Whelp... Here goes nothin'...

Hello, world! Welcome to the our blog. Welcome one and all!

**Crickets chirping**

Ok. Well... Welcome to our one reader whoever you may be. Take off your shoes. Let your hair down. Make yourself at home but don't stay for too long because you may get bored!

Anyway, if you couldn't tell already, this is Marcie. For my first post I want to explain the title of this blog. For those of you who don't know, I have recently taken a new adventure "under my wing" (PUN! LOL!). I'm currently trying to hatch a brood of duck eggs. Check it out:

How did this happen? Did I receive a spark of inspiration? Was it a long concocted plan? Not necessarily. It all started when I found out that my dad and my step-mom, both civil engineers, decided that they would invest in a FARM. Once I found this out, I got so excited I felt like a little girl at Christmas time. Seriously. My dad told me that they were planning on getting cows, chickens, land, the works. I got the fever. The FARM fever. I wanted to contribute! I wanted to experience it, too! My dad consented to let me contribute a duck to his farm. I did a ton of research to figure out what breed would be best. I found that the Pekin (Aflack) duck is a hearty and good tempered domestic breed and is good for first-timers.

Let me rewind briefly about 15 years ago... I was always obsessed with birds. They fascinated me. Sure I loved animals in general but birds had my attention over everything. I recall many times that I either a) brought a nest full of baby birds home for myself and had them taken away by my father, b) brought a nest full of bird eggs home in hopes I could hatch them for myself (they never hatched - turns out wrapping them in toilet paper and sticking them in socks doesn't work) and c) even tried AND succeeded in catching ducklings multiple times but was then attacked by a persistent and volatile mother. I was obsessed. When I reached my senior year in high school, I begged my dad to let me have a pet duck since I would be leaving for college soon. He said, and I quote, "absolutely positively definitely NOT." So instead I got a pet tarantula which did a really crappy job in filling my void.

Now that I'm a responsible and married adult and my husband and I will be living on my dad's farm for the summer, my dream became less of an illusion and something that could really happen. However, I also realized how expensive it was! The numbers took me to the $300 range! LAME. So I did a lot of research. I found that it is possible to make your own homemade egg incubator because in order to hatch any egg, you have to contain it at the right temperature and the right humidity for the amount of time it needs. As long as you have those two components and you rotate the egg 3 times a day, it doesn't matter how you do it. I was determined to make my dream happen and make it happen for a reasonable price.

So, with a serious amount of dedication, I was able to make it happen. Dependable incubators usually run around $200 but mine was only $30! And much less dependable!

The challenge is getting the incubator to the right temperature and humidity ranges. The temperature is recommended to be at 99.5 with very little deviance permitted, while the humidity can be anywhere from 50%-70%. It took a few days for me to get it at the right range but even then you have constantly check it (I did just now). I wake up multiple times a night to make sure it's in the right range because if it's too high or too low it can kill the embryos. Needless to say, I'm tired. I am also determined. (Can you tell in the picture that the incubator is right next to the bed? It's like waking up for a real baby! Sheesh!)

I ordered the eggs on ebay from a duck breeder with very good credentials. I paid for 6 eggs but she sent 9 which was nice. Since that day we've lost two. One cracked during shipping and another cracked during rotation (shell was unusually thin). I know I mentioned before that I only wanted one but you can't order just one duck egg. Plus, you have to think about hatch rates. In any given number of eggs, you will never get a 100% hatch rate. I was nervous that if I somehow found a way to get one or two eggs that they wouldn't hatch. Assuming all goes well during the incubation process, I should get at least one.

Anyway, as of today the eggs have been incubating for 6 days. I have 22 more days to go. In a week, I will do a process called "candling" where you turn all the lights off and shine a flashlight through the egg. This process illuminates the embryo and if I see the slight beating of a heart and some arteries, I will heave a sigh of relief. If not, I will heave a lesser sigh of relief because it will mean I can sleep normal again. I guess we will wait and see!

Aspiring duck owner,

Marcie