Dry Incubation for Duck Eggs

[Nu Chix To Cash]

I've searched and read all of the threads I could on here but there seem to be very few on dry incubating duck eggs.

For those of you who have used the dry incubation method for duck eggs can you tell me:

Would you incubate duck eggs with this method again?
Do you think you had better or worse hatch rates?
What humidity level did you use during lockdown?
Anything else one might need to know about trying this method for duck eggs vs. chicken eggs?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Nu Chix To Cash]

No one?

 

[Denninmi]

Well, I just did some goose eggs at lower humidity than I have done with other birds -- cut it down to about 40% during incubation and 60 to 65 at lockdown.

And, I had small, sticky goslings that got shrink wrapped and I had to help 3 out of the 4 out.

So, while it seems to work great for upland birds like the quail I hatched a few weeks back at around 35% during incubation, 58% at hatch, I would be leery on waterfowl.

 

[Griffin Nest]

you cant dry incubate with duck or goose eggs. it doesnt work the same way

 

[Ceinwyn]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=491013

excellent guide to incubating and hatching waterfowl
I highly recommend it.
I incubated at 25-30% humidity until external pip then humidity was put over 70% and had 100% of my geese hatch.
Good luck to you.

 

[Nu Chix To Cash]

Thank you for the replies.

Ceinwyn - thank you for the link.

 

[Alexander]

I saw somewhere that for duck eggs humidity must be at 84% the first 25 days and 96% (!) while in lockdown.

Is this true?

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
No, definitely NOT true -- that type of humidity is way too much, the eggs would not be able to lose enough moisture and they'd die in the shell.

Pretty much every reference source says about 45 to 50 % RH during incubation, and around 65 to 70% at hatch.

 

[deshet]

I have had extremely high success rates dry incubating duck eggs.
I live in an area where the humidity usually ranges from 30-60% on most days.
I have hatched 100's of chickens, quail, and ducks with no water added to the incubator.
When I say dry incubation I mean I haven't added any water at all.

I have not turned any eggs for at least the last year, three batches of ducks, 100s of chicken, and 100s of quail and I hatch just as many as turning without health issues.

I am currently hatching some goose eggs. (1st time) Has anyone had success with dry incubation? I have not added any water yet.

No turning hatching

I watched some chickens really closely and marked several eggs. I noticed that some of the eggs moved and some did not. It seemed that it was more from getting on an off the eggs than from turning.

I had more eggs then turners about 2 years ago. I decided to fill my turners and lay the rest of the eggs in the incubator to see what happened. I saw no difference in the hatch. Since then I place the eggs and leave them alone.

I don't candle or do anything after they are placed. My incubator is extremely accurate, I set it and forget it.

Thanks

 

[lsufran]

I have had extremely high success rates dry incubating duck eggs.
I live in an area where the humidity usually ranges from 30-60% on most days.
I have hatched 100's of chickens, quail, and ducks with no water added to the incubator.
When I say dry incubation I mean I haven't added any water at all.

I have not turned any eggs for at least the last year, three batches of ducks, 100s of chicken, and 100s of quail and I hatch just as many as turning without health issues.

I am currently hatching some goose eggs. (1st time) Has anyone had success with dry incubation? I have not added any water yet.

No turning hatching

I watched some chickens really closely and marked several eggs. I noticed that some of the eggs moved and some did not. It seemed that it was more from getting on an off the eggs than from turning.

I had more eggs then turners about 2 years ago. I decided to fill my turners and lay the rest of the eggs in the incubator to see what happened. I saw no difference in the hatch. Since then I place the eggs and leave them alone.

I don't candle or do anything after they are placed. My incubator is extremely accurate, I set it and forget it.

Thanks

Hi @deshet, hoping you are still on this site. I realize your post above was from 2015, if you read this post, I would like to know if you continue to dry hatch duck eggs? If so, if you can give me any pointers. Thank you!