First time incubating-advice?

[RedFreckleFarmette]

Ok so I got an incubator for an early birthday present and I am wanting to do my duck eggs first because I am rehoming my male duck tomorrow due to he is pulling my hens feathers out and stressing them so I have found a perfect home where he is going to get waaay too spoiled but that's perfect! Anyways...I have cleaned it and it is turned on with the vent all the way open to ensure it dries. So tomorrow evening it should be ready for eggs. Is there any advice to help make getting started easier? I have the nuture right 360. I have seen people post about putting a liner in the bottom for when the eggs hatch their feet won't fall thru...is this necessary for ducks or just chickens? I've read some different info but is 99.5 degrees correct with vent 1/2 open and aiming for 25-30% humidity? Thanks for any tips! I am excited to do this and see if we can be successful. My kids are super excited to get to watch the process!!

 

[ChickenEnthusiast]

Hey there! Welcome to the excitement of incubating eggs.
So, for the first 18 days have the temp at 99.5 to about 100.3 As for humidity it is critical to have it around 45-60% And as for the liner, set that up when the chick's are ready to come out. Typically you would do this at lockdown. and when that happens also increase the humidity to 60-75% And increase the temperature a bit too. Good luck, and happy hatching!

 

[RedFreckleFarmette]

Is this for

Hey there! Welcome to the excitement of incubating eggs.
So, for the first 18 days have the temp at 99.5 to about 100.3 As for humidity it is critical to have it around 45-60% And as for the liner, set that up when the chick's are ready to come out. Typically you would do this at lockdown. and when that happens also increase the humidity to 60-75% And increase the temperature a bit too. Good luck, and happy hatching!

is this for ducks? I'm not doing chicks this round... They will be next. Thank you! We are so excited!!!

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I'd do max humidity at 40% unless you are going to mist & cool.

 

[RedFreckleFarmette]

Can I get some more help on humidity...I have heard 45-60, 40, instructions say around 50. It's currently at 51-52% with vent half open and spot A has water in it. It's kept that all day today. Temp is 99.5...am I good to put duck eggs in and maintain this?

 

[Silexian]

Being your first time hatching. I think you will be ahead to set the humidity and temperature per manufactures instructions. It seems most people are close to agreement about temperature. There are just as many opinions about humidity as there are people. So it can seem overwhelming. Set your own base line and make adjustments according to results.

 

[NatJ]

Is there any advice to help make getting started easier?

Put all the eggs in on the same day.

If you put in some one day, and some another, and some another-- you end up with a staggered hatch, which is much less convenient.

You can collect eggs for about a week, and then put them all in at once.

(If you already knew this, sorry for repeating. It's one of those things that seems obvious AFTER you learn it!)

 

[RedFreckleFarmette]

Thank you...one last thing and Im sticking them in tonight lol. Do you wash the eggs or wipe them off with a wet paper towel? I've read do not wash them but I've also read make sure they are clean bc bacteria can mess you up.

 

[RedFreckleFarmette]

Oh and if some of them happen to not rotate can I open it and manually rotate them? I have a couple that I think are going to be too big to rotate automatically

 

[NatJ]

Thank you...one last thing and Im sticking them in tonight lol. Do you wash the eggs or wipe them off with a wet paper towel? I've read do not wash them but I've also read make sure they are clean bc bacteria can mess you up.

My experience is only with chicken eggs. I do not know if duck eggs need different treatment.

With chicken eggs, if they look clean, I personally would not wash them. For any eggs that are really dirty (like lumps of poop stuck on them), I would wash those, or else not set them.

I know that some people wash all eggs, by various methods, but I do not know all the details.

if some of them happen to not rotate can I open it and manually rotate them? I have a couple that I think are going to be too big to rotate automatically

Yes, it is fine to open the incubator and manually rotate eggs to turn them.

If you make marks on several sides of the egg, it can make it easier to see which ones are turning properly and which ones are not. (Something like an X on one side and O on the other might be enough, or whatever else seems good to you.)