- Jul 6, 2016
- 14
- 0
- 64
Last Sunday I new absolutely nothing about raising any type of egg/bird. Then I was given a opportunitiy to either
A) try and give 9 duck eggs a chance to live
or
B) watch them being thrown in the trash. Despite my ignorance on the subject I decided to give it a shot.
I went with B
I quickly researched optimal temperatures and humidity for duck eggs (we think mallard) and put my nerdy engineering skills to work. Long story short I was able to put together a computer controlled incubator that regulates both temperature and humidity with an internal fan to circulate the air.
I was able to get the eggs into the incubator within a few hours. I then immersed myself in learning all I could about the subject. Later that night I went to turn the eggs and (with my newly obtained knowledge) armed myself with a bright flashlight. I candled all 9 eggs and found 7 are very much alive and moving. It was very obvious that the other 2 were not viable.
So, As of the time of this writing, I have 7 viable mallard (I think) duck eggs. I have been trying to determine how far along they are by candling them, tracing the air pocket and taking picture, then comparing those pictures to online resources. I'm having a hard time feeling confident about what day they are on. I could use all the help i can get.
My biggest reason for wanting to know the age is so I know when to change the temperature/humidity, also so I know when to stop turning them.
Here are the pictures I took tonight. The line on the egg was traced roughly 36 hours before the picture. I apologize for the quality/blurriness. I was trying to keep several small children at bay while taking these pictures
I was thinking they look to be about day 23ish but I have no confidence in the figure... What do you all think?
A) try and give 9 duck eggs a chance to live
or
B) watch them being thrown in the trash. Despite my ignorance on the subject I decided to give it a shot.
I went with B
I quickly researched optimal temperatures and humidity for duck eggs (we think mallard) and put my nerdy engineering skills to work. Long story short I was able to put together a computer controlled incubator that regulates both temperature and humidity with an internal fan to circulate the air.
I was able to get the eggs into the incubator within a few hours. I then immersed myself in learning all I could about the subject. Later that night I went to turn the eggs and (with my newly obtained knowledge) armed myself with a bright flashlight. I candled all 9 eggs and found 7 are very much alive and moving. It was very obvious that the other 2 were not viable.
So, As of the time of this writing, I have 7 viable mallard (I think) duck eggs. I have been trying to determine how far along they are by candling them, tracing the air pocket and taking picture, then comparing those pictures to online resources. I'm having a hard time feeling confident about what day they are on. I could use all the help i can get.
My biggest reason for wanting to know the age is so I know when to change the temperature/humidity, also so I know when to stop turning them.
Here are the pictures I took tonight. The line on the egg was traced roughly 36 hours before the picture. I apologize for the quality/blurriness. I was trying to keep several small children at bay while taking these pictures
I was thinking they look to be about day 23ish but I have no confidence in the figure... What do you all think?
Seriously though, how are the eggs doing?
