First duckling hatch of 2025!

[SoecialK74]

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Here we go! 15 eggs! 10 from Div & his ladies, and 5 from the new Runner ducks that I bought. They were living way chocolate dusky drake before I bought them so hopefully their eggs are fertile. .

I have a question, I am fairly new to the raising of ducks. My daughter wanted a couple a few years back and I’ve just continued to raise them even though my daughter wants nothing to do with them. Honestly they kinda relax me when I watch them and so forth. Ducks however can be a lot of work as well . Anyways to my question. I have 3 white domestic ducks. And 2 Swedish blues. I have 3 females and 2 males. I wish I had only 1 male though lol. They are like crazed teens lol. How do you get more ducks. Do you have to incubate them. And if so what’s the process if I may ask. Thanks

 

[My15Ducks]

I have a question, I am fairly new to the raising of ducks. My daughter wanted a couple a few years back and I’ve just continued to raise them even though my daughter wants nothing to do with them. Honestly they kinda relax me when I watch them and so forth. Ducks however can be a lot of work as well . Anyways to my question. I have 3 white domestic ducks. And 2 Swedish blues. I have 3 females and 2 males. I wish I had only 1 male though lol. They are like crazed teens lol. How do you get more ducks. Do you have to incubate them. And if so what’s the process if I may ask. Thanks

If you want to hatch your own eggs, you either need an incubator or a broody duck (or chicken). I have used all 3 options successfully. Some breeds of ducks are not likely to go broody or are bad mothers. Currently I have several ducks who are outstanding mothers and have high hatch rates. I also have an incubator which works great

 

[Bolfreak]

Cute drakes! If Div’s eggs aren’t fertile, I’m going to try again with Banana. I’ve seen some “action” in the swimming pool with Banana.

Will your Buff + crested ducklings be sex linked?

Yes, but hard to tell at hatch (I assume since it hasn’t happened yet). Mallard and Blue Mallard males, Buff females and the chance of a visible crest though they will carry the genes without it being visible.
Some of my Buffs had faint eye stripes, too, no rhyme or reason for male/female or color of Buff.

 

[My15Ducks]

Yes, but hard to tell at hatch (I assume since it hasn’t happened yet). Mallard and Blue Mallard males, Buff females and the chance of a visible crest though they will carry the genes without it being visible.
Some of my Buffs had faint eye stripes, too, no rhyme or reason for male/female or color of Buff.

Crested buff sound super cute. I don’t have any crested ducks. I had a couple many years ago

 

[My15Ducks]

Day 5 update.
I see no development in the 10 eggs from my ducks (Div + Lovely & Pearl)
Out of the 5 eggs from my new Runner girls, 2 have good looking embryos and the rest do not have any signs of development

 

[Bolfreak]

Day 5 update.
I see no development in the 10 eggs from my ducks (Div + Lovely & Pearl)
Out of the 5 eggs from my new Runner girls, 2 have good looking embryos and the rest do not have any signs of development

I always wait until day 7 to candle the first time. I know what to look for, but have to limit myself or I get too eggcited constantly counting them way before they hatch

 

[My15Ducks]

I always wait until day 7 to candle the first time. I know what to look for, but have to limit myself or I get too eggcited constantly counting them way before they hatch

I might wait until day 10 to candle again because I’m probably not going to throw out the infertile eggs until then anyway

 

[My15Ducks]

Day 7: I quickly candled the 2 eggs that were developing and they are still alive and look good. I’ll candle the rest and remove the infertile eggs in a day or 2. The developing eggs are “R2” & “R5”. It’s scary only having 2 because I know I could easily lose them both

 

[Bolfreak]

Don’t beat yourself up or give up. Think of how it feels to get the eggs all set in the incubator and when they start hatching.
Your flock could still be young or figuring out the new pairings, once they get it you should have high fertility.

 

[MyTxPatos]

I am finally ready to incubate my first ducklings of the year! The father is my buff colored, mixed laying breed, drake, Banana. The mother is my purebred Khaki Campbell duck, Cardamom “Cardi”. If I’m understanding color genetics correctly, the ducklings will be sex linked. The girls should be buff like dad. I did step 1 today, putting Cardi and Banana in their own pasture together. Next step is seeing if she is laying right now . So it’s still a long time until I have ducklings. I will post photos of the ducklings and incubation updates here for fun.

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This is Banana.

Your ducks are so cute! Have you always incubated your duck eggs? I have a khaki pair, and she is finally somewhat broody. I know they aren’t too known to be maternal. She has a nest and such but I’m worried she’s not going to lay on them long enough for them to survive. My drake is so territorial of the coop since she’s made a nest. He seems to care more than she does She laid a nest of 11 eggs but unfortunately we got a freeze and they didn’t survive. It’s now going to be in the 60’s-70’s. I’m completely open to incubating if that’s the only way I can get her some babies successfully! Just wondering if you’ve had a successful hatch without having to interfere with the eggs.