3 of the egg to develop in, the rest was filled with sticky glop. I was able to save the others by opening the eggs in the air cell, starting with a pin hole, and gradually opening it more. When I saw babies moving and veins receding, I freed bills so they could breathe, kept membranes moist with bacitracin and water, and assisted over a period of 36 hours. I had the time. This was a long process.