good duck egg incubators that aren't really expensive

[showjumper_girl2002]

going to be hatching my first set of muscovy eggs soon

just need to find a good incubator. i'm not doing this for a business or anything so i don't want to spend loads of money on an incubator if there are inexpensive ones that work good for duck eggs. any opinions on brands? so far i'm leaning towards the little giant still air from my tractor supply store. does anybody have any experience with these? also is still or ok or do i need a circulating air fan?

 

[kikidee]

I'm using a kinda crappy hova bator, its my first time too. What are you planning on hatching them for if not for business? Just curious

-kiki

 

[lovin my birds]

I have a LG still air but I only use it for chicken eggs. I have heard it doesnt keep a high enough humidity for duck eggs. I found out that it is hard to get my humidity up when I go into lockdown, but once it gets there it stays. I hope someone with more experience hatching duck eggs in the bator gets on here. I am letting my duck hatch hers. I got muscovys for the reason they go broody very well. Mine went broody for me two days after I brought her home.

 

[showjumper_girl2002]

my dad is the one that has the scovy's and I wanted to hatch a couple of his hens eggs for pets because I fell in love with the breed

have heard they make great pets. If I am succesfull though my dad may want me to continue so he can sell them

for now though I can't afford to spend a couple hundred dollors on something I may not use very often lol

 

[lovin my birds]

You may be able to hatch them out in an LG. I would go to the hatching eggs section and get some advice from people who have used it to see what tecniques they use. I know there are alot of people on here who use or have used an LG still air. But I think they did it with the fan. I think using the fan would be a better option. I dont and my first few hatches where horrible. Now I have the hang of it, thankfully. But every incubator is different, some people claim they have had a horrible time hatching every time they use an LG, others say it is great. The bestthing to do is get some great addvice from other people who have used LG for duck eggs. I will try and find a link to some post for you.

 

[showjumper_girl2002]

thanks

 

[tomingreeneco]

I purchased one of the cheap incubators at TS. Place 29 guinea eggs in it. Made sure the temp was OK (it seamed to fluctuate and had to be watched often) and turned the eggs 4-5 time a day. 22 keets hatched so I was very happy. So if you have the time to keep a close eye on it it should work fine.

 

[dwhite]

Increasing the humidity in an LG is easy, take some take and tape over the small vent holes in the top, then open them up one at a time to get the humidity where you want it. I currently am running 70-75% humidity without doing that, but last year I needed to do that for the late hatches.

I would though buy a few digital thermometers vice the little ones that come with it.

 

[Oregon Blues]

No turner. Duck eggs on their sides and hand turn. They need a cool down period every day until lock down. Spritz them with water the exact same temperature as the air in the incubator when you turn them.

Water spray bottle should be kept inside the incubator, but you aren't getting one to fit in one of those little Styrofoam jobs, so pay attention to the temp of the water.

 

[mangled]

I use my old LG still air for duck eggs. I use the automatic turner and didn't do the daily cool down period, and had 7 out of 10 hatch. The 3 that didn't hatch never developed, I figure they weren't fertilized.

I do have issues with humidity towards the end. I buy cheap washcloths for the hatch, I soak the washcloths in warm water and put them along side the eggs in the 'bator. I'm able to get 80% or higher humidity doing this.

While I do love my old LG still air, income tax will see me getting a much nicer incubator. Just saying, you can do it with an LG, it just takes more work.


Blessings-
Em