it just kind of happened...!

[Scottishnewbie]

there i was the other night, messing aorund on ebay and before i knew it, i had placed a bid for 12 aylesbury duck eggs! no matter, think i, i wont win them anyway.....yup, you've guessed it! i did! and they should arrive any day now....

any advice (given my previous lack of success!!!) gratefully received!!!!!!!!!! p-u-l-e-e-s-e!!

(have ordered katie thear book but it's not here yet)

[organic]

No advice, but I've got to ask...
When you realised you'd won the auction, were you happy or was it an "oh no!" moment?

[Scarlet]

Get the incy up and running now...

[di]

Absolutely no advice I'm afraid....but lots of Good Luck wishes!
(Scarlet's advice seems pretty spot on!)

[Scottishnewbie]

thanks all. To answer the question, it was a bit of both to be honest! one the one hand delighted but on the other a bit scarey seeing i havent managed to successfully hatch hens eggs previously ...hence the request for advice!

anyway, both book and eggs arrived this morning and am just about to switch incy on - i'm presuming that you leave the eggs 24 hours like you do with hen eggs? anyone know?

thanks & will keep you all posted

[Bramble-Poultry]

yep. leave the eggs at room temperature for 24 hours to settle. to save yourself hassle later on in the week, candle them now and discard any with split air sacs. they wont rejoin properly so the egg wont develop. You can tell the split air scas as when candled it looks like a bunch of bubbles in there rather than one continuous air sac.

if they arent already, wipe the eggs clean. Duck eggs have larger pores than hens eggs and so draw in bacteria more easily. If washing the eggs before you incubate, always use water slightly warmer than the egg as it attracts the bacteria to the warmer water, rather than colder water driving the bacteria into the egg.

when incubating, remember to turn at least 3-5 times (must be an odd number) and keep the humidity slighter higher. remeber, when a duck goes off the eggs to feed, she will likely come back wet and the eggs will benefit from the ocassionally sprinkling of water on them to simulate this.

when they hatch (28 days time or thereabouts) DO NOT introduce the chicks to water until they are at least 4 weeks old as they wont have their mums oil to protect them from the water They need to have a decent amount of feathering before you let them swim. When you do introduce them to water, we put a paint roller tray in the pen and fill the little reservoir with water, the ducklings then have a grooved ramp to get in and out of the water with.

apart from that, just treat them as any other hatching eggs........

[Scottishnewbie]

Bramble - thank you SO much for this really helpful advice - just what I needed.

[Polly Fouracre]

I took some poultry to market on Saturday to sell and was NOT, DEFINATELY NOT! going to buy anything. But, something lifted my hand, not me, honestly, and I found myself buying twelve Khaki and six White Campbell eggs which are now in my incubator.
S.N. if you have an incubator with ventilation holes, block some off with sticky tape or similar. This will increase the humidity. Good luck with your eggs, we can compare notes in twenty eight days time!!

[Scottishnewbie]

I took some poultry to market on Saturday to sell and was NOT, DEFINATELY NOT! going to buy anything. But, something lifted my hand, not me, honestly, and I found myself buying twelve Khaki and six White Campbell eggs which are now in my incubator.
S.N. if you have an incubator with ventilation holes, block some off with sticky tape or similar. This will increase the humidity. Good luck with your eggs, we can compare notes in twenty eight days time!!

glad to hear it's not just me! thanks for the tip & yup, it'll be grand to compare notes

[Nicos]

Ha!!!..good for you!!!
( I'd have been really reluctant to have taken on chooks had it not been for these fine peeps on the Vine!!!!)

good luck- and enjoy!

[petal]

ducklings are such fun! yes, like bramble poultry says, the eggs need to be moistened, and the duck leaves them more than a broody would so they must benefit from cooling off like this? One thing to note is that when they do hatch they have projectile poo, are very messy and seem to need cleaning out daily........

[Polly Fouracre]

I have candled my eggs today(day 5) and each one has tiny spiders of veins so looks as though all are viable!