Enough Incubators?

[blklangshandude]

Not sure if there is a big difference between duck and chicken for how long you can wait to hatch but I thought what the heck and added eggs that were 20 days after being laid
I got 100 % hatch rate on my babies
When I first did hatching I had 2 incubators
One I put an egg in daily and the other so I could move them over for lockdown
If you put eggs in every 3-4 days it would give time to move one group over have them hatch and move the next group over ect
Although it’s not recommended to go past 10-14 days after as fertility goes down that’s not always the case

I wouldn’t be brave enough for that. 20 days? 7 days even makes me a little uncomfortable.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I wouldn’t be brave enough for that. 20 days? 7 days even makes me a little uncomfortable.

I had confidence cause I have got such high hatch rates
I let 2 schools do my eggs and follow my lead and get 100 hatch on my eggs and I have sold duck eggs and 3 of the 4 buyers also got 100 % hatch rate
Everyone was a first time to incubate duck eggs
My mom and dad have strong eggs so I thought I’ll try and I even had a oops with my bator that round
I used warm water to to up the humidity and went to bed
Woke up 5 hours later and my bator was at 110 degrees. I thought I would loose them all they were day 10 at the time
Everyone of my eggs hatched
The only egg that I lost was not one of my ducks eggs it was one of my friends Swedish eggs but her other 4 still hatched
11 out of 12 after a major heating
The babies had no issues at birth and all are still doing great as I get updates from the buyers
I did learn though don’t use warm water to up humidity in a little giant incubator

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I store my hatching eggs for up to two weeks. I’ve tried stretching it to 2 1/2 weeks but I’ve noticed that the viability goes down significantly after about two weeks.
Because I live in Hawaii I cannot leave them out on the counter, so they are stored in a drinks refrigerator set to the highest setting (around 48°F). Ideally they should be stored between 55 and 65°. Anything I think above 70 and they may start to develop.
Good luck.

 

[Chookwagn]

Are you taking into account that this will be one hen? How long do eggs stay fertile? Yes. Ideally hatching 21 at a time would be best.

What I meant was... you will have eggs at different stages in the 1 bigger incubator and then shifting the lockdown ones out to the hatcher each week

You would have to mark the eggs so you knew which eggs to move each week

 

[Chookwagn]

I wouldn’t be brave enough for that. 20 days? 7 days even makes me a little uncomfortable.

When a hen lays in the wild she would lay until she has enough and then she would brood
normally a hen would sit on 8 to ten eggs.... it could take her 12-15 days to lay that many.

I have hatched eggs that are more than 21 days old... not ideal I know... but they do hatch

 

[blklangshandude]

When a hen lays in the wild she would lay until she has enough and then she would brood
normally a hen would sit on 8 to ten eggs.... it could take her 12-15 days to lay that many.

I have hatched eggs that are more than 21 days old... not ideal I know... but they do hatch

I’ll shoot for 35 next year from one hen and I’ll assume 26 will hatch/live using only my seven egg incubator. We will see what happens. Hopefully nobody will shoot me when I resurrect this thread next year.