Duck Eggs Day 10 - to cool or not to cool?

[Dgrif5]

We are currently on day 10 of our Duck egg incubation, and all but one seem to be developing alright (one was infertile). I've heard conflicting answers on whether or not to mist and cool the eggs once a day until lockdown from now on, and was hoping to task the opinion of more experienced Duck hatchers on here

On an unrelated note as well, to save making a new thread: due to a mixup when setting the eggs, we have one egg in the second incubator that is roughly 4 days ahead of the others in there (around day 14). When should we put those eggs into lockdown? I don't want to lose the one egg, but I don't want to jeopardise the other 4 in there either. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[SamuelMcF]

I hear of a lot of people spraying/cooling successfully but I don't think it is necessary. I have never done it and just had a batch of duck eggs with 100% hatch. So it is not a must.

I would put all the eggs in lockdown maybe a day or two earlier for the one that will hatch first. But not too much because otherwise it will be too humid for the later ones that still need to lose moisture before hatching and still be turned. Ducklings do tend to hatch early so if you see a pip in the older one you can put them on lockdown right then. That has happened before and all hatched ok. 4 days is quite a bit though since the one will be hatching right when the others need to start on lockdown. I think it is better to protect the majority though and not ruin them because of the one.

 

[fawnda]

We are currently on day 10 of our Duck egg incubation, and all but one seem to be developing alright (one was infertile). I've heard conflicting answers on whether or not to mist and cool the eggs once a day until lockdown from now on, and was hoping to task the opinion of more experienced Duck hatchers on here

On an unrelated note as well, to save making a new thread: due to a mixup when setting the eggs, we have one egg in the second incubator that is roughly 4 days ahead of the others in there (around day 14). When should we put those eggs into lockdown? I don't want to lose the one egg, but I don't want to jeopardise the other 4 in there either. Any advice would be appreciated!

I mist and cool 2x a day for 15 minutes.... wild ducks as well as domestics, will leave the nest 2x a day, morning and late afternoon, to eat, drink and eliminate, etc. They come back wet from being in a pond, so misting replicates these breaks. Everything I've read about duck eggs suggests this misting and cooling is good for the air cell and membrane. I'm on day 11 of 9 duck eggs, btw! I had some problems with the thermometer in the beginning of these guys (too low by 4 degrees :/), so not super hopeful for these guys, but pretty sure a few are developing normally.
I guess for the one that's ahead, I would keep the humidity up for it during lockdown, but maybe a tad lower than usual. The ones that are behind can have lower humidity after it hatches, like a little lower than usual, so they can hopefully lose the correct amount of moisture by the end. Might be a little tricky

 

[Dgrif5]

Thank you both for the replies! in regards to the errant egg, i'll try putting that incubator into lockdown a few days earlier then, while keeping an eye out for any pips from the egg. Should I candle it over the last few days to check for an internal pip, or is it not worth the extra handling (by that I mean the last few days before lockdown)? Thanks again to both of you for the help