frustrating experience in duck hatching

[njchickenrookie]

kiki,

that I do know. i have been experimenting with various combinations. still yet to find a winning formula after 5-6 years

for chicks i can get maybe 50%. ducks ... MISERABLE

 

[Kiki]

kiki,

that I do know. i have been experimenting with various combinations. still yet to find a winning formula after 5-6 years

for chicks i can get maybe 50%. ducks ... MISERABLE

Do you keep humity high for your chickens too?

 

[Emmaxx]

It sounds like you've researched your method well. I'm not an egg washer but I have read it can make then more vulnerable to bacteria, so your incubator needs to be extra sterile. I know bacteria can kill them off early on but i'm not sure how it would manifest further down the road - whether there is something to indicate it caused a duckling to die or if it would look no different from any other cause. Maybe you could try a batch without washing and see if there's any difference?

If you do eggtopsies are they giving you any clues at all? Do your late deaths have commonalities that could point to a cause?

The diet of your adult flock can also play a part I believe.

I know they are eggs and it's different, but from a scientific point of view I would say work your way through each variable until you pinpoint your issue. Start with your humidity (I'd probably aim nearer 40%, but that's me in my location) if your hatch rate improves a bit then play around with the levels to see where it needs to be for the best hatch. If it doesn't give a marked improvement then try changing something else.

 

[Emmaxx]

Do you keep humity high for your chickens too?

I've just seen the comments about your chicken hatches. I presume you wash those eggs too so that's unlikely. You can probably just go ahead and ignore that bit of what I wrote!

If the humidity levels are the only thing that you change for ducks I would say that is almost certainly the issue you have.

 

[Kiki]

It sounds like you've researched your method well. I'm not an egg washer but I have read it can make then more vulnerable to bacteria, so your incubator needs to be extra sterile. I know bacteria can kill them off early on but i'm not sure how it would manifest further down the road - whether there is something to indicate it caused a duckling to die or if it would look no different from any other cause. Maybe you could try a batch without washing and see if there's any difference?

If you do eggtopsies are they giving you any clues at all? Do your late deaths have commonalities that could point to a cause?

The diet of your adult flock can also play a part I believe.

I know they are eggs and it's different, but from a scientific point of view I would say work your way through each variable until you pinpoint your issue. Start with your humidity (I'd probably aim nearer 40%, but that's me in my location) if your hatch rate improves a bit then play around with the levels to see where it needs to be for the best hatch. If it doesn't give a marked improvement then try changing something else.

The diet of the parents plays a huge part.

 

[njchickenrookie]

the girls are on Dumor layer feed from tractor supplies, same as my chicken

eggtopsies always showed well developed ducklings as big as those hatched successfully, and pretty absorbed egg. most of time no blood or fluid. just a stuck bird

 

[njchickenrookie]

my chicken hatching rate is not too great either. i tried try hatch / more humidity / less humidity ... not much difference. it is rather random it seems. random on the bad side.

 

[Emmaxx]

i'm not familiar with that feed, but maybe someone is able to comment on it. Do the ducks free range? How are the 10-20% that do hatch? deficiencies may show themselves there, but less so than in one of the ones that didn't make it.

Are the DIS ducklings positioned correctly for hatching? and when you say stuck i shell do you mean stuck as in never got out or literally stuck to the inside of the egg?

Have any of your ducks (or chickens for that matter) gone broody? maybe you could try letting them set their own clutch and see whether they have any more success? If they do then it's likely something about your incubation process, if not then there is likely an underlying issue in the eggs before you even start.

 

[chickens really]

Hello..I have the same incubator and have good hatches.
I run the incubator at 40% Humidity and leave the plug in.
The last week before lock down I check air cells. If still a little too small I drop humidity to 35% for two days. I lock down my incubator on Day 26 with all air cells facing up at 60% Humidity and don't touch them again till they need assistance or have hatched. I remove the plug once hatching begins.
I hatched standard Duck eggs, Call Duck eggs and Chicken eggs. Also I do not use an egg turner.

 

[njchickenrookie]

broody muscovy moms do great. i have gotten 13 out of 15 once from her.

it sounds like humidity issue. they start pipping at 25 days as well and first one usually come out at day 26.

maybe i lower the temperature a bit to slow down development and give it more time for evaporation?