FINNALLY! Found BEI hatching eggs! Hatching Q.

[monarc23]

Hi there!

Okay I know that they say that Calls have a hard time hatching...because of their tiny beaks I think I read? Well, BEIs are small like Calls, however their beaks don't look as tiny, does this mean at all that they seem to hatch easier than calls do? I just want to know what I may be up against as far as the hatching part of these lovely ducks go?

thanks for any info!
niki

 

[KellyHM]

BEI = ???

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
Black East Indies Bantam Ducks


heres some gorgeous pictures of some (im not getting from this breeder though wow maybe someday nice birds)!:
http://www.giffsfarm.com/eastindies.html

 

[DuckLady]

PM to Katie. She knows her stuff regarding bantam ducks!

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
thanks is "Katie" her screen name?

 

[KellyHM]

Pretty.

They kind of look like mini Cayugas.

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
yeppers that's what I think too, when I was having trouble finding BEI's I was going to settle for some Cayugas but something about these lil cuties just had me wait for them and finnally! I cannot wait to get these eggs in my bator!!!!

Should be getting them next week

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

As with all ducks, you should start cooling them for 10min per day starting on day 10, and mist them with some warm water during the cooling period. I didnt do that last year, I started doing it this year and my hatch rate doubled. Good Luck.

 

[CityChicker]

We generally mist too. Granted, it depends on so many factors like where you live and the incubator. If you live in an area of low to moderate humidity, I would *definitely* without question, mist once daily. That is my opinion based on what has worked for us.

I don't know how well BEI hatch in relation to Calls since I don't raise Calls. I am reading a book right now that says that Call eggs can be as low as 25% hatch in an incubator. That seems unreasonably low to me (again though, I don't raise Calls). My other bantam duck hatches are far more successful than that. On eggs laid here, we sometimes have gotten 90%+. Shipped eggs are another story.

As far as the cooling off of the eggs, I didn't find that it helped our eggs hatch much better but we have only tried it a couple times. I would base whether you do that or not on your incubator. If you have an incubator that is very reliable and maintains temperature extremely well then I say go for it. If you are using something that takes a long time to stabilize, I might not try it. HTH.

 

[froggie71]

I didn't hatch out call ducks, so don't know about them, but our 1st try of 16 duck eggs came out with a 100% hatch rate, no misting or cooling of eggs here, but like I said, we didn't do calls or BEIs. Good luck to you though!