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”
Tag: Muscovy Ducks
Stuck Inside Due To Weather
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”
A Puddle In The Tractor
It’s stormy today. Even though it was warmer and the ground began to dry out yesterday, today’s rain made it all soggy again. And the ducks are happy as can be!
Mud makes for good earthworm-hunting, so the ducks and the chickens should get their fill today. They’re constantly on the lookout for tasty bugs, even pausing to grab one on their way back to the coop in the evening.
Even though rain and wind were in the forecast, the teens went out in the tractor this morning. We figured the double-thickness tarp on over the tractor would shield the chicks, as it had worked effetively for our first chicks. When we checked on them this afternoon, though, one chick was standing in a puddle – runoff had pooled in a low spot. Lessons learned: place the tractor on high ground only, and chicks will stand in water even if a dry roost is available.
No one seemed disappointed to head in early today. Tomorrow’s supposed to be partly sunny, so we’ll try again.
Sunny Days And Chicken Tractors
The teens have been going out in the tractor daily. We’re glad they’re out, they’re glad to be out, and the rabbit does are undoubtedly glad their noisy neighbors are out during the day.
The grass is already greening up, and both the adult and juvenile chickens are enjoying the tender shoots. We ensure that the teens have chick grit in the tractor so they can “chew” up the grass (and any other edibles, like bugs) in their gizzards. Continue reading “Sunny Days And Chicken Tractors”
Duck Egg Update – One Week To Hatch
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!
The Teens’ First Day Outside
The first batch of chicks from our stock are now about five weeks old (we call them “teens”)and nearly fully feathered. They’re also creating a crazy amount of dust in their brooder, so we figured the weather – 70 degrees with a gentle breeze – would be perfect for a first day outside in the chicken tractor. Continue reading “The Teens’ First Day Outside”