YOu will want to make sure the temperature is holding steady at 99.5 degrees and that the humidity is hovering around 50-55%. Set your incubator up and run it for a minimum of 24 hours before you put any eggs inside. Read my full disclosure for more details. When you visit a link in this article that takes you to a different website where you can purchase something, I may earn a commission. Don’t worry – they’ll remain fertile for about a week after they were laid. Rotate the eggs a few times a day until you’ve collected enough to load your incubator. Store Eggs ProperlyĪfter collecting your eggs, store them with the pointy-end down in a cool location (not the refrigerator – shoot for 60 degrees or so). Local egg sources are almost always best, as shipped eggs tend to have lower hatch rates than eggs that do not need to be shipped. Just make sure you choose a local farm, reputable breeder, or hatchery. You can always purchase fertile-hatching eggs. With your other hand, use a candler to shine light through the egg to examine for hairline cracks.ĭon’t already have ducks of your own? Don’t worry. Simply select the egg and hold it in your hand. Not sure if your eggs are cracked? There’s an easy way to tell if your eggs will be good for hatching. Reject those with calcium deposits.Īvoid using eggs that are cracked or overly large or small. Ideally, it should be wider at one end and narrower at the other. Only use clean eggs – but don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need to wash your eggs! Instead, just carefully scrape away the mud or manure with a fingernail. That way, you won’t have to worry about washing your eggs (which often renders them useless for incubation).Ĭhoose eggs that are the most uniform, preferably without any visible defects or any manure or mud on the surface. Add new bedding frequently to avoid a messy nesting area. Make sure your eggs are clean – ideally, by providing your ducks with a clean nesting area. You will want to collect your duck eggs daily and store them in a cool room out of direct sunlight. Incubating your own duck eggs starts with collecting eggs! Ducks only lay one egg per day, at most, and usually, ducks won’t sit on their eggs until they have a dozen or so collected. How to Incubate and Hatch Duck Eggs Start With Clean Eggs of the Best Quality You may need to adjust your turning or an automatic turner to adjust for this. They rotate them from the outside of the nest to the inside so that their mother’s heat is evenly distributed. For example, in the wild, ducks don’t simply roll their eggs back and forth. You may notice some differences in how your incubator turns eggs, too. One thing that’s interesting when it comes to the differences between chicken versus duck eggs is that the amount of time it takes for duck eggs to hatch can vary a bit by breed! However, there are a few differences between ducks and chickens that you’ll want to pay attention to.įirst, duck eggs are, as you’ve probably noticed, much bigger. For the most part, hatching all kinds of poultry is more or less the same.
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