I'd say it was pretty easy actually. My incubator is a homemade still-air. The therm on top of the eggs is usually around 100-102. The first batch, I had the humidity around 60% until the internal pip, then I made sure it was closer to 70. The last batch I hatched out, I tried a dry hatch and they also did just fine, you still have to get to 70%humidity for the hatching part. I turned 3 times a day until I saw a pip. They take forever from internal pip, to external, to zipping. Its usually a 2 day process. And since a still-air incubator isn't as exact, you get cold/hot spots, the internal pips may be 2 days apart. Toward the last 2 weeks of incubating, I focus on the air cell size and start sponging down the eggs. Depending on the size, I may do it every night, or every few days. The first attempt at hatching, they were tiny so for the last week they were actually incubating (they hatched 5 days early) I sponged them every night. I was soooo worried they were going to drown in the shell, but by the time the first pipped, the air cell was a little less than half the size of the egg. I'd say they were just as easy, if not easier than the maren and buff mixed chicks I hatched. I made my incubator and was totally winging it
but the first batch, 2 of 2 made it to hatch day one got turned around zipping and suffocated. The 2nd were chicks, 3 of 7 hatched, the ones that didn't 2 got cooked early on when the weather got nice, the other 2 had tiny air cells(and THICK shells) the last batch was 4 muscovy, one quit early, the others hatched with no trouble, again, about 4 days early. Considering I spent like 30 bucks to make 2 incubators, I'd say it's been a success.
And I'm at it again. There are 5 scovy eggs in it now. My youngest hen layed 5 then stopped, waits 3weeks, the lays 4 more
. I wasn't going to turn it back on until later in the summer. But I couldn't bring myself to eat perfectly good, fertile muscovy eggs
so now we wait
hopefully this time she will keep laying and take care of the incubating herself. If not, they will go in with the others. I seriously have a problem. I can't eat the Duck eggs.... I HAVE TO HATCH THEM
