Well, it was a very staggered hatch this time. From the first hatched keet to the last --one week!!! This led to problems, so some had to been assisted. But, in the end, we got 10 healthy keets. We got a interesting variety of colors considering the adults we have right now. (1 white, 3 lavender, 4 pied, 2 pearl grey)
I have the two newly hatched guineas in a brooder next to the chicks I picked up today. Once all the guineas hatch and get a little more steady on their feet, I will put them in with the chicks.
The second (and last) duck egg hatched today. This duckling looks very different from yesterday's, which is interesting since they are both Blue Swedish and Silver Appleyard crosses. And Moon was off of her nest, I was was able to count how many keets hatched...13!
This is out of 16 eggs, there were 2 undeveloped ones and one dead keet. That is pretty good. Honestly a lot more than I thought would hatch, if they even got to hatch day. As I mentioned in previous posts, we have never had a guinea successfully hatch any eggs before. But Moon did it! So far she is a very protective mom (trying to attack me if I get too close), but she is also very anxious to get out and roam with the rest of the guinea flock (right now she and the keets are separated from everyone for safety). This morning, the second incubator duck egg had a pip and the first egg had started to zip. This afternoon, 36 hours after the first pip, the first duckling hatched! This evening, I discovered that at least some of the eggs that Moon has been sitting on have hatched!
The two eggs that are in the incubator are getting very "full" right now. It is difficult to see much of anything except the air cell. This will be my last candling since we are about to "lock down" (the point when the eggs are no longer turned and are disturbed as little as possible so that the ducklings have a chance to orient themselves in the shell before the hatch).
Moon (our white guinea) has been sitting on her nest in the guinea run for quite a while now. She pretty aggressively guards her nest so I am not able to check the eggs often. But today, I happened to be around when she was taking her break, so I was able to sneak in to grab a few eggs for candling. Of the 6 I grabbed, 4 definitely had development and movement, and 2 were inconclusive. There were 10 more eggs that I was not able to check before Moon returned to her nest.
I estimate that she has about 10 days or more. *Fingers crossed.* We have never had a guinea successfully hatch eggs (although a couple of our chickens have hatched guinea eggs). Of course, we have never had a guinea make a nest in such a secure spot before. (Other guinea hens have had their hatches interrupted by predators since the nests are often made in the woods.) I picked up our duckling order today. I attempted to give them to Cheezit by switching out her fake eggs for the ducklings. But, unfortunately she was having none of it. She actually seemed to be terrified of these little fluff-balls. (I might have had more luck if I attempted the transition at night, but I decided not to risk it since I would not be there to supervise and intervene if there was a problem.) After I realized that there was no way she would accept the ducklings, I blocked the nest from Cheezit. In no time at all she was happily foraging and swimming outside, so I think she is not too upset that her egg babysitting time is over. As for the ducklings, I will just have to raise them myself. No big deal, especially since I still have 2 duck eggs in the incubator that are supposed to hatch next week. Now I can raise them together. |