[Rosemary]

Congratulations. Look forward to more pics.

[jameslindsay]

Now have 7 hatched out with another 2 probably out tonight, the others are on a go slow.

[sandy]

Arhhhhhhhh! beautiful fluffy Ducks!!! I'm sure that's  game you play when you have had toooo much to drink? They are very cute, I would love to see them like that!!!

[jameslindsay]

Sandy feel free to come and see them. Another 3 have now hatched but are very weak just now, by the morning they should be fine. The remaining 3 eggs should hopefully make it out tomorrow.

[jameslindsay]

Got up this morning and still just waiting for the last 2 to hatch. They are much more alert and playful this morning, they will be going for their first swim today which is always fun. The last 2 have started but the holes they have made are still very small.

[jameslindsay]

The last 2 are now hatched. I had to go help them out as I thought they were struggling, I think they had taken so long their shells had dried out and they had become very tough. Both have bits of shell and "yuck" tightly stuck to them but the  other one still in the incubator is cleaning it off them. They are still very weak but gaining strength every time I ago see them.

[sandy]

Can you hear all the "ahr's"?

[Hilarysmum]

Did you say they were going for their first swim today, at 2 days old?  I have been keeping ours away from water and panicked when at 5 weeks they jumped into the pond.  I was afraid they would drown.  I have 6 being bought up by a chicken, and she and I are spending a lot of time herding them away from the pond.  Is it ok to let them swim, they are 3 weeks old tomorrow. 

[jameslindsay]

I have always had the ducklings in water on day 2. However, they are in the bath in the house and strictly supervised. If out in the open and free access to a pond 24/7 I may be a bit worried. However, they just love it so much. They go in 3 or 4 times daily - just for short periods as they still get very tired. All 12 are now hatched and doing well. Ofcourse the water is never too deep for the first few days. When I only hatch a few at a time I start them off swimming in a paint roller tray.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83stB0RQGGI

[northfifeduckling]

Do you spray the eggs with warm water during the incubation period? That's supposed to help as the mum sits on the eggs after a swim and they stay moist.
I think water might be o.k. for the wee ones if it is shallow, warm and the room also. Dangerous if they cool down too much when they're weak in the early days and don't produce their own feather oils yet. I wouldn't let them in the pond although they do go in the wild...Wild duck mums are maybe better at this than the domestic ones (Mucovies excluded) and their babies get some of mums' insulating oils?

[jameslindsay]

I spray the eggs after day 15. I think I read that they can only get the oil in their feathers working by getting access to water and getting themselves cleaned afterwards?

[doganjo]

I had a 3 days old duckling drown in a basin of water a few years back.  There had been a sudden really heavy squally down pour of rain and I hadn't realised it had been able to climb into the basin.  I felt sooooo guilty for ages!  The next duckling was raised by a hen and she went bananas every time it went near the pond till it was about a year old!
If you want to go down to see the ducklings Sandy I think you may have company - me and Linz!  well, she's broody anyway! :-)

[northfifeduckling]

You are more of an expert, James, with all your experience! We only had one go at wee ones (stumbled into it more or less accidently). I honestly thought that ducklings and water go well together only to get told too late that that's not necessarily the case in the first days. Ours didn't have access to a pond but it rained non-stop and it was so cold. One friend who had rare breed ducks for a decade said that they get the insulation in the first days from the mother and only later produce it themselves as you said. It's probably an act of balance and we were just unlucky. I'm all them more grateful that one actually made it and she's so beautiful! I was also wrong in assuming that the female duck has a natural instinct to give her children warmth and protect them - this lasted one day! After that it was : catch up and see how you get on! We didn't have the confidence then to take them in when we saw how they struggled to keep up. I thought they ought to be with mum, that's what's best! I would raise them myself now...

[jameslindsay]

It is enormous fun raising them yourself. However, the natural way would always be best, or so you would think! My ducks just don't get broody so that's why I decided to buy the incubator. I would hate for anything to happen to any of them which is why I never leave them unattended near water.

[northfifeduckling]

Maybe it's because they are domestic breeds, that nature wasn't so good at it...But who knows what the casualty rate is in the wild. It was a very distressing experience for all of us,  at first I said in tears that I'll never do that again...But you learn by doing and now we know that they just do need some help from us.