May 13th through July 11th from facebook

May 13
A little before 8 am I found Daisy (Pekin) in my shrubbery sitting on an egg. By 12:30pm she had abandon the nest and I found 3 eggs. I have never hatched anything from egg and decided I could try as it is the only way they would have a chance. I start out by using heating pads and i mark each one with an 'x' .  From so much handling I crack an egg by mistake and discard it.

May 14

The heating pads aren't doing so well as they automatically turn off after a certain time so I research online and find where someone made an incubator out of a Styrofoam cooler.

May 15

Homemade incubator finished using a Styrofoam cooler, a 40 watt lightbulb, dimmer switch, thermonometer, hardware cloth, towel, cup of water.  Temp at 98 to 100 degrees.

May 18
Daisy laid another egg. This one is just a tad smaller. I have added it to the incubator.

May 19

I candled the first two eggs and I see a central spot with veins branching off. The eggs are fertile and developing! Basically I learned that you can candle the eggs from 5 to 7 days and find out if fertile or not, or dead or living.

May 24
Two more weeks to go on the first two! Candled the third and it's fertile and developing.

May 27
Two more laid by daisy! Candled 13th and 18th eggs. They are doing well, but I don't see any movement yet on the 18th egg, but I see lots of movement on the 13th's.  It hits me that I'll have to take care of the ducks for a long time. It's quite dangerous around this area. Out of 10 adult ducks there are only 4 left and 2 of the 4 near bit the dust recently.

May 28

She has laid another egg. Still no movement on the 18th egg (i haven't made names yet, gonna assign that when i know the sex of the ducks). Made a video of one of the 13th duck eggs with movement inside and posted to YouTube.  http://youtu.be/9s-1vzINOaA

May 29
And another one laid and added to incubator. That's 7!

May 30
Number 8 laid.

May 31
Number 9 laid. I read they can lay up to 200 eggs in a year. I better get used to the idea of eating fresh duck eggs in the morning!

June 1

Added another towel to incubator so I could spread out the eggs better at the proper angles. 18th egg still showing no signs of life and it kinda looks scrambled on the inside. Will no more when it turns 16 days old. I have two therms in the incubator so I can make sure of the temp, plus one measures the humidity which is doing quite well. Since I adjust the layout I am having to stay up a bit later to make sure the temp stabilizes at the correct temperature. The extra towel may be traping more of the heat underneath. Also takes awhile for the heat to build up when you have taken the lid off. One more thing. After candling tonight I find I have 6 eggs that are fertile and developing (not counting the one from the 18th as I think it might be dead). I was surprised to see results on the 27th through 29th eggs so soon but maybe my homemade incubator is running that well!

June 2

Forgot to mention yesterday that Daffy (the drake that is at the root of all these fertile eggs) seems to be a Blue Swedish. I noticed Lucy had fresh markings of having mated yesterday with either Daffy or Donald (probably Daffy again as he is dominate over Donald). I learned yesterday that you can tell if a female is laying eggs by the change in color of her beak, unfortunately, Lucy's top beak is broken and it is hard to tell if it changing or now. Daisy's bill has gone from a deep orange to a very light orange. Also the girls are eating mud and stuff by the faucet to get some grit in them. It's normal.

same day but 16 hours later

The changes I made to the incubator last night caused a problem this morning. I found the temp to be 109 degrees and the two eggs from the 13th are not moving. There is a good chance the heat killed them and it makes me sad considering they only had 10 more days to go. The other eggs actually look OK. Because of what happened I have ordered a incubator from online. I collected the egg that Daisy laid this morning and have it in the coolest part of the house to sit (i think you can do this up to 5 days before incubating although it reduces the success chances slightly). The way Daisy is acting tonight I expect another egg in the morning.

June 3
I was right. Actually said hello to her this morning while she was laying and I was spraying for bugs. Left me a beauty of an egg. I got two now 'setting' in the hallway bathroom as it stays a lot cooler in there. Kinda hope the incubator gets here real soon so I can start this new batch in it.  My homemade incubator is holding steady at 98 degrees with 81% humidity. that's about 15% more humidity that I wanted, but happy it has held steady for past 8 hours.

June 4

No egg laid this morning.. GOOD! I have 8 eggs in the homemade incubator. Temperature has been steady if I let it get to the desired temp and then turn a fan on that blows partially on it. Last night I took out the three eggs from the 13th and 18th (my first ones) and took them to the kitchen. In a Ziploc bag I opened the one from the 18th and it certainly had no chance. It had died well before my temperature problem.. May have happened that one day it was 104 (but the others were fine). The inside was scrambled and I think it had gotten shaken by mistake. I looked at the two from the 13th and opened the one that had a black vein showing (it was red before the temp problem). Without a doubt the 109 temp killed them.  I think it was closer to hatching that I thought. it had wings and everything. a cute little bill, eyes, etc... that was so depressing that they came so close to living a good life. I didn't bother opening the third. I ended up dreaming about ducks though.  Looking at the 8 and I see some that will make it, just hate waiting another 3 or 4 weeks.  The incubator I bought has been shipped and was leaving Minnesota at 2pm today.  Tonight I rechecked and tossed out one of the two from the 27th. That 109 temp seemed to affect the eggs that were further along. The other egg that I found on the same day is actually ok. It has a beating heart! So happy to see that. Maybe this one was laid 12 hours after the other, I don't know, maybe it was the placement in the incubator that saved it, I don't know. So now I have only 7 eggs, 5 are showing the proper development for their age and the last two are too new to show anything, but they should be fine.  I don't know if she will lay any tomorrow morning.

June 7

She laid an egg on the 5th and two more today, This is good since I think a few more have gone dead. I was on such a good track record till i screwed up on the temp! So I have 10 eggs and counting only the 4 oldest I think only one is a good egg. Incubator arrives tomorrow and after it is set and running right I will transfer and save this for hatching only since all these eggs are laid on different days.

June 8

I heard them out back this morning and there was all of them at my door except Lucy. Strange.... she's the instigator when it comes to food.  I went out and got a scoop of food in their pan and was standing there wondering if I really want to dump that dirty water out when I hear noise behind me and here comes Lucy at full speed! I get the scoop and hold it for her so she can eat and she goes at it like she hasn't eaten in awhile.. She drank very little water. The others walk off towards the pond and she notes that but goes back to eating and after done she goes right back to the bushes and sits on Daisy nesting site.  I took Buddy out and after that I walked around front to approach the area more quietly and I call out her name and such so I don't spook her and I look in and she is still there and makes no move to leave. This leads me to 3 separate conclusions. (1) She is activitly laying an egg or two  (2) She has laid egg(s) and is going to stay on them and be a good mother or (3) Daisy laid another one and Lucy is going to sit on it(them). Now I know Daffy has been mating with Lucy this past week so it might be 1 or 2. If she stays on them then I will leave her alone and wish her the best, although the little ones don't have a huge chance of survival with all the predators around (cats, dogs, large turtles, snappers, hawks and kids). If she leaves the nest later on and doesn't return to it then I will take the eggs.

June 9

After posting yesterday I had gone out because the landscapers was here and I wanted to make sure Lucy wasn't spooked. I looked over and didn't see her white fluffy butt so I got closer and part the limbs and saw the egg.. then I saw the 5 foot rat snake looking at me! I ran back inside and got my grabber and cellphone (grabber because (1) I wasn't sure what kind of snake it was at the time and how large and (2) even if I got bit my a nonpoisonous snake I was sure my wife would be upset.. When I came back it had it's mouth halfway around the egg so I grabbed it by the neck and it released the egg but I couldn't get it out because it wrapped itself inside there very well.  I tried to find the tail and couldn't, looked back inside and it was gone. I stood up and saw it slinking off behind my Rose of Sharon towards the sweet gum tree. I took a photo instead of trying to get it because I thought it had no where to go. I was wrong. there is a huge, deep deep DEEP! hole at the base of the tree and it went in. I camped out nearly all day till 2pm before I was able to get it. I spooked it 6 times and so I dumped water down there for about 5 minutes and gave up as the hole wasn't showing signs of filling up. I went inside for about 20 minutes and returned and I did not see it poking it's head out. Instead it was slithering back to the duck nesting site! So I ran over and grabbed it and twisted so it just didn't slink out of my grip and put it in a large storage container and drove it down to a field and let it go.  I put the egg in the incubator and got a shower and realized how sunburned I got on my back, even though I was in the shade. I'm paying for it now! Went out to eat with wife and when I got home my new Hova Bator incubator had arrived and I set it up.  I let it run through the night and it stayed right at 99 degrees give or take 1/2 degree!. This morning I have transferred all the eggs to it and pretty much don't need to do anything except add water for humidity when it starts to go dry.  Gonna let the automatic egg turner do it's think until we get close to hatching the first one and then I'll take that out and do it all manually since I have 9 or 10 eggs from different days.  Check the nest this morning and no new eggs found.

June 10

Last night I candled the eggs and threw out the ones from the 29th and 30th. 27th and 31st show movement still and that's good.  I can't figure out why the 31st looks so much more developed than it should be. My date is correct. Hmm, 9 days and I think I see a head.. amazing!  They left me another egg this morning so I added it. I really wish they would lay a cluster of them at one time so this would be easier! On the 25th I will have to lower temp by a degree and increase humidity big time and take them off the turner so the one from the 27th can hatch... I've been thinking of getting a squirt bottle and instead of increasing humidty all around I can just spray that egg.  The incubator is still working great. Very happy I bought it.

June 11

The way both were acting last night I thought I'd have two eggs this morning but there was only the one. Of course I added it to the collection.  This is going to be a long drawn out process and because the settings for eggs about to hatch are different, I might lose some newer eggs because of the change.  Yesterday I got a spray bottle and a humidity thing (non-electronic). I have two electronic ones and they different by a whole degree and a whole percent so I took them out. The problem I am having right now is, if I follow the guidelines for the product, I only get about 45% humidity. I need closer to 60% right now and then about 80% or so near hatching. I filled the second tray that is supposed to raise it to about 70% and I get 50%. I can spray the eggs but that is only temporary. So now I have filled all trays up and I am getting, at max, 70%. But that is with steaming hot water and as it cools it drops down again. grrrrr.  I look(candled) the eggs last night briefly and it looks like I made have two more dead ones. Actually I think they may not be fertile. I dunno.  Today I got a heat lamp and clip so I can put together the pen for them to grow in after hatching. got feed bowls too that they can't drown in. Only thing left to get is the food. Once I get the first two hatched I have to start working on making a run and home for them outside.   I've decided to keep it near the house so people wont try to feed them white bread and kill them. I don't think I want to keep any more than 6 ducks for myself, so any that I raise after that I will release into the pond and hope for the very best for them. Or better yet I will sell them to recover my time and money... mostly money.

June 12

Collected the egg one of the girls left for me this morning and added it to the incubator. Since using the incubator for the newer eggs I see a difference in a location of vein development. When I was hand turning they spot with the branches of veins developed more in the middle of the egg where they now develop near the air sac at top. Interesting. So I did a check tonight on the 11 eggs and their progress. 

• #27 is going strong with a lot of activity. It's due date is the 24th.
• #31 is going well and shows activity. I had nearly thrown this one out but I had a feeling it would pull through and it has. All the eggs up to June 2nd died due to that one day where it got to hot except for numbers 27 and 31
• #3's I have two of these, one shows nothing, looks like a loose yolk rolling around and I don't recall seeing any veins like I should, The other one has veins and I think I see a little activity. Tomorrow I will throw out the first one as it didn't develop.
• #5 has veins near air sac, no activity as of yet.
• #7 I have two from this day, veins showing on both.
• #8 Veins
• #'s 10,11 and 12 are too new to show anything except an increasing yellow spot. This would be normal.

With 7 out of the 11 showing normal signs, I'm tempted to eat any laid tomorrow for breakfast. I hear they don't smell so good cooking but taste really good.

June 13

OK, So i have ten eggs that seem to be on the right path and I only wanted 6 or less so now it's time to start eating eggs for breakfast! Today is the day! Now when I crack chicken eggs from the store, 99% of the time i never have shell in the bowl. Apparently I am off to a bad start with duck eggs.  I had to fish out 4 egg shell flakes! It didn't crack like a chicken egg, I can't explain it better than that. Now I have heard from numerous web sites that duck eggs put off a bad odor when cooking them. I'm happy to report that no such odor was present before, during or after cooking. Whew! The yolk looked more orange than a chicken yolk looks to me, it is obviously larger than a chicken so one duck egg made a decent size omelet. To me, it taste just like chicken.  I think I am going to throw out my chicken eggs and store a few days worth of duck in the fridge and have eggs over easy with grits and bacon soon. Yum. Daisy laid that egg so far back this morning I had to use my grabber to reach it.

June 14
No new developments today. Well... ok. I noticed Lucy has some spots on her top beak (the part she still has that is). This is usually a sign that a duck is laying eggs, that and the color fading (Daisy's bill is nearly tan instead of orange). I was watching her (Lucy) and it seemed she was inviting the males to mate with her. Both Daffy and Donald were hanging with her and getting into little arguments. I do know one of them (most likely daffy) has been making attempts as she is missing a few feathers on top of her head.  Also, 10 more days I think before the first one should be hatched!

June 16

On June 14th I laid a bad egg in the nesting area and the next morning I found two extra eggs. Cleaned them off and put in the fridge to eat later. Left the bad egg to encourage her/them to lay more. This morning I came out and the bad egg was gone and no new ones. The ducks were out back near my burning area and there was an egg. I think this might be Lucy's first egg as she seemed to be the only one interested. I took it and cleaned it off and added it to the fridge. Also to note, Last night I candled all 10 eggs and all 10 are fertile and developing. This is good as, since they are so spread out and hatching time is different, I wouldn't be surprised if a few died when I start adjusting for the currently hatching ones. The first one I have to adjust for is on the 21st or 22nd.  It's nearly midnight and I took another look since my son came in and took the most mature eggs out and brought them into the living room.  They are fine, so happy. The first 7 (27th through 8th) out of ten now show movement! So far so good.  I have 4 thermometers and they all give a different reading.. sigh.

June 17
So yesterday i posted on facebook how my son came into my room, opened the incubator and grabbed the two most active eggs and brought them too me. I got them from him very calmly so he wouldn't drop them. I rechecked today and one of the two has died. He may have shaked the egg a lot, or it just happened. Will never know. So I am down to 9. Don't know if I will be able to collect any more eggs. Today we had a raccoon come up to our house and I think he's been stealing eggs (two bad ones i had set out for decoys for sure). Amazingly he came up to the house in late afternoon so that was wierd. A little upset that this one died. temperature and humidity were perfect so i can only suspect my son or just natural causes. It would have been born this month on the 28th. Sad.

June 19

 No eggs laid since the 15th. They may be laying in other places or is finished. I really don't know.  In two more days I have to stop rotating the first egg and increase humidity and drop temperature.. this could adversely affect the new eggs. Hope all goes well.----- Yup. 2 more days. Tuesday to be exact. I got it figured out, at least for safety, but humidity and temp control will be wrong for 3 days for the other eggs but may not hurt them. it's only a degree lower, but the humidity will be raised by another 30% and getting that higher will be harder as I can't get it over 60% with all the water trays. Gonna try a wet washcloth. But anyway. I will move all eggs to the left and remove all the other turners, put in a wire screen partition so when it hatches it doesn't crawl into the turners and then after about 24 hours I'll transfer it to it's new home and the temp in my office is gonna go way up. Sooo. I wont be on the pc much at all except updates when that takes place. Fun Times!

June 20

OK, tomorrow begins the hatching process for the first one. My son is watching looney tunes so now's my chance to begin modifying the incubator so i can continue turning the others while this one sits. Again, the temp is going to be lowered by a degree and humidity increased so there is a chance it will ruin the rest, but i hope not. Ok. making changes.. 

Preliminary changes done. gonna watch the temp for a minute and I added water to the trays again. It surprises me how fast they evaporate! Must be because it is circulated air flow. The egg going in is the second one from bottom on left side, the first one before it is a newer egg (31st) but may have died as all movement has stopped. Excited! Gotta make sure the cameras are ready.

same day
I decided to start up my homemade incubator, add extra air flow and if i can keep it steady at 98 degrees and proper humidity, then i will put that egg in there to hatch as i'm pretty damn paranoid that i will drown the newer eggs. Of course, if I can't run this thing at a stable temp (remember it killed the earlier batch!) then i'll do it all in the incubator. On a side note, our neighbor has added two chickens to their backyard with their german shepard.  Why chickens? I understand they have a crap load of regular pets in the house according to the young daughter.


Anyway.. watching temp go up but the humidity is declining below 50%. ugh.

Final note of the night
Here is what i have to do starting tomorrow, As you can see it requires a lot of attention.
At 25 days after setting (Pekin eggs), the eggs are transferred to hatching trays, and if eggs are hatched in a separate machine, moved to the hatcher. Candle and remove eggs with dead embryos. At the time of transfer, the temperature of the hatcher should be set at 37.2°C (99°F) and the humidity set at 65% (88°F wet bulb). As the hatch progresses, and eggs begin to pip, increase the humidity to 80% (93°F wet bulb), and increase ventilation openings by about 50%. As the hatch nears completion gradually lower the temperature and humidity so that by the end of the hatch the temperature is at 36.1°C (97°F), and the humidity is at 70% (90°F wet bulb). Vents should be opened to their maximum setting by the end of the hatch. Remove ducklings from the hatcher when 90-95% of them are dry.

June 21
It's 2am and I'm still trying to get this hatch just right. it's at 99.7. i decided to candle the egg to make sure it is alive and i'm not wasting time i could sleep. I am shocked. The air sac has doubled and the only movement i see seems to be at the inside edge of the sac. I think it has already made it's internal pip! excited and nervous.

7:50am

So i never went to sleep. For a moment the temp was steady at 99.1F for an hour and then boom, it climbed to 99.3. I opened a small pencil hole to vent some heat and it climbed to 99.7F again so i never got to sleep. I would like to mention that my son is doing a awesome job of keeping me awake. Anyway it really comes down to having the right amount of vents open. I have a fan at a distance barely blowing on the box. There is a hole facing towards the fan (not direct line of sight but air still manages to get pushed in). the rest of the holes are topside. Gotta explain the egg. The other day, Sunday i checked that egg that is due this week and it's air sac really hand't changed much from the previous two days, but when i saw it last night it had doubled! At first I saw no movement, but i can understand it considering the tight fit. I held the light there for a bit and i saw a faint movement. I think it is trying to pip the air sac and that got me excited and that's why i had to get this going correctly, and if not correctly then i would have to stay beside it making adjustments through the night... which is what happened. I've been watching it for 23 minutes and it is still on 99.3F, but the humidity is dropping since I opened a few holes so i expect the temp to drop by at least .2F which would be perfect for today.If I can get it to stay steady for 2 hours then i'll go to CVS and get some meds for my boy. He's congested.

10:30am

 I walked away for 10 minutes and came back at 100.5 degrees so i put it back in incubator now that i found a way to increase humidity in it, not to mention the gauge i had in there seem to be inaccurate. so back in it goes, but i checked it and it was very active... and I put it to my ear and it is pecking at the shell! We have internal pip! That's exciting.

June 22

Ok, sometime today between 2pm and 6pm it broke the shell!

Considering how long the thing had been pecking at it I wouldn't be surprised if it rests now. The crack will give it some oxygen. I got temp between 97 and 98 degrees and humidity at 80%. To say this is exciting is an understatement. I'll add more if anything happens today.

June 23

It's 9:40am and no new development. I picked it up, gently, to make sure it was ok. It is still working at it, but instead of a lot of fast small pecks at the shell that you can't feel i am getting slower heavier pecks at the shell that is quite easy to feel. It feels stronger and to me that's good I guess. It's 28th day isn't till tomorrow so it has time. I opened the second vent hole so more oxygen is in there and rewetted the sponge so the humidity level stays at 80%. It's so hard for me to not go in and pick away at that bump and help, but from what i read it is best to let it do it itself at this stage because it helps them become stronger. I decided that I would not call this one Omelet. Here's the story, this is the only egg to survive that day where the temp got out of control and hard boiled all the others. I need a name that represents strength, endurance, perserverance or something and as I don't know if it will be a boy or girl i need a gender neutral name. I've been thinking "lucky" since it is, but there's got to be other names..... Also, all other 8 eggs show movement! This is more than I wanted if they all hatch.  I am hoping this one comes on out today before bed or tomorrow morning as i want to video some of it and get photos. I have it's growing area all set up. It's not going to be big enough for 9 ducks now that I look at it. What to do, what to do? Maybe I should go on out and get a large kiddie pool for this and then after they are transferred outside they can use it as a pool.  yeah. i think that is the right approach. The others should start hatching from the 30th through the 10th next month, basically one or two a day during that. so excited about 2 hatching same day, i have seen video where ducklings that have hatched will help those struggling to get out. pretty neato. Anyway. I nothing new at the moment and I have to get a shopping list together real quick and get some food for the house. maybe after that something will happen. Oh. Here's a photo of the growing area.

3:15pm 
It made a second pip after i woke it up. since then i have noticed two cracks running between both pips. I misted the shell with warm water and the surrounding area to get humidity levels back up and to keep membrane from becoming rubbery. Both vent holes are open so the humidity doesn't stay at 80% as long as it did.

4:20pm
Don't laugh but i tried to encourage it by quacking and chirping close to the glass so it could hear me, since then it has pipped two more times in under an hour.

5:28pm
Here it comes! I am seeing beak!

7:20pm

It has arrived and sleeping now. here are some photos in sequence.

June 24


I ran to feed store and when it opened i switched out the bag of feed they gave me with the proper feed and high tailed it back home. I move the duckling to it's new home and tried to introduce it to food and water. It tried a little but really wanted out and to sit with me. It can't walk that great but it can sure jump high! I've added sides to the home as seen in picture.

You can find video of it and my son playing. I haven't taken a photo of Buddy with duck as I'm not getting great vibes from him when I introduced them. He is laying here on the floor staring at the box sides and making noises at it. When I was holding it and he was looking at it he kept licking his lips so that's it for now.


Before i put the sides up I was having to hold it down. it could get half it's body over the top. Here is me holding it down.

I've put the incubator back in incubation mode (99 to 99.5) and got the humidity to proper levels. Here's baby and proud papa (or mama to it)

June 25

Baby duckling is doing fine. I have tried sexing it twice and each time it appears to be a female. I'ts not an easy thing and even professionals can get it wrong, but I'm gonna go on out on a limb and say it is a female. Her name is Naili which in Chinese means Endurance. I chose this name because she is the only one to survive the first batch of eggs and if I am wrong it can be a boy name too! It's two days old and it runs after me and when held it wants to climb up under my neck and pull at my chin hairs or hop up on my shoulder where i quickly grab it so it doesn't take flight!  My son has this flashlight in the shape of a parrot and when you open it's head to show the light it makes bird sound similar to her chirping. If you do it a couple times she comes over and pecks at it. It keeps her company in her little home.Later today I think I'll fill the sink up and let it take a swim!

If anyone is interested and if the remaining 8 eggs are still good, then here are scheduled hatching times:--
July 1st - One duckling
July 3rd - One
July 5th - Two ducklings
July 6th - One
July 8th - One
July 9th - One
July 10th -Last one
They could hatch a day earlier or more likely a day later since the temp will be lowered and some may even not hatch because of that, but I have only one incubator to do this in. I'll have to check tonight to see if they are ok.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Anyway. Naili is here and happy and sleeping behind the parrot flashlight.

Checked the 8 remaining eggs and they are all fine!

 June 26 
Trying some standard html in notes. This morning I took the dog out who was whining at the bathroom door waiting on me. He wasted no time in pooping out front and he just couldn't hold number one inside so he ended up peeing on himself. Ugh. Cleaned him up and checked on Naili. She's learning to poop in one spot at night. Good Girl! I still had to change the towel though and give fresh water. When people say that ducks are messy do not doubt them. They are messy!  I decided I would give her a break from her box and I took her outside and placed her on the ground. She freaked! Sounded so stressed and I couldn't grab her so I sat down, patted my hand a few times and she came up to me and got on my lap and huddled there. When she get's on my lap she climbs but not this time. She was obviously scared so i just let her sit there and I petted her back and head and then brought her back in.

I love watching her nod off behind her parrot toy.

June 27

Naili is growing so fast...or it's just her plumage. She is certainly taller!  Healthy appetite and drinks plenty of water. Tomorrow I put egg number two in hatching stage. This means higher humidity, slightly lower temp and no more turning. I candled them all last night and this one was barely moving. The air cell is not nearly as big as Naili's egg was, but then her air cell seemed to increased by two the day I moved her egg so ya never know. I've been thinking of getting a second under the bed storage container like the one I am using now and connect them by a ramp to give them running room. We shall see. I need to start planning out the run and coop for them to finish growing and living in. I've been thinking and I will keep no more than 5 instead of 6 now. The lady that has been seeing Arthur on a monthly basis has a large land and pond (all private) and she has expressed interest in a few ducks so I will probably give the others to her. Sounds like a plan!


I've decided we don't have enough towels to put down for them to run.eat.sleep on so I went digging through the garage and found an old old muslin that I was told to throw away so many years ago. I've cut it up in strips, but the ends fray and she keeps pulling at them and actually ate a string which is not good at all. So now I need to move things around and pull out the sewing machine I bought Jennifer and teach myself to sew so I can fix the edges.


Well, didn't take me long at all after reading the diagrams on how to do some simple sewing. I actually did one whole muslin part I had cut out and it's a great job..but.... when I cut the muslin I didn't realize the ends would be so fray and needing stitching so i measured and cut just enough for as is which means once I have sewn it up it is 2 inches too short, width wise that is. Good news is I used only about 1/2 the muslin and if I am really careful with the sewing I might be able to salvage these. Tomorrow I'll go make a dress for my wife out of the curtains! Naw.

June 28

This morning I transfer second possible duckling egg off the automatic turners to the area I have set up for hatching. I took it into the bathroom to candle it (too bright everywhere else) and it is moving but very little and the air cell is still no where as large as Naili's was. I hope all goes well with that. Now that it is the 28th, I will be moving an egg from turners to hatching stage every day to every other day till July 7th (my birthday, whoopie do).  I am suspecting that this current egg contains a larger duckling and that might account for the less movement and smaller air cell.  

I took my son to daycare "school" this morning. I have a lot of sewing to do for these ducklings. They are so messy. How messy are they? Ok, I have one duckling less than a week old. When she eats she takes some water and then slings her head back and forth which leaves bits of food one the sides. Also as she grows older and consumes more food I have noticed an increase in amount of times that she poops. Currently she is up to 10 poops every 2 hours! So you can understand why I am sewing cut pieces of a muslin to use instead of towels. Towels take up a lot more room in the washing machine and I can shake these off outside easily before washing! Go me!


I wonder how different this duckling (if successful) will look from Naili.


Ok, it's 9:30pm and it was dark enough in my room to check the egg from the 3rd. It looks like i can see some intrusion into the air cell, but not sure if it is it's beak or not. Also the air cell nearly doubled just like Naili's did on her 23rd or 24th day. Let's back up and do some education on these things. 1st, we stop rotating or turning the eggs on the 25th day and they usually have their internal pip that day or next and they usually hatch on their 28th day. Naili arrived on her 27th day and it took her over 48 hours from internal pip to external pip. This one is on it's 25th day and the air cell has doubled just like Naili's did on her 24th day. So this one is more on time I think. Now here is the neat thing. The egg laid on the 5th, it's 25th day is thursday but tonight it's air cell has doubled and i am starting to see it push into the air cell!  So this one might be early and both may hatch same day! Oy! I need to run back to walmart and get anohter container as it's about to get crowded!


Oh, Naili is more than doubled her size in less than a week. They really grow fast! I don't think you could get her two legs into a single shell! She has developed a sneeze since i had turned the heat lamp down the other night. It is back on at full blast! Don't know if she got a small cold or has something in her nasal passage. I changed out her water dish to accommodate her huge head so she could get her eyes submerged.  I wonder if it is possible to train a duck to do certain things like jump on your lap or what not...... She loves to jump on mine if i tap it and I'm always saying jump up so maybe she will associate that sound with that. She's a nice pet but Buddy still looks like he wants to eat her. Sigh. Can't we all just get along?

June 29


Here's a couple of photos of Naili

Fresh cloth laid out for Naili and my son is taken care of so I took the egg from the 3rd and 5th and went into the bathroom to candle them. The one from the third barely shows movement and has a bit of yellowing near the air cell. It does look like it is trying to push through but I'm still concerned for it. I don't remember the yellow color in Naili. I checked the 5th and it may have internally pipped so i added it to the hatching area. The coloring is different from the 3rd and the duckling inside looks larger. I sure wish I had a second incubator for hatching as it seems to be throwing off the schedule. Here's a photo

More later if anything develops.


I looked at them tonight and I didn't think I saw any movement from the one laid on the 3rd. The 5th is all movement and does indeed appear to be breaking through! I'll check the other one again in a moment but i don't have a lot of hope for it. It still has two days before it were to hatch though. This later one is about 2 days ahead. strange.

June 30

I'm convinced there is no hope for the one laid on the 3rd. Here it is 1 day from hatch day and it still does not move and I'm not sure it pipped internally. It's hatch date is tomorrow but I will give it 3 extra days. On the other hand, the one from the 5th, which I would stop turning today but stopped two days ago, is already pecking on the shell! It's about two days ahead of schedule so I suspect it will hatch today, tonight or tomorrow.

I enhanced their living quarters by increasing the living size by two. Made a ramp between sections and added groves under the fabric to help them walk up. Added higher sides in that are so she doesn't hop out (Naili stands there trying to get out and get to me) Here's a photo:

Gave my son a bath today and he was holding a bowl under the faucet and told me he was panning for gold. The other day i was sitting in my office and he came in with a crazy look in his eyes, stopped at the door and started to laugh and then stopped and walked away. Weirdo!

What in the world is going on here? I have two eggs laid on the 7th. One is narrow and the other is normal shaped. Anyway, I already have the egg from the 5th tapping on the shell but now I find that the normal looking one fromt he 7th has internally pipped as well (as of this morning apparently) and it wasn't supposed to come off the turner till July 2nd! What could be causing this? As long as they hatch ok I'm ok with it, but it doesn't make a lot of sense!

After putting my son to bed and taking care of the dog (or our other son as we refer to him) I was tired and Naili kept trying to get my attention so I put her on my chest (after placging a dish towel down) and she went to pecking my face off. I have found a certain whistle that I can do that makes her settle down and lay down and be still. Not long after this photo she pooped so it was a good thing I had that on my chest! Here's a photo of me and Naili.












July 1


Let's see.  I've taken the egg from the 3rd out. It never pipped the air cell and was dead as can be. I examined it and i saw just a bit of yellow, but it might have been a foot. The egg from the 5th has already pipped externally! It's a day ahead just like Naili was. It's a good strong pip too, more so than Naili's was on her first one. I have two eggs laid on the 7th. One is normal shape and we will call it 7a, the other is more slender and we will call it 7b. I took 7a off the turner yesterday as it look like it was pipped already but wasn't sure. It is still looking ok. 7b am not so sure about. the air cell is smaller than 7a, there is plenty of movement inside. About an 8th of an inch down it is solid black all the way to the other end. I can only see movement in that 1/8 inch area. It looks like it's pushing but i"m not supposed to take it off the turner till July 2nd. I will re-evaulate tonight before bed and make a decision then. I'm excited for naili to have a sibling. Definitely going to get a photo of them standing next to each other to see the size difference 10 days makes (maybe 11, depends on the egg hatching Saturday or Sunday).

July 2

Egg number 5 should hatch in next 6 to 7 hours. It is strong and nearly knocked the egg out of my hand. I have no worries for it. Egg 7A has pipped internally and is pecking on the shell. It's about 2 days ahead of schedule. It's twin 7B is alive but i can't see any evidence of it being pipped yet. I'm really not sure if it will make it. Egg 8 is trying to pip it seems. All of them are off the turners and I lightly misted them with some room temperature water. Will keep the lid on now till 5 hatches and I need to remove the shell pieces.  

Even though I did a great job on the stitching, I should have double folded the edges before stitching so the fraying would stop. I was going to remedy this but I broke my needle and do not have a spare.

I was on my way to get a shower and Buddy (the dog) jumped back in bed so I crawled in bed and snuggled with him, then my wife came in and snuggled with us, then Arthur came in so we put in a movie and all laid on the bed. I had my son beside me sitting up and my arm around him, i had my leg rubbing against the dog and my wife was massaging my foot. It's was soooo nice. I nearly fell asleep from being so relaxed!

6 to 7 hours seems to be right on the button. I posted that around 8:30 and here it is at 1:40pm and it is nearly out!

After i took this it pushed it's back out and then went back in. I see a lot of yellow so it's definitely going to look different from Naili. It should hatch within the next 30 minutes or less!


Wow. Strong duckling. Within 30 minutes. It is all yellow and all orange feet from what I see. It will eventually turn all white and look like it's mother probably. 

July 3

It's morning and I didn't sleep late as planned because I needed to check on the newest addition. It was sound asleep in the incubator. Last night around 1am I made a partition in the brooder just in case Naili was aggressive. I'm glad I did because she went straight towards the new one and started pecking at the head so i pick it up and put it in the separated side with most of the heat. It doesn't seem interested in drinking water or food yet and can't stand and walk yet, but it does slide across the floor. Naili seems very upset about the whole thing but maybe in a couple of days I can put them together. I turned the temp in incubator back up to 98.5 to 99 for the ones that are trying to pip and am trying to keep humidity around 80%.

Here is size comparison of the two. Since I can't get them together this is the best I can do. Noticed the more than double size. If viewed from side you would see that the new one barely comes up to Naili's belly. Huge difference.

Naili has finally stop throwing herself at the sides. She's frustrated. She wants to be picked up but when I do she just keeps biting.


2pm                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Omelet is such a sweet duckling... for now. She doesn't seem to get as excitable as Naili was. Naili is a down right meany at times. Omelet is walking now and has spent a lot of time sitting in her water bowl!


7a has pipped and her full beak is showing inside. She's tapping on the shell. 7b and 8 are nearly pipped and will probably hatch same day. 7b is showing some bright yellow inside the shell on one side where the baby has moved away. It's still alive, very much so, but I have no idea what that yellow is and this is the odd shaped shell.


Not going to worry about venting to determine sex. Just going to assign generic names that can go either way. So we got Naili and that name was important because of her struggle and only survivor of first batch. Omelet because I wanted a egg related name. What other names will I come up with.......


7:50pm


Great! 7b has pipped and is tapping on the shell. 8 has nearly pipped! 10 is showing signs of trying to pip but i expect nothing on that one till... well..... nm. tomorrow I guess since they are pipping early!


I have come to realize I really need to start buying supplies to make my run and coop. I can only do so much a day because of the heat and my conditions :(


Here are some miscellaneous photos I took today.

July 4


7b had already pipped the shell by this morning! 7a, which I figured would be first is still trying to pip the shell and to be honest looks like it's getting a bit weaker and I am concerned. 8 Has fully pipped into it's air cell and is tapping away. Tomorrow, unless I see it pushing more, I will take 10 off the turners. It's basically going to be one or more ducklings a day till the 10th hatching starting with 7b it seems.


When I came into the room this morning, Naili had dumped both her water and food over and Omelet had basically done the same thing. Now that Omelet is eating the amount of poop is increasing. Naili is already quite the manure factory! Anyway, I had to pull up everything and stick it in the bag as I didn't want any on the carpet. When I was putting it in the washing machine I nearly threw up. The smells was horrible! Yuck.


I really need to start on a run for outside plus coop. Here is a link to what I want to build.


http://www.newagrarian.com/2008/05/12/portable-grazing-pen-for-ducks/


Took my son down near Lovejoy and parked at a gas station to watch fireworks at Nash Farms. That's free parking folks!  He really enjoyed saying "BOOM" after each explosion. We got him home and in bed a little after 10 and he still woke up and was opening his door at 7am. I am hoping he gets a good nap.


My birthday is in 3 more days. I suspect my Mom and others are going to throw a surprise party. I hope I am wrong but I'm probably right. I really don't like surprises. 


Naili is still aggressive to omelet. They have a see through partition and when i came in it got Omelet moving, which got Naili moving, and before you know it, Naili had got her beak and omelet had got her toe, under the border and Naili got it and yanked trapping Omelet. So glad I was here to lift it up.


NO changes on the eggs from this morning. :( Tomorrow is the 28th day since being laid. I hope there is some positive improvement when I wake up.

July 5

Ok! The 7a and 8 has pipped the shell. No further advancement on the 7b egg. Today is the 28th day for the ones from the 7th. I suspect that when Omelet was hatching and the lower temps and higher humidity may be delaying the hatching of future eggs. I hope it doesn't kill them. I suppose I could peel away the pipped shell but it wouldn't do them any justice if they are going to make it as breaking out builds up their strength.

I changed the towels and muslin in their home and boy does it get stinky. I took them out and got a bucket of LOC and hot water and washed everything down. I also added more room for Omelet and the expectant others. I tried to see if Naili would tolerate Omelet more if outside their home but it wasn't the case and she broke a blood vessel in Omelets foot. Anyway. Here is the new partition. lot easier to clean now as I can slide it in and out.


11:12pm


A few hours ago 7b hatched and looks healthy. Right this minute 7a is working itself out! 8 has several pips already and may be hatched by the time i get up. I will be taking #11 off the turner tomorrow and 12 the next day unless i see a pip.


There's something really special about sitting there and watching a duckling hatch and you are cheering it on. It's something special. :)


One thing I am not liking is the amount of poop. UGH! the more they eat, the more they poop the more it stinks!


Naili is trying to tear down the partition. Sigh. 


Forgot to say. 7b is colored like Naili. 7a seems to be the same. I hope I can tell them apart when grown.


I'll post photos tomorrow. Right now I have to clean their bedding before i sleep.

July 6

Wow, what a late night. Both 7's and the 8 hatched withing 6 hours of each other. Each one is different looking. One looks like Omelet though. None look exactly like Naili. I put them in with Omelet today and she's been pecking at them. One fought back but they aren't as strong as her. For the most part she is not old enough to cause a lot of pain if at all. I have only heard of a few yelps.

First egg hatched after 4pm yesterday.  The third one just after midnight.  After the three I took them out to dump out the broken egg shells and replace the bedding.

This morning I put them in with Omelet who is 4 days older. She is pecking at them when not eating and doesn't seem to be doing any damage, thought she got a good yelp out of one and she is in timeout land.

In order of hatch we have the following

This is Buddy. He's not too pleased about them. Yesterday he actually took a playful stance with Omelet and she got loose from me and chased him in two complete circles with me holding his collar.

This of course is Naili, my first born. She is 2 weeks old today. Boy she is getting big!

Egg 10 has multiple pips since the three hatched. I took 11 off rotation today and 12 comes off tomorrow and is the last one. My landscaper would like a female if I have enough females so one is probably accounted for.

Oh yeah. here's video of the third one hatching this morning (after midnight)

11:30pm

This one hasn't done anymore since the multiple pips. It's a chirping away and taping here and there. It will probably hatch in a few hours but I haven't the stamina to stay up this time. I've decided not to call that one duckling Pepper. The yellow has taken over more but the dark black Mohawk is staying so I want to find a good Native American Indian name, perhaps the Mohawk tribe. Haven't decided on name for the other yellow and I have not decided on the mostly black one with the really interesting feet. I may hold off names till their sex starts to show, probably around 5 weeks.

July 7

My birthday! Let's see. Another one hatched at around 10am I think. It has Naili's markings but the color of the back is a lot lighter than hers. Groovy! I had to expand the little ones area as there is not 5 of them. Two more to go! Here's new photos:

I don't think you can see the lighter color of it compare to Naili, but it is definitely there.

Here's a couple photos from yesterday.






















Being my 40th birthday today, my brother and sister-in-law came from California and showed up early at my front door with the materials for the duck run. Timothy basically did all the work(too hot for my handicap today) and I now have a nearly completed run that is 12 foot long 8 foot wide and 3 foot high. The only thing I have to do is add a ramp and some bird netting and it is done. Next step is the coop and that's a lot easier to do. I'll get a photo tomorrow.


Oh my. I added the new one just an hour ago and they haven't really noticed that it's new as they got added themselves the other day. Naili and Omelet have imprinted on me but not the others. I'm gonna sit with ..well.. no.. it's too late. My son has an appointment at 9 and I want to be awake for that.


Oh. forgot. One or both of the girls have started laying eggs again. I just happened to check the hedge and there were two. One narrow and one normal. I cleaned them off and put them in the fridge to eat later. Yummy.


Good night all and thank you for following along.


July 8
Had Naili on my lap today and she dozed off. I nearly did too!  The last egg has pipped and the second to last is still trying.  The one that hatched yesterday has incorporated itself with the other 4 young ones just fine. Naili is the only one that is by herself (separated by a clear plastic wall).  Yesterday I discovered two eggs in the hedge again. Today I found one in the box of straw that I had set out for the adults during the winter months. I think this means both girls are laying. I still am not going to hatch anymore and these will simply be put in fridge for eating (by me) or I will throw away... unless they decide to be good mothers and sit on the nests!

Here are a couple of photos of the run. It's 8 feet by 12 feet and 3 feet tall. I still have to add the ramp and I need to get some bird netting. Building the coop is next.


Enjoy! I have to get ready for this evening. Younger siblings are taking me out for dinner! Yum.

July 9

I have put Naili back in general population. When I had got home she and the others had knocked over their water and feed bowls so I have to go to the larger containers, of which I have only two. She was doing fine with this this morning after a little biting, but i had to separate them when i left and now she is back to biting and slinging them around. Right now the fresh water and feed is all hers apparently. She is attacking any that come near the water or food. Hopefully she will get her fill and calm down.
Egg#12 hatched about an hour or so ago and is all yellow. The #11egg is hatching right now and might be out in about an hour or two.
The smaller ducklings like to sit on the hill in a row and go to sleep. It is so funny looking.

Forgot to mention the last egg to hatch has a dark beak so not likely to be all yellow. Can't wait to see the pattern!


UPDATE: It has hatched. It seems to be all black with a bit of yellow on its breast and it's beak is orange on the outsides with black on the inside.


I took Naili outside and put her in the run for awhile. Daffy came over a few times to see her. She really doesn't like to be carried into new areas. Good thing I wore a shirt! She did all right in it but i was there the entire time as i haven't added the door yet. Really want to give her a bath tonight. Definitely going to seperate the containers and I'll give the feeders to the smaller ones since they keep knocking over the bowls. Naili does better with deep bowls but not so well with this container. She's wasted a quart of water all over the place because she is trying to stick her head under it.


This last one to be born looks really small to me, but then it hasn't fluffed up yet.


Incubation is over. As soon as these two dry up I'll add them to the baby group and disinfect the incubator and put it in storage. Yippee! If I do my math right, with the exception of the egg my son may have killed and the other one that had gone from homemade incubator to the hova bator, I've had a 100% success rate with the hova bator.


So what's on my list of things to do soon? Put the darn door/ramp on the run and get some bird netting. Draw up plans and complete a coop.
AND
TAKE PHOTOS!


My siblings and others pitched in and got me a studio lighting system! Be prepared to see some bird butts! LOL.. it's a joke my wife likes to point out.  So much to do.


Gave Naili a bath!

July 10


Today I've been trying to come up with the best possible feeding solution. The best for water seems to be a really large spaghetti bowl with a tall food container in middle. Any that splashes out ends up in the bowl and they in turn drink that too, but the sides prevent it from spilling out!. Food is another story. I put a container in with the smaller ones and I don't think they..oh lord. one of the small ones is in the food storage container.... watching... ok. it got out ok... anyway, they can't knock it over but they sure do spread it around! Naili keeps knocking hers over.  


Omelet's beak was orange when born, it is now pink. What gives?

July 11

Though I haven't the space in my room to do this, I hooked up two of the three lights and took photos of my little ones. I seem to be blocking a lot of the light. Like I said, no room! This is from oldest to youngest.

Naili is my oldest and her name is Chinese for endurance. She was the only one to survive the first batch. She imprinted on me more than any other duckling and always wants my attention.

This is Omelet and is completely yellow. It's beak was orange for the most part but is now pink. it is like a mother..or father to the younger ducklings as Naili keeps biting them and had to be separated.  Omelet imprinted on me and likes to run behind me and come up between my knees and peek out or get some rest. All other ducklings follow her lead.

This next one has a wonderful mohawk on top and a black tail. It's body is a fine mixture of black and yellow and I have no idea what to expect! No name as of yet but i might pick an Native American name.

This beautiful yellow was born about 6 hours after this previous duckling. I had thought it was all yellow but during it's photoshoot I discovered, dead center on back, a black feather or two. I actually had to spread the top coat around to see it. The dark spot on front under beak is just a wet area. Again, No name yet

My favorite looking one. It was born an hour after the yellow one above. Can barely see the eyes due to its color. My favorite part is  its bluish tinted beak and it's really neat legs/feet! No name yet

This one was born alone like Naili and Omelet. It's markings are similar to Naili except it is more brownish. No name yet.

This one and the next were born a couple of hours apart. This yellow has a blackish spot on the center of it's back and it's beak is pink/orange

Last one has no name as of yet but I was thinking of calling it Coco for it's brown coloring.