- May 12, 2013
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Hello all!
I am considering hatching some of my eggs for the first time but I had a few questions prior to attempting.
Is there a time frame in which I have to begin incubation? For example, the egg is laid on a Monday. Can I wait a week or so in order for me to have a large enough quantity to have duckling pairs? I have 4 females: a khaki campbell, black swede, rouen, and a rouen/crested mix. From the numbers I've read online, I'm assuming that my khaki campbell is the most regular layer, followed by the others. The winter has been a rough one here but prior to the sub-zero temperatures, they were yielding around a dozen a week and I wouldn't want to attempt to hatch less than that. I've never actually seen any of them lay. They typically do it either very early in the morning and there's eggs in their house or they lay mid-day and I'll find one or two in the yard when I get home from work.
Can refrigerated eggs be incubated? Along those same lines, if temperature is falling below freezing outside, does that make the eggs unsuitable for hatching? Is there a safe low temperature to watch for? How would you recommend storing eggs for hatching?
Is it possible for me to identify the layer of the egg by the color of the eggs? Most of my eggs are white/tan-ish but very recently I have started getting eggs that are blueish green. I read that both swedes and rouen can lay blueish eggs so I wondered if any of you with those breeds can confirm this or if it's just a pot luck, random thing that all breeds are capable of?
Thanks!
I am considering hatching some of my eggs for the first time but I had a few questions prior to attempting.
Is there a time frame in which I have to begin incubation? For example, the egg is laid on a Monday. Can I wait a week or so in order for me to have a large enough quantity to have duckling pairs? I have 4 females: a khaki campbell, black swede, rouen, and a rouen/crested mix. From the numbers I've read online, I'm assuming that my khaki campbell is the most regular layer, followed by the others. The winter has been a rough one here but prior to the sub-zero temperatures, they were yielding around a dozen a week and I wouldn't want to attempt to hatch less than that. I've never actually seen any of them lay. They typically do it either very early in the morning and there's eggs in their house or they lay mid-day and I'll find one or two in the yard when I get home from work.
Can refrigerated eggs be incubated? Along those same lines, if temperature is falling below freezing outside, does that make the eggs unsuitable for hatching? Is there a safe low temperature to watch for? How would you recommend storing eggs for hatching?
Is it possible for me to identify the layer of the egg by the color of the eggs? Most of my eggs are white/tan-ish but very recently I have started getting eggs that are blueish green. I read that both swedes and rouen can lay blueish eggs so I wondered if any of you with those breeds can confirm this or if it's just a pot luck, random thing that all breeds are capable of?
Thanks!