Ducks

The ducks are expected to hatch on Wednesday, but I have taken away the autoturner because some of the eggs are smaller than others and look rather full, and already I am beginning to see shadows moving in some of the air spaces as the ducklings inside are orienting themselves into position ready to hatch.

Three of the Cayuga eggs are an unusual green colour. Cayugas are famous for laying coal-black eggs, but usually only the first eggs of the season are coal-black, as the black colour is a 'paint' deposited by a gland in the duck's laying tract. With subsequent eggs the black colour gradually diminishes until the coating leaves just a faint grey overlay. The egg underneath can be green or white according to the Cayuga standard. My old duck laid white, and most of the other Cayuga eggs I received in this batch are also white, so the green ones are a bit of a novelty. I will try to keep track of any ducklings from the green eggs, as these were obviously laid by a different duck to the others, and if they are of good type this might be an interesting trait to breed for.