Cant believe I am going to do this .....** MORE QUESTIONS SORRY **

[Crazy4Chicks]

ok I finally got my acu-rite digital thermometer thingy and have my bator out and on the counter and I am going to warm it up tonight.
I have a few questions
1 - are the acu-rite's very trust worthy??
2 - how do I adjust the temps in my bator ( brand new never been used )

I am going to set some duck eggs this weekend so next few questions are
1 - what temp do they need to be set at ?
2 - what humitity do I need to be at ?
3 - how many days does it take for them hatch ?


I am doing this without a water wiggler ( cant find them right now anyway ), also I am doing this without an egg turner or a fan so next few questions are
1 - how often to turn ( is it the same as chicken eggs? )
2 - is there any thing speacil I need to do for duck eggs?
3 - does anyone have any tips or advice for a first time hatcher ?

I am using the Little Giant so any advice or tips will be great


Julie

 

[Bantymama]

Check this site out it should answer some of your questions.
http://www.duckhealth.com/hatcduck.html
I use the red plugs to control the humidity with my little giant. There should be a knob for controlling the temp , and it should have arrrows showing which way to turn for hotter or cooler.

 

[carugoman]

I've been using an ACU-RITE wireless remote digital thermometer. This model comes with a remote,waterproof,wireless sensor and a 'main' digital thermometer. What I like about this model is that it reads temperature AND humidity at both the sensor and the main receiver unit and does so quite accurately. I bought mine at Lowe's for $25.

 

[Crazy4Chicks]

ok so the link says

temp - 99.5
humidity- 84.5
hatch - 25 days
turn about 3-4 times a day

anything else I should know ? I am VERY VERY scaried to do this but I am going to give it a try


Julie

 

[poultrylady]

Nothing to be scared about, you will be fine. I started out with a styrofoam incubator and hatched out duck eggs in it. One tip I found out is, when you open it to roll the eggs, mist them a little bit, not much now, just a little with a spray bottle of water once a day. I found they like a little extra humidity. Also different breeds of ducks take longer to hatch, Muscovies take longer than other duck eggs. Good luck!

 

[Crazy4Chicks]

well these will be pure bred mutts

the mom is my black cayuaga ( or how ever that is spelled )

the dad(s) yes she has been doing the " dirty duck deed " with both of them
one dad is my white pekin, the other is a mallard/creasted mix

so I am looking forward to seeing what they will look like - black ducks with a pompom on top ?? who lnows LOL


Julie

 

[Crazy4Chicks]

ok I have the bator plugged in and added the water to the channels in the bottom I have put in the acu-rite but the temp is reading 73 I know this not the right temp I just turned the bator on - so how long do I leave everything alone until the acu-rite starts to show the right bator temp?? and the little light on top keeps going off is that normal ? sorry to have so many questions but I have never done this before and I want to get everything right before I set my eggs.

I am sure I will have ALOT more questions as the next few days come along so hopefully everyone is patience with me

I feel so nervouse and the eggs are not even in there yet ! how do you all do this without going crazy??

Julie

 

[poultrylady]

You will get used to it, I have almost 900 eggs in my incubators right now About your temp- the best I can remember about these incubators-when the red light goes off it has reached the temp it is set at, since it is only on 76 you need to turn the heat up, wait and when the red light goes off again check your temp again, you may need to keep adjusting till you reach 100. Red lite off means it will not increase in temp-red light on and stays on, the temp is rising. Once you reach the desired temp, let it run for about 24 hours to make sure the temp stay constant. Hope this helps.

 

[Crazy4Chicks]

well we went to wal*mart and I finally found the wiggler so I went ahead and grabbed two - cant hurt to add them I guess ?? when we got back the temp was reading 101.3 ( oops a little high LOL ) so I turned it down and will see what we have in the morning - but the thing is reading the outside temp - how do I get the thermo to say inside temp? the instrutions that came with it are not very helpful.
anyway I put in a wiggler ( pink one of course

) and put the prob end in it so hopefully the humitity and the temps will read true in the morning I dont plan on setting eggs till this weekend so I have time to play with the temps.

thanks everyone for the help so far... be ready for more questions as this days go along lol


Julie

 

[tiki244]

I am just incubating eggs for the first time and here are a couple things I learned which I hope will help.


I have that accurite thermometer-the outside temp reading is the reading you want to look at-you put the probe in the water wiggler so that would be it. Normally what they use the probe for is to put it 'outside' the house. Thats why it will say outside. Thats the middle temp reading.located in the middle of the thermometrer

second- The accurite reads the humidity not from the probe but from putting the actual device in the incubator. That was my problem, i had the accurite outside of the incubator and could only get 40% humidity. (duh) live and learn!

make sure to calibrate before you use it.


o Yeay and Good Luck