Hatching Duck eggs....I messed up...UPDATE.....#1

[chickens really]

Ok.....Here I go....

Mixed Breed Eggs....Welsh Drake and Possibly my Saxony Hen and Buff hen? Green eggs and White ones.......First two collected on December 21st.....Put right under Broody Hen.......

I had my Ducks breeding like wildfire......Had Two Broody Chickens.....Randomly I gave them my Duck eggs as two were laid each day...Stupid of me I know, I should of collected the eggs and started them all on the same day.....The oldest egg has a Duckling bouncing around and enjoying itself in the egg......My One hen kept kicking out eggs so those ones froze.......I pulled out my Incubator and put all eggs inside.....Got more crazy...wait for this story...I then collected more eggs.....Very random hatch dates....I spoke with hmmm?.....Darn I cannot remember the one persons name?? I will mention both later who helped me greatly.....lol

Got it....
@Yorkshire Coop and @Sally Sunshine

My real question is this......I was advised to give my Broody the newest eggs and keep my others in the bator that are closest in hatch dates......Sadly I candled my Eggs and the only one that is thriving is on day 17....Other Duck eggs are not showing embryos but have cell masses.....Now I wonder if the eggs that hen kicked out were the others that were older...?.....Anyways, should I just toss out all these eggs in the incubator and hatch out this one egg and wait to see what my Broody hen can do in the next couple of weeks?

Also I was wondering what date to put this little pup into lock down for a Duck egg?.....Humidity is at 50% today is day 17....


Totally confused on the farm........

UPDATE #1........

I candled my eggs under my Broody Hen last night,(Sunday night)...The 3 Duck eggs had zero development...The 5 Chicken eggs are doing great...That is a plus....Fingers crossed....

My Duck eggs in the incubator, 9 in total. The Bouncer is doing great and two others are developing nicely....The other four I will candle again by Wednesday to see if they are developing or duds?....

This is my plan, if I should change it, please advise me....I plan to keep these Duck eggs in the incubator till the Bouncer needs to go into lock down. I was thinking of popping these other Duck eggs under my Broody till the Bouncer hatches and then putting them back into the incubator to finish the hatch...?......Does that sound like a good plan??....The only reason I think I want to pop the Duck eggs back into the incubator is because it is not warm at all in my garage and worry they will freeze if I leave with the Broody hen to hatch...I will leave the Chicken Chicks with her and she can hatch out those....I will be Brooding the Chicks indoors and giving my Hen a well deserved break.....

I sure have learned a lot by my mistakes..lol.....I feel like my next attempt at hatching will go a lot smoother and I think I will be using my Broody Hens to hatch out for me more than my incubator in the future.......

Thank you everyone for the advise....I will post pictures if or when I have success....Lock down for the Bouncer is on Friday.....


Cheers!..........

 

[chickens really]

Any information will be greatly appreciated.........



Cheers!

 

[DancingWthDucks]

Put the egg in the bator into lockdown on day 26, at 65-70% humidity. Since the duckling will be hatching out alone, try introducing it to the broody hen (the one that isn't incubating eggs) and let her raise it....

Good luck!

 

[chickens really]

Thanks for the info.......Still needing advise though as what to do with the other Duck eggs with cells in my Bator....My Chicken has lots and those ones are a science project being I have no idea till Sunday when I candle them....?.....I guess once Sunday comes and I rule out any eggs that are not growing, I COULD THEN GIVE THESE OTHERS TO HER ALSO?...Just keep the one in the incubator that clearly is going to hatch......

Confused....lol

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I agree with Charlotte and you can let the others in the bator and candle in a few days to see if anything is alive or collect and try fresh now that you got whats to happen.

 

[chickens really]

Alright I will wait till Sunday when I candle what is under my Broody hen and remove any dead eggs.......I will replace the dead ones with these that are showing cells in my incubator after I candle them....If all are dead except for this little Bouncer that is thriving I will hatch it out and start over without all my craziness......Wow....Thanks so much.....

Cheers!

 

[chickens really]

My little Bantam Hen is not Broody anymore....Possibly Alice will be again by Sunday...She always goes Broody....My Giant Lavender Splash Orpington is Brooding the eggs I have now....Good Girl.....If Alice Broods again? I KNOW SHE WILL HATCH THEM OUT...Monster for eggs...loves them all....Silly Hen..........



Thanks I need all info I can get at this point......

Your all great!


Cheers!

 

[chickens really]

Put the egg in the bator into lockdown on day 26, at 65-70% humidity. Since the duckling will be hatching out alone, try introducing it to the broody hen (the one that isn't incubating eggs) and let her raise it....

Good luck!

One question about this single Duck egg....I have a Hovabator with the water chambers numbered 1 to 4.....Use two chambers to hatch it at lock down or still just the 1?.....I read up on how to change the temp but again I am confused with the humidity....Just by adding more water at lock down will up the humidity to my understanding?......Thank the Lords for Broody Hens!!.....lol....

The bouncer is doing great as of this afternoon.....One happy little Embryo.....

 

[chickens really]

I hope someone replies back......I was also thinking I could leave the extra Duck eggs in the incubator till little bouncer needs to be in lock down to hatch and put those under my broody and then bring them back in once he hatches?.....Would that work???.....Sounds like it could?


Totally appreciate any and all info at this point......



Cheers!

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

One question about this single Duck egg....I have a Hovabator with the water chambers numbered 1 to 4.....Use two chambers to hatch it at lock down or still just the 1?.....I read up on how to change the temp but again I am confused with the humidity....Just by adding more water at lock down will up the humidity to my understanding?......Thank the Lords for Broody Hens!!.....lol....

The bouncer is doing great as of this afternoon.....One happy little Embryo.....

Glad to hear that your duckling is nearly ready to emerge.

Not sure what model of Hova-Bator you have, but I have the 1588 with the numbered wells (see "Hatching" section in the manual here: https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/doc/15/1588 Genesis TUV.pdf). To increase the humidity at lockdown, I usually (depending on time of year) have to fill the two largest wells - it will increase the humidity quickly, but it's difficult to bring the humidity back down if you raise it too much (I have basically had to soak up the excess water with paper towels or sponges to remove it). I use my hygrometer to verify that the humidity reaches about 65-70% at lockdown.

Best of luck with your hatch!