How hard is it really to incubate eggs?

[WVduckchick]

I have a Dickey Cabinet type incubator. I have great luck with chickens but I get my ducks all the way to pipping and then lose them. I know it's my humidity. I thought that I was supposed to keep my humidity high all thru the hatch ...74% it seems like. But then I read somewhere else that you shouldn't raise the humidity until the last few days. If I missed that lately with all the talk about incubation, could someone please point me in the right direction.

Thanks

Humidity depends alot (ALOT) on local conditions and other factors, and can differ greatly from person to person, incubator to incubator. I don't know a darn thing about cabinet incubators. But most folks around here would say 70 is way too high for ducks. I started at 45-50, but by day7 they had not lost enough weight, so I dropped to 25-30! Upped it a little (to maybe 40) for the last few days before lockdown, then up to 58-70 during lockdown. Had several hatch perfectly! (I also had a power outage mid-way through, but that's another story!) Next time, I will do about 35% for the entire first 25 days, then up to 60ish for the final days.

So in other words... you probably just need to try it and see! But if you monitor your air cells, you can adjust early enough to straighten them out if its too humid or not humid enough.

Here's a nice hatch guide also:

 

[Cajunlady163]

You definitely want water for humidity! The hen will sweat and keep the eggs moist. You either mist with spray bottle or put water in bottom tray. Very important so the egg shell will open a little between molecules so baby gets air.

 

[Lynn Manes]

Thank you. Will do

 

[WVduckchick]

You definitely want water for humidity! The hen will sweat and keep the eggs moist. You either mist with spray bottle or put water in bottom tray. Very important so the egg shell will open a little between molecules so baby gets air.

I agree that a hen will sweat and keep eggs moist, but many folks have great success with dry incubation. I guess in a literal sense, its not actually "dry"... it just means not adding any extra water than what is already in the air. Trial and error will tell you what works in your neck of the woods.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I agree that a hen will sweat and keep eggs moist, but many folks have great success with dry incubation. I guess in a literal sense, its not actually "dry"... it just means not adding any extra water than what is already in the air. Trial and error will tell you what works in your neck of the woods.

Exactly. Dry doesn't actually mean completely dry. You still want humidity, just less of it and many times you can run "dry" and have a decent amount of humidity. My Oct-Nov incubation I ran comepletely dry and my bator held, on average, 40% humidity. This hatch I can not run completely dry because of the winter season and using wood pellet heat our ambient humidity is much lower and my hygrometer only shows 16% w/o water. So I have to add water to keep it around the 30% mark.

 

[islasunflower]

See, and there in lies my mistake I was using Wet bulb percentage for a regular Hygrometer. It's almost half the difference. Metzer Farms states the 78-90% but it's Wet Bulb not Hygrometer. I didn't realize there was so much difference.

Thanks

 

[WVduckchick]

See, and there in lies my mistake I was using Wet bulb percentage for a regular Hygrometer. It's almost half the difference. Metzer Farms states the 78-90% but it's Wet Bulb not Hygrometer. I didn't realize there was so much difference.

Thanks

Good thing you caught that little tidbit! haha Wet bulb is expressed in degrees, like temperature, not as a percentage, so you just have to pay attention to the symbol to know which one they are referring to. I tried making my own wet bulb, and it worked while I had some water in there... but once the wick runs dry, its not longer a wet bulb! So you can't really use a wet bulb in a "dry" incubation. I have read that a wet bulb hygrometer is the most accurate overall though!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

See, and there in lies my mistake I was using Wet bulb percentage for a regular Hygrometer. It's almost half the difference. Metzer Farms states the 78-90% but it's Wet Bulb not Hygrometer. I didn't realize there was so much difference.

Thanks

Wet bulb humidity is usually taken in terms of degrees (60-65% humidity on a hygrometer is 80-90 DEGREES on a wet bulb.) 70-75% would be 92-97 Degrees on a wet bulb. Hygrometers in my opinion are way easier...lol

 

[silkiecuddles]

Not sure what is the best thread for these questions, but here goes. I have an Brinsea Octagon. The cheapest model. I think it holds 12. I got it a couple years ago for Christmas, but have been "scared" to use it till now. I would like to hatch some of my pekin duck's eggs. two females lay daily. Should I gather each day until I have enough to go in the incubator? That would be about six days. Would the eggs go bad for incubating during that time for?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Not sure what is the best thread for these questions, but here goes. I have an Brinsea Octagon. The cheapest model. I think it holds 12. I got it a couple years ago for Christmas, but have been "scared" to use it till now. I would like to hatch some of my pekin duck's eggs. two females lay daily. Should I gather each day until I have enough to go in the incubator? That would be about six days. Would the eggs go bad for incubating during that time for?

6 days is perfectly fine. Yes, you should collect them (store them in an egg carton around 50-60 degreesF and turn then daily) and when you have what you want set them all together. Most people set eggs that are a week old or less. Most articles recommend 10 days and under with the consensus being over two weeks the hatch rate declines significantly. The Brinseas are highly recommended and one of the most fool proof incubators, so you are off to a good start. Good luck on your hatch!