Phelps Waterfowl

Today is day 28. I started with 99 eggs. I hatched 32. So my overall hatch was 32%. I did hatch 43% of the eggs that made it to the Hatcher. Hmmm. My take away is that the air cells were too small going into lockdown.
*eggs started to internally pip on Thursday night. I know this be because I could hear them not because I opened the hatcher and candled.
*many eggs were extremely pipped on Friday morning
*hatching started Friday night which is day 26
*I have 2 eggs that are extremely pipped this morning. This is probably due to uneven heating in my incubator
*I only removed dry active ducklings. They can stay in the hatcher for 72 hours. Ducklings that are flipping or weak really benefit from a prolong stay in the hatcher.
*I have 11 that remain in the hatcher this morning. 2 will probably come out tonight. The rest will be reevaluated after work tomorrow. Again no hurry.
*The ducklings that hatched the best have the most genetic diversity.
* I did hatch my first self blue. This is a project pen that contains the mother of my National Champion blue bibbed hen. I also hatched 2 babies from my National Champion blue bibbed hen. Both appear to have tiny bibs.
*Babies are on starter feed. Either medicated or non medicated. Be sure to watch the manufacture dates. Feed should be no older than 3 months. My TSC is selling feed manufactured in 2023. Vitamins leach out of older feed. Try to avoid this.

It’s day 23 and time for lockdown. These are the eggs that started incubation on March 10th. 73 of 99 eggs made it to lockdown. Most that didn’t make it were not fertilized. I had several go bad. Air cells look okay, but could be a little larger. The first egg is much better than the second egg in the pictures. I’ve marked that second egg, because I don’t think it will hatch. It is still alive, but the duckling will most likely internally pip and drown. We will see.

Humidity is now around 60%. I will increase to 70% on Thursday or when I see the first external pip.

I always get nervous at hatch. Maybe none will make it. We are going to have storms tonight. I hope the power stays on.

I still have one pen that hasnt produced an egg. There are several hens that don’t look like they are laying. I will give them a closer look in another month. Snowy males remain at 50% fertility.

Fingers crossed. I will post the results over the weekend.

The eggs that were set on 3/10 continue their journey. I lost 4 more eggs this week. One was a potential exploder that I must have missed last week. The eggs are at 43% humidity in the incubator. I feel that the air cells are too small, so I will now mist 3x daily to try to increase their size. Lock down will be on Tuesday which is day 23. My calls usually hatch on day 26 or 27.

Posting an update on the eggs that started their journey on 3/10. The egg labeled BB1 is normal development for an embryo at 12 days. Note the well developed veining. The second picture is of the air cell which is good at this point. The 3rd pic is the only egg that died this week. Note that the veining is gone, and the interior is just a dark blob. 75 eggs remain. I have 2 pens that have not laid any eggs. All pens that are laying are fertile in varying degrees.

This is a continuation from last week. I set 99 eggs in all on 3/10. Looks like 77% fertile. I was hoping for 50%. The even better news is that every pen had fertility. The BEI pen was 100% followed closely by the bibbed and grays. I’m especially happy since I have a couple of small drakes that I was worried about. I still have 4 pens that haven’t produced an egg.

I have 2 snowy drakes that had very little fertility last year. Looks like about 50% in this batched. They are marked safe from the auction, because that’s where they were headed. 🤣

I always get a lot of incubation and hatching questions. I’m not an expert. I’m going to post what works for me. Remember that I’m in the south and my A/C will be on full time in the next couple of weeks.
1. Good nutrition and husbandry are needed year round. My birds have been on a 22% layer with animal protein since November. I also supplement with Calf Mana.
2. My birds have been laying sporadically for a month. I crack eggs and look for the fertility bullseye before I start the incubator.
3. I don’t have the ability to light my birds. It would be an advantage for the fall shows to have older birds.
4. Pens that have soft shell eggs get 1 T of apple cider vinegar per 3 gallons of water. This can be titrated up if needed. This will not fix eggs that have no shells.
5. I collect eggs daily, and they get washed (not scrubbed).
6. My incubator is an old Sportsman, and it is spotless. The nurse in me will not all me to incubate bacteria on dirty eggs. I use Oxine and Tek-trol for sanitization.
7. My humidity is mid 40% for incubation.
8. Eggs are usually sprayed daily with a mix of water and Oxine. This is not to add humidity as some think, it is to wick moisture from the eggs. It shrinks the air cell. I have included a picture of a beginning air cell.
9. I’m setting eggs for the first time today. They are all labeled by pen. Since the incubator is empty, I can group them by pen. I can see the slackers. If you look on the right; blue bibbed 2 didn’t have a good week. I do have a few pens with 0 eggs. I also know that all of my snowy hens are laying. I collected 4 eggs several days this week.
10. Eggs are on their sides in the auto turner. I don’t hand turn.
11. You can also see that the bottom of the incubator is a little cool. This will go up a little when it’s full. I do rotate the racks weekly. I also rotate the eggs when I candle weekly. If they are on the edge of the tray they move to the center. Center moves outward.
12. I’m hoping for 50% fertility.
13. I will candle on Saturday. I will try to post weekly updates on this group.

Went to Carpet City Bantam show in GA. Great group of calls with a lot of really nice birds. Great to catch up with Todd Spidel and Amanda Maupin. Eddie Cline was a great host and is working hard to grow the show. Congratulations to Todd and Eddie on their wins.

Carpet City Bantam Show. The pullet was BV today. The hen that was BV at the National was RV.

Cleaning and bedding pens today. All the birds got misted so they would preen. I always seem to have a few that avoid water at all costs.

What did I bring home from the Ohio National? Porcelain d’Anver cockerel-thank you Jared Carney; black d’Anver cockerels (one is split to self blue)-thank you Kristen Garrison; Black East Indies which belong to Caitlin my granddaughter -thank you Robert Bentley and Tyrel Thurston.

I showed 11 call ducks this past weekend at the National Call Breeders National Meet at The Ohio National. 10 of the 11 placed. Needless to say, I’m extremely happy with the results. This is my first show of the season. Thank you to everyone that purchased birds from me this year. Special thanks to my family that helped with this amazing weekend. And special thanks to my husband for all his help and support over the years.

Blue bibbed results from the Ohio National. BV with my hen. She was RV last year. Curtis Oaks had RV with one of the nicest cockerels I’ve ever seen. My cockerels were 2 and 3. Pullets 1, 2, and 3.

Looks like a lot of attitude going on with the gray pullets. I took these so that I can compare them with next years hatch. I also need a better camera. These are my “keepers” and birds that already have new zip codes.

Beautiful day in SC. I was up early cleaning the goats. Took some pics of the birds.

Love my bibbed birds. All very friendly and full of that call duck personality. The snowy pullet won’t stay in her pen. I see wing clipping in her future.

When making the final decision to keep or let them fly away, always view them from the top. This little bibbed pullet is an example of a tiny bird from a tiny egg. She spent all spring in the just hatched brooder even though she was weeks older. She then went to my ”hospital pen” in the barn when I stopped hatching. I finally put her on the ground with some older birds, and she has thrived. She even swims and preens. I’m hoping she grows a little more and after her next molt, I hope to show her. I will be repeating this breeding pen in the spring.

We have decided to cut back on our porcelain D’Anvers.
I will have several birds with me at the Ohio National.

Pick up times for any reserved birds at the Ohio National:
Thursday 3-5pm
Friday 8-5pm
Saturday 8-12pm

Lee Morey drake crossed into my line. Young birds that are just going to get better.

It’s hot in South Carolina! I had a chick hatch in the garbage can this week. He successfully joined his siblings that are 5 days older. I know bad chicken mom. I’ve had to switch feeds again due to continuing mold issue. I really like to support the local family businesses, but feed has gotten too expensive for that to be acceptable. I’m feeding Kalmbach now. Good price and less fines in the bag.
I will start taking deposits for birds at the Ohio National. Birds are sold as breeders and priced on quality. I will have gray pairs, white pairs, a few snowy, and some bibbed birds. I do have some silver hens that hatched out in my bibbed pens too. Extra snowy, gray, and white drakes also available.
Birds are and are still molting in their final plumage. They will change a lot in the next few months.

Great news from Ohio this week. Sophie C placed 1st in showmanship. And Elsa O had RV with a gray call hen purchased from me last year at the Ohio National. Congratulations to you both.

Random pics of the 2023 hatch birds. I will have birds available at the Ohio National.

Nice little drake I found this morning. Looks like a possible show bird. I love these bibbed birds. They are so friendly and personable.

The temps were a little cooler this morning. Outside hutches trimmed down to six birds per pen. New bedding placed in the interior grow out pens. And 2 birds moved to the keep pen. This young butterscotch cockerel will be staying.

New babies to tweens. I have been providing swimming water 24/7 at 2 weeks. Waiting on 5 hens to hatch in the barn, and I will be done.

Sorted birds this week. After they are out of the basement at week 2; they are sorted by size. Eventually I will sort by s*x and color. I did find this little blue hen. She has nice head development already.

Hatching has been 30-40% up until this week. Have a 90% this week and I’m not sure what I did differently. My biggest hatch ever. Several nice ones in the brooders. Babies get a week under the heat, a week inside at room temperature, and then to the barn. Several drakes with no fertility yet,and whites haven’t started laying. I’m happy with the start.