First timer, EXTREMELY NERVOUS.

[MelissaRenee]

Hey everyone! My name is Melissa and I'm from a little town on the Illinois Indiana boarder!
Well, I've decided I want to try to hatch ducklings, my boyfriends dad had a still air incubator in the barn so my friend brought me 3 dozen eggs! A mix of Muscovy and call ducks.
So i guess I'm just looking for advice. Theres so much on the internet. Half of it contradicts the rest.
I dont have a humidity reader.. Im trying to find a good one local.

And muscovy and call ducks even though they were set at the same time may hatch on different dates is what i read.. Can someone shed some light on that?


Also, what do you feed your ducklings? I'm reading about brewers and niacin ad scratch and blah blah blah. There's so much! So any friendly advice id really appreciate! I'm so nervous. A lot of people know me as a person who I great with animals. Dogs cata rabbits horses goats pig dogs. The list goes on. But I'm so scared to fail at this hatching stuff.. It will break my heart.

Thanks for reading!

And please no harsh comments like i said.
Im trying here.

 

[DancingWthDucks]

Hi Melissa - welcome to BYC!

Once you manage to find a humidity reader, I would aim for 50% humidity, and boost it up to 70% for lockdown (the last 3 days). Also gently misting the eggs once a day with warm water seems to help with hatch results.

As you said, Call ducks normally take 26 days, whilst Muscovys take 35 days......

Most people tend to feed them on unmediated chick crumb with a tablespoon of BREWERS yeast (available of Amazon or your local health food shop) per scoop of crumb for the first 3 weeks, before moving them onto duck/waterfowl grower pellets or all flock raiser.

Good luck with them

 

[purslanegarden]

I may have been lucky but I just had my ducklings on unmedicated chick feed. Didn't add niacin or brewer's yeast (so I guess based on these first two responses, we've already contradicted each other at the 50% rate that you mentioned

). However, I would always suggest that if you can get them, then use them.

Another time, I had another group of ducklings on flock starter feed, since I had other baby poultry also, not just ducklings, and thought that might do better with the variety of baby birds.

Around 2-3 weeks, the ducklings were let out of their brooder box to spend time in the warm sun and forage outside.

It's possible that these kinds of different conditions made it so that they didn't absolutely need the niacin or brewers' yeast. They grew up nice and healthy and tasty. Just kidding. They are nice and healthy as adults, and have been parents to several broods now that eat the same things they did when they were all ducklings.


for your incubator, you didn't mention it, but just wanted to make sure you are turning the eggs manually since you don't have an egg turner in there.

 

[MelissaRenee]

Yes i am turning them and thanks!

Also maybe someone can help.me with this.. Muscovy ducks take longer than call ducks to hatch (says the almighty internet) does that mean i wont see develipment as wuickly while candling?