incubation,hatching brooders, candling etc

[littlefeathers]

Its just a thought admin....... but as i am totally new to this i noticed that there is isnt a seperate subject area for the above. I know a lot of members are dab hands at hatching etc and wouldnt require this section for reference but they could use it to offer us novices advice. I noticed there is already a candling chart, posted by one member.
There are some very knowledgable people on this site and its great getting their opinions etc .....
we could compare incubators, temp and humidity used, charts, hatching rates, problems with eggs etc etc......... what do you think....
mandy

[Ash]

Yes that sounds a great idea .

Ash

[huz]

excellent idea, beginners like me would benifit very much

[onymee]

www.halcserver.com/beebe/science.html

Take a look at the above link.
I found it while searching for more Polish bantam sites. It talks about incubation, humidity, temperature etc and I found it very very useful indeed.

[duckmad]

good idea mandy.
Even those of us who hatch alot can still have problems, the first of the ducks were due yesterday and although they are on their way now, they are a day late. We seem to have various problmes hatching ducks at different times of the season and would love to here from people with similar problems or ideas for overcoming them. After talking to alot of people last year there seemed to be a general consensus that ialot depended on where you actually lived i.e. altitude, built up or country, where the incubators were kept etc.
Onnymee does the site you mentioned cover ducks or is it only a chicken site.
If anyone has any ideas for duck hatching they would be gratefully recieved
duckmad

[littlefeathers]

and there was me thinking you professionals never had any problems.
Ive candled my lovely little duckies and all are alive, my only concerns now are the follwing thousand questions

1. the spider legs visible look like they are always on the same side of the egg, if i turned the egg over they seem to remain in the same place, is this normal or is the egg sticking. it wobbles if i rock it gently.
2. when i hold the egg up to candle, is the airsac like a bubble and it will rise to the top of the egg or can it be down the bottom of the egg as i cant always see it.
3. is it right to have a small black ish dot in the middle of the spider .... is this part of our baby ducks

week one now over, i cant wait to see what week two brings. ;D ;D im still one very excited expectant mother ;D ;D

[Quailmad]

Hi mandy,
the spiders legs as you put it are blood vessels radiating out from the embryo of your duck, when you candle it might appear to be on the sameside but if you are turning the egg at regular intervals it shouldnt stick to the egg, i assume you have got a auto incubator, The airsac is normally at the thick end of the egg, apart from the peking duck who lay round eggs and does not have a obvious air sac end, Lastly the book i would recommend for any starting their own incubation is "incubation a guide to hatching and rearing" by Katie Thear, £6.95 plus p&p Paper Back, if you look at the back pages of March's Country Small Holding Magazine their book shop starts after page 91 and you could order it from there Hope this helps mandy, ;D
Cheers
Quailmad (Steve)

[Ash]

Hiya Mandy ,
yep i'll second what steve has just told you , all sounds normal to me

Ash

[littlefeathers]

phew thanks guys, ;D talk about being paranoid, ok, so we've got week one over and done with, now week two, unfortunately, our incubator is manual, but i am turning regularly,, sometimes every hour, but almost definately between 5 - 8 times a day. You just get so worried, if the temps wrong your going to suffer losses or if the humiditys wrong your going to suffer losses. Like most people, we could get all the way to hatching and still loose them . I am enjoying this thou, just candling every night brings a smile, and these are just experimental eggs. Thou i have a feeling one or two may be staying if this all works. Anyway, im having fun, its a hobby im thouroughly enjoying and ive even got paul turning them if he's first up in the morning or home first from work. ;D
steve, sounds like a book worth getting, i must have another look at my mag.

[duckmad]

hi mandy
glad to here the eggs are going ok
keep up the good work and keep us all posted on the results. Try leaving the candling for a few days and then you will see a dramatic difference. After about day 18 you will be able to see them moving inside the egg and that is great, keep an eye on the air sac though, they develop the same as a chicken so as the ducks grow so should the air sac if it isnot getting any bigger you will need to lower the humidity as the air sac needs to be quite large so when they break through the membrane they have air to breath before breaking out of the shell
Good luck again
fiona

[Admin]

Hi,There is now a dedicated board for incubating etc...