How do I incubate duck eggs.

[LeviHan]

I'm new to this whole raising ducks thing and I'm wanting to start hatching my eggs. I have one of those small box incubators. I looked up the temperature and the Internet said 99.5 °F, not too far from chickens, but how much water should I put into the bottom of the incubator for moisture. The only thing I found was 30%-50% and I have no idea hoe many ounces that would be and how often I should put more in. On a side note, can chickens successfully hatch duck eggs or should I make sure the eggs stay seperated?

Any advice is helpful.

 

[PD-Riverman]

I'm new to this whole raising ducks thing and I'm wanting to start hatching my eggs. I have one of those small box incubators. I looked up the temperature and the Internet said 99.5 °F, not too far from chickens, but how much water should I put into the bottom of the incubator for moisture. The only thing I found was 30%-50% and I have no idea hoe many ounces that would be and how often I should put more in. On a side note, can chickens successfully hatch duck eggs or should I make sure the eggs stay seperated?

Any advice is helpful.

Yes around 30% or so should be fine. The depth of your water had nothing to do with the humidity--its the amount of surface area(square inches of surface). Example, if you got a small pipe capped off 1" tall would be the same humidity as the same size pipe from there to china few 1000 miles deep. So fill one of the channels in the bottom to the top----and give it some time to see what the humidity is----if you need less humidity you can cover part of that channel with tin foil. If you need more humidity fill the next smaller one and again you can cover part of one if it is to much. Most of the time 1 or none is all you need---according to your room humidity. You do realize you will need to raise the humidity the last 3 days when you stop turning the eggs. What breed of duck eggs are you hatching?

 

[LeviHan]

Black and white magpie and a drake I don't know the breed of.i just need to know how much to put in the water thing in the bottom. I'll take a picture when I get home. I don't have a hygrometer yet, I'm ordering one, hence why I wanted to know the ounces. The incubator has only one place for water and its in the middle, should I order a small incubator for ducks only?

 

[PD-Riverman]

Black and white magpie and a drake I don't know the breed of.i just need to know how much to put in the water thing in the bottom. I'll take a picture when I get home. I don't have a hygrometer yet, I'm ordering one, hence why I wanted to know the ounces. The incubator has only one place for water and its in the middle, should I order a small incubator for ducks only?

You did not read my above post----it Has Nothing To Do with the Ounces!! Its the Surface. Sorry

Fill one slot is all I can say with out testing with a meter-----again when it comes hatch time you will have to fill more slots.

 

[chickens really]

You need to first off know what the humidity is at.....The best way is to run it 24 hours without eggs in it to see where it sits at.....If all looks good add the eggs....i use a forced air incubator. Hovabator 1588......

Cheers!

 

[LeviHan]

My apologies, I had only skimmed through it. So I should only need the one filled? How can I determine how much humidity is in the incubator without the hygrometer? Thank you for the advice given.

 

[chickens really]

If it does not have a built in humidity detector ? You will for sure need one then......

 

[LeviHan]

I'm going to order one when I can, I'm mainly asking because there's been a spike in her egg production and I'd assume they're all fertile due to my bad luck of buying 4 drakes and only 2 hens.

 

[PD-Riverman]

My apologies, I had only skimmed through it. So I should only need the one filled? How can I determine how much humidity is in the incubator without the hygrometer? Thank you for the advice given.

No problem----a lot of people feel it is the amount of water----Its the amount of square inches of surface---the depth has nothing to do with the humidity BUT the depth does determine how long it can last. If you got a slot with a little water in it will not last as long as a slot the same size filled to the top, so fill the slot to the top. You can go to walmarts and get a temp/humidity meter for less than $10 I can not guarantee you they will be correct but a lot better than guessing. Keep in mind some ducks like Muscovy take longer than most ducks to hatch. You need to know what you got and do some homework to have a Good hatch. Good Luck

 

[chickens really]

I can not tag with this ipad........tag @WVduckchick.....She will know how to help you through the entire process......


Cheers!