few questions new to incubating(:

[mustangluvrjen]

golden 300 ducks hatch at 28 days. So that would put them hatching the 25, hopefully. if all goes well. Right now I'm going by ambient air temp of 99-100. I do have a water wiggle toy w/ probe but the temp for that fluctuates all over the place(don't know why but it does). Keeping my fingers crossed. Looking forward to have lil black n brown ducklings hatch on x-mas.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Howeser nailed it. If you set your duck eggs with a 28 day hatch period on a Saturday, they should hatch on a Saturday. If you set chicken eggs with a 21 day hatch period on a Saturday, they should hatch on a Saturday. Many other species hatch periods are not even weeks so that does not work for them.

A way for me to remember it is that an egg does not have 24 hours worth of development the instant it is set in the incubator. It takes 24 hours of development at incubation temperatures before it has developed for 24 hours. That may sound "as plain as day" but it is not obvious to a lot of people. I think part of what confuses it for many people is that the terminology is Day 1, or Day 18. I think the terminology should be the End of Day 1 or the End of Day 18. It seems like the first day the eggs are in the incubator should be the first day but that is not the case.

Howeser made another very important point. The 28 day period for your duck eggs to hatch is a target. Eggs seldom hatch exactly when they should for different reasons. A huge factor is average incubation temperature. If the average temperature is a bit high, the eggs will hatch early, maybe by two or three days. I've had chicken eggs pipping when I went into lockdown with a warm incubator. If the average temperature is a bit cool, they can be two or three days late. Often, especially in still air incubators, the temperature in various parts of the incubator can vary, so it is a good idea to move the eggs around occcasionally when you turn them. Heredity has a bit to do with it. The size of the eggs can affect this. Eggs that are a bit small for the species will hatch a bit early while eggs a bit large can be late.

Hatching is also not an instantaneous process. The chick or duckling positions itself in the egg. It rests. Moving in those tight spaces is hard work. It pips, then often rests a long long time. It zips. Sometimes it rests but often it pushes the egg shell apart before it stops to rest. So you have an exhausted wet pitiful looking baby just laying there. But soon, they are up and running around, drying out and playing rugby with the unhatched eggs.

Good luck on the Christmas hatch.

 

[mustangluvrjen]

Thank ridgerunner very appreciative. This is my first time incubating. It was my boyfriends idea. He's in the Army and won't be together for the holidays

so he figured that this would be a way for my 4 yrd daughter and I pass the time and have something to look forward too. Again thank you for taking your time to explain things to a newbie

So far I 5 viable eggs out of six. Crossing finger and praying that they'll all make it thru the journey

 

[CallyB57]

Quote:
Maybe you don't see it because roosters are pretty quick about the romancing thing. It only takes 8 or 10 seconds and most the time all I hear is a squawk from the hen and it's over. Sometimes no squawk!

 

[CallyB57]

Also, thanks for the additional hatching info Ridgerunner.