Hatching eggs question

[cjh0907]

Im only about a year into raising poultry and am thinking about hatching some out come this spring. I have ducks, chickens, and guinea hens and was wondering if any were easier to hatch than the others. I want to hatch out all three but have heard that ducks and guineas are tricky. is there any truth to this?

 

[ladyomaha]

I currently have 2 baby ducks, and I dont think they are any different than Chickens, I have about 12 ducks due to hatch in 2 days. I have Guineas but they aint laying eggs YET, That I know of. Do they Lay Green Eggs? My first batch of Guineas and dont know what kind of eggs they lay.

 

[cjh0907]

if i remember correctly my guineas laid a light brown egg. They only gave me eggs for a week or so then quit for the winter i guess. This was a couple months ago.

 

[Ukiah]

Just my own personal preference,
I'd start with chickens.

 

[Wnunezcruz]

I have put guinea, chicken, duck, and goose eggs under a hen and in an incubator before and they were all treated the same.

 

[Gypsy07]

If you're hatching them in an incubator, not under a broody hen, and aiming to raise them yourself in a brooder, I'd suggest not starting with ducks. I don't know much about guineas, but I've hatched and raised both chicks and ducklings, and the ducklings are about ten times more work to keep their brooder clean and dry cause they love scooping their drinking water all over the place and paddling in it. They're ridiculously messy. Brooding chicks is dead easy in comparison. As for hatching, chicks might be more sensible to start with too, as they only take 21 days compared with 28 for ducks (35 for muscovys!) and 26-28 for guineas. So, if you don't get it right first time, you're not wasting as much time on each failed hatch till you do get it right. That might sound like a gloomy prediction, but of course you could also have a great hatch first time round. Just thinking out loud...

 

[cjh0907]

thanks for the input!!