Incubation progress of Muscovy eggs

[yinepu]

Here are the third and fourth ducklings.

the one on the right needs to be in a "caption this" contest..

congrats on your babies!..

 

[Lacrystol]

I have about thirty eggs collected and I've gotten them over the course of the last 3 weeks roughly.
So some are anywhere up to a bit over 3 weeks old and some only a few days.

Fertality decreases after 2 weeks, so your three week old ones may not do anything.

 

[MuscovyLover]

Fertality decreases after 2 weeks, so your three week old ones may not do anything.

I suspect I've probably done lots of things wrong in this process. It's a great big learning curve and it's going to be interesting to see how the first incubation turns out. I'm getting very nervous as I keep getting told how difficult Scovies are to incubate.
All I can do is learn from each mistake and not repeat it an keep talking to wonderful people like all of you

 

[casportpony]

I'm pretty sure this link is somewhere in this thread, but here it is again in case you haven't read it:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/incubating-and-hatching-muscovy-eggs

-Kathy

 

[Mashallaharabia]

I only let mine brood if the nest is inside the predator proof duckhouse. Any egg laid anywhere else goes into the refrigerator.

 

[Mashallaharabia]

Why incubate at all? Let mother Muscovy do it, she knows better than any human about hatching eggs.

 

[subhanalah]

You can't make a duck go broody.
Some people don't have a mother duck.

 

[casportpony]

I only let mine brood if the nest is inside the predator proof duckhouse. Any egg laid anywhere else goes into the refrigerator.

None of my nests are predator proof, but most of the hens prefer making their nests up against the house and the skunks, coons, opossums, foxes and coyotes seem to stay away so far. We do have a 5' chain link, that used to keep most things out, but with the drought they've come down from the hills and figured out how to go over and under it.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Why incubate at all? Let mother Muscovy do it, she knows better than any human about hatching eggs.

Some of mine have abandoned their nests, that's usually when I incubate duck eggs. And some people like to incubate eggs, so why not? My peafowl won't go broody, so I have to incubate them or put them under broody hens.

-Kathy

 

[MuscovyLover]

Why incubate at all?  Let mother Muscovy do it, she knows better than any human about hatching eggs.

It's great that you do that.
For my purposes though, it makes more sense to incubate.
One factor is that i dont have a broody girl.
The second is that im not breeding to have more ducks myself, but to sell them to cover the costs of having them. Due to this, I want the ducklings to be friendly. I've been touring my local markets and the few peopl that do sell Muscovies and other poultry do it in a very clinical manner. It's either for meat production or mass dollars. The ducklings/chicks are cramped, dirty and scared into tiny little boxes and it's not right in my opinion.
I want little kids to have the experience I did growing up with a duck. If we can offer them this option at an affordable price with the right acessories/tools they'll need to raise it into a happy, healthy rewarding part of the family, then why the heck not I say.