you lose some , you win some

We put some eggs to hatch at the end of January 

We were expecting them to start to hatch a few days ago. But nothing has happened  and no signs of activity Unfertilised eggs make a sloshing sound when you shake them gently and we identified one that was like this. But the others ? 

Well, we have waited to see what happens. They were stored in the barn - a suitable cool place and weve put them there before whilst collecting a batch to incubate all at the same time .

But this time ? Nothing. 

So I cracked one open to see what has happened 

Speaking to friends in the Lake District with chickens, they had eggs that were outside freezing  and cracking open. ut that didnt happen to ours . So we are assuming that they got just cold enough to interfere with the germination and growth of the very early embryo. 

But the good news is that the eggs we put to incubate a week later have  started to hatch. 

look what we found

One of the ducks went AWOL . We discovered that she had been sitting on eggs, well hidden in the undergrowth .And when one day she didnt come out as usual we went to explore and saw the duck with her chicks

 

chicks under duck

 7 Chicks in total .


 As they wouldn't find water from where they were, we decided to move them into a run until they are a bit bigger

 
 And the very well-made nest where she has been sitting  on the eggs for the last 4 weeks

  and the other ducks thought they would go and  see what was happening - hence the protection round the run

Anyone want some ducklings   ?

chick update

  10 it is.

1 remaining chick has started to peck through the shell .

It has been transferred to the incubator  to see  how it will do .

Mother and 10 chicks doing well so far, and transferred to  a chick run. So we expeect them to be out and eating tomorrow

Update from the incubator later.

see what we found

Out early  in the morning , we found this  duckling trying to get out of the pond.   No sign of its mother, or any other ducks ( ours were still locked up) . Ours get counted in and locked in every night , so we don't think one has surreptitiously been sitting on some eggs. Although the eggs will probably survive if left for couple of hours  and then re-incubated  , they wont survive left overnight, 

So we think its a wild duck that has hatched some and this little one got separated, or lost, and go carried down on the stream.

So what to do ? We could just leave it and let it take its chance  of either the mother finding it (very unlikely) or it succumbing to the hooded crows (very likely)   or it dieing of cold and starvation (very  likely). 

So what we did is  take the eggs off one of our broody hens and  put them in the incubator

 and  slipped the duckling under the broody hen.  She seems to have accepted it and they have been moved to the chick run and  given access to food and water  

  So we shall see what happens.

Limpy the Chick

The first lot of chicks, born a few weeks ago , over a couple of days  are still in a run  to protect them from predators















But one of them  has developed a limp - hence limpy the chick. 

 

weve left him in with the hen and the others - he gets trampled on from time to time, but looks like he can still get about to feed, so we shall wait and see what happens.

there isnt much we can do to improve his chances , so he stays where he is .

More Gallussian resuscitation

 

 

The hen with the chicks has hatched 10 so far. There were 2 eggs remaining. She has got fed up with sitting and has taken her 10 away and left the 2. But one of them was cheeping, so we decided on more resuscitation.  ON Prising the shell away  it started to cheep, so a bit more time in the home-made  chick-warmer ( I cant really call it an incubator!)
An incubator will keep  eggs at 37-39 degrees . We don't have an incubator, so  its a bowl, floating in a sink of hot water. And we cant control the humidity , so its a slightly damp towel.

Of course the reason it may be the last one out is that it is too weak and will not survive.

Overdue

According to the calendar , the first batch of chicks should be coming along today . But as of 6pm, there seemed to be no sign of anything happening.
Except on close inspection of one of the eggs there is a small crack and some tweeting from inside the egg.  So the first one is one is on its way .