A Duck And A Down-Lined Nest

28 March 2016 ~ Carrie

Muscovy Duck on Nest One of the Muscovy ducks has been behaving a bit strangely. We saw her circling the duck coop the other day, as if she were looking for a way in (we have to keep the door shut after they come out in the morning or the chickens scratch the straw out). We opened the door and she rushed in, so we assumed that she needed to lay an egg.

The next morning, all the ducks rushed out of the coop…except for Coraline. When we looked in, she was in a nest box, but it was unlike any nest we’d seen to date. She’d dug down in it until only her head and tail could be seen, and it was lined with soft, fluffy down. An amazing nest. Continue reading “A Duck And A Down-Lined Nest” →

The Teens Join The Flock

27 March 2016 ~ Carrie

Teens_First_Day_FR The first batch of chicks we hatched in January are now fully feathered and ready to join their parents as part of the main flock. Adding juvenile chickens to an established group of adults is an unpredictable event: the adults and teens may fight as the new pecking order is established, and there are about 11 young roosters joining the adult flock, where LaRue currently reigns supreme.

To try to minimize conflict, the youngsters have been in the outdoor tractor during the day where the adults could see and visit them. The adults really only showed mild curiosity – the teens seemed more intrigued by the bigger chickens. The ducks actually seemed more excited that there were new neighbors, and tried to “talk” to the teens. Continue reading “The Teens Join The Flock” →

Final Duck Egg Incubation Update

7 March 2016 ~ Carrie

After 38 days of incubation, the duck eggs failed to hatch. We candled and gently tapped on them last night to ensure there were no signs of life. Unfortunately, there weren’t – none had even pipped internally, and a couple looked as if they had begun to deteriorate inside the shell. Continue reading “Final Duck Egg Incubation Update” →

Duck Egg Incubation – Day 36

5 March 2016 ~ Carrie

Waiting for the duck eggs to hatch is like watching water boil. There’s a plethora of advice available about how to optimize an incubated hatch, but figuring out what works for a specific environment, type of egg, and incubator is a multi-factor challenge. Humidity needs, for example, vary by location; optimal humidity in an arid location would differ from a humid location. It’s challenging to keep the humidity at hatch above 65% relative humidity here without constantly adding more water, but putting slices of sponge in the water wells has helped maintain the higher humidity. Will that still be necessary in the summer? It may not be, but we won’t know until we try it. Continue reading “Duck Egg Incubation – Day 36” →

Stuck Inside Due To Weather

4 March 2016 ~ Carrie

Bottle_Feeding_Avas_Kit We’ve been putting the teen chickens out daily in the tractor, but the weather has been crummy lately and the ground is saturated. It actually snowed quite a bit yesterday and that made the ground messy. Today is gray and damp, so the teens are stuck inside in their brooder based on the formula chicks + mud = muddy, wet, cold, and unhappy chicks. Continue reading “Stuck Inside Due To Weather” →

Duck Egg Update – One Week To Hatch

27 February 2016 ~ Carrie

It’s hard to believe it’s been a month since the Muscovy eggs went into the incubator. Since they usually take 35 days to hatch, they have one week left.

We started with 7 eggs. Two didn’t develop and we removed another last night that had stopped developing some time ago. The eggs that continued to develop were nearly completely dark – full of duckling. The one we pulled was only about a third dark, way behind the others. The eggtopsy showed that the embryo had likely “quit” a couple of weeks ago.

If all goes well, the four ducklings will hatch in about a week and will eventually join the adults in their free range adventures. Speaking of the adults, they’re enjoying the sunshine and their wading pool today. Actually, all they need is some squishy mud that they can drill their bills into. If only we were all so easily entertained!