Our duckling hatching project
We are so excited that once again this year we will be taking part in the duck hatching program.
On Monday 15th May we will take delivery of 5 precious duck eggs and hopefully toward the end of the week we will hear the pitter patter of tiny duck feet!
The ducks will stay with us for a few weeks before going to live at their forever home at Hall farm stables https://www.hallfarmstables.co.uk/
This is an amazing experience for the children to witness and the ducklings are expertly looked after by Sarah who becomes “mummy duck” for a few weeks.
We will keep you all updated with photos and videos so you can see the miracle of hatching and how the ducks grow and change.
Monday 15th May 2023 Our 5 Duck Eggs arrive at Playgroup
We were all eagerly awaiting the arrival of our duck hatching kit today and the 5 precious eggs. Here are a couple of photos of the incubator with our duck eggs inside. Now the wait begins……. we are all looking for signs of pipping (small cracks where the duckling is ready to emerge and is beginning to break through it shell) so that we know hatching is underway.
Tuesday 16th 2023 The waiting continues……..and some exciting news!!!
Today when we arrived at playgroup there was no sign of pipping on the eggs, a little while later we checked the eggs again and saw some pipping on one egg. Duckling 1 was on its way and very speedily at that!!!
Within 2 hours the duckling had emerged, the children were so excited to welcome the new duckling and we decided after much thought to call it Charlie as we had all recently enjoyed our coronation celebrations for King Charles!!
Duckling Number 1
Egg Number 2
We have some pipping on Egg number 2 so maybe by morning we might have another emerged Duckling……….or maybe more! watch this space
17th May 2023 Egg number 2 ……….. Welcoming Duckling 2
Today when we arrived at playgroup egg number 2 was still intact but we could see the little duckling working really hard to emerge. Just before lunch we welcomed duckling number 2, the children have named it Rosie
17th May 2023 Duckling Charlie update
Duckling Charlie is doing well, he has completely dried out and his down is fluffy, he started pecking around for food and today took his first drinks of water. Now Charlie is completely dry you can see he has a white tuft of down on his head…….maybe he is regal after all!!!
It looks like Duckling 3 is on its way!!!!
During the afternoon Egg number 3 started pipping……….watch this space for hopefully more hatching news tomorrow
18th May 2023 Welcoming Duck number 3……. and 4!!!!!!
When we arrived at playgroup this morning we found that overnight Duckling number 3 had emerged from its egg. The children were very excited to see the new arrival and gave the new duckling the name Crystal
And during the morning session today we welcomed Duckling number 4, another yellow coloured duckling like Charlie. A very popular name suggestion was Rainbow so that’s what we decided to call number 4
17th/18th May 2023 Moving to the brooder box
Charlie, Rosie and Crystal were all exploring the brooder box today, they have a special brooder that they can huddle under to sleep, a food tray and a special drinker. Just before we left for the day Rainbow was able to join the other Ducklings in the brooder.
Sunday 21st May 2023
Our 4 Ducklings, Charlie, Rosie, Crystal and Rainbow continue to do well and are all in the brooder now, unfortunately egg number 5 didn’t hatch this year, sometimes this happens despite the care and attention provided.
The Ducklings have been spending the weekend with “Mummy duck” Sarah and are keeping her very busy! they enjoy zooming around in their brooder and whilst out and about so its quite tricky to get any good photos but here is a couple for you to see
Next week will begin introducing the Ducklings to water, its always amazing to watch and the children love to watch those first experiences. When ducklings are raised by their mothers they are coated with her natural waxy oils from her feathers as she sits on them which helps them repel the water and not damage their down. Ducks like ours are not able to produce this waxy oil initially and so for the first 4 or so weeks the ducklings have limited swims and we dry them off so that they don’t get too cold. Water helps to stimulate the oil gland which is located at the base of their tail to produce the oils and then the duckling preens itself which helps spread the oil.
Here is a short video of our ducklings last year having some paddling time
Ducklings paddling 2022
22nd May 2023 The Duckling’s first swim
Today the Ducklings had their first taste of water and swimming, as they are still so young and don’t yet have a waxy coating to protect their down they can only swim for a few minutes and then they need to be dried off. Here are some photos and a video of Charlie and Crystal having their very first swim.
24th May 2023 - Meet the Ducklings
Charlie
The Duckling that hatched first, very nosy and makes a lot of noise!!!!
Rosie
The Duckling that hatched second, likes to run around and escape from the brooder, pool and tray!!!
Crystal
The Duckling that hatched third, the smallest of the crew! Loves to do zoomies in the paddling pool
Rainbow
The Duckling that hatched fourth, our last duckling, quite bossy and very nosy too, likes to join Crystal doing zoomies!!…..and doesnt like posing for the camera
Zoomies in the pool and swimming practice
The Ducklings love to be in the pool and enjoy zooming round, we call it doing zoomies, the children find it very funny to watch the Ducklings as they race around
29th May - 2nd June 2023 Half term The ducks go on holiday to Sarah’s house
During the half term holiday the ducks went to stay with Sarah at her house, it’s unbelievable how much they change in a short space of time. Over the holiday they started to get some of their feathers and certainly got much bigger. In the photos you can see some of their new feather growth and also the very adorable Trigger, Sarah’s dog. During the holiday the ducks also developed their quack and were very efficient alarm clocks waking Sarah up each morning around 5am
Week beginning 5th June 2023 Our last week with the Ducklings
Following the half term the Ducklings are growing fast and their feathers are really coming in now. They love wandering round the garden and foraging for food….. lots of swimming and quacking going on!!!…….And when they’ve worn themselves out they all cuddle up together. We are now acclimatising the ducks to being outside during the day ready for their move to Hall farm stables at the weekend to live with Tessa and her horses, ducks and chickens.
Saying goodbye to Charlie, Rosie, Crystal and Rainbow
The Ducks have now moved to their forever home with Tessa at Hall farm riding stables. The photos show the ducklings in their little pen so that they become acclimatised and used to the other ducks before meeting them and becoming free range ducks themselves. We have had a great time watching the eggs hatch and looking after our feathered friends, the children learn so much from this experience and it provokes lots of thoughts and questions.
This is an fantastic project that helps children learn about loss, change and transitions, the rising 5’s see the ducks growing and moving onto their next steps just like they will in a few weeks as they leave playgroup and start their new adventures at primary school and the younger children see that progression and it helps them to understand growing and transitioning.
Thank you to our committee for all their hard work fundraising which enables us to provide this wonderful project for the children and also to Tessa who provides a forever home for the ducks.
Duckling update 3rd July 2023
The ducklings are growing really fast, they have all of their feathers and are almost fully grown now. They have settled in really well at Hall farm stables and Tessa sends us regular updates so that we can all see how they are doing. Here are a couple of recent photos from when Sarah went to visit them.
