Dangerboy's Page

Hi, I Have questions about hatching Mallard duck eggs.  I witnessed a Female duck get spooked out of her nest and two red tailed Hawks teamed up on her and got her.  I looked under the bush from which she came and sure enough 12 eggs.  I carefully took them into my warm car and drove to Farm & fleet to get an incubator.  I got them set up in the back bedroom of my house.  I saw that they were fertile when I candled them. they all had red veins and were about 2/3rds of the egg full minus the air cell.  I turned them 5 times a day and misted them once a day.  The eggs looked full yesterday and the light only shown through in the air cell.  Because I don't know when the incubation was started by the mother my guess is that they should be near hatching because the eggs are now dark when I candle them.  I stopped turning them when I saw that the eggs were full.  I had read that they fill up fast and then get ready for hatching and that you are to stop turning them the last three days.  I have not seen any sigh of piping into the air cell.  I am worried that I am going to screw this up.  Let me know if you think I am on the right track.  I know the eggs would have died if I would have left them alone.