- May 28, 2012
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- 605
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My first hatch I started with 48 eggs and got 3 ducklings. That one I know what went wrong- cheap incubator and the temp dropped when I put it in lockdown.
Round 2 I upgraded to a borotto 49 automatic incubator. I started with 15 shipped ancona eggs, 11 green eggs, and 23 white eggs. Most of the white eggs were from white star hybrids. My drakes are Ancona and blue Swedish. Green eggs are probably from welsh harlequin, black runner, Rouen, and possibly my very old Dutch hookbill.
When I went into lockdown I had 13 Ancona eggs developed, 11 green eggs, and 18 white eggs. I had 6 Ancona hatch, 7 green eggs, and 5 white eggs. The rest I left a couple extra days and they did not hatch. One duckling died in the incubator, I had helped it out as it had been stuck after zipping. I also had an additional white egg pip but die before zipping.
The first pip happened day 25, first hatch day 26, most hatches day 27-28, and last one day 29.
My question is why the low hatch rate? The eggs were all set within 5 days of lay and if anything the green eggs were older than the white ones- I only get 3 green eggs per day at the most. I set all the green eggs and only the fresher white ones. All eggs were clean and unwashed.
The temperature and humidity were spot on the whole hatch according to the incubator. The hygrometer I use did say 97.5 for temp but I decided to trust the incubator. Might have been a mistake. I rearranged the eggs three times (inner to outer on turning tray). The only thing I’m not sure about is if the turner worked the whole time. After 10ish days it seemed to stick to one side. I did manually turn them when it wasn’t turning. But not as often, and days I worked it wasn’t 3 times a day. I followed the misting and cooling per incubator instructions- turn it off and open for 15 minutes, mist with warm water, close and turn back on. Days 8-24.
Is my issue with my breeding stock or my method? I was hoping for a lot more success with a high end incubator. I’m not surprised with the low hatch rate for shipped eggs, just my home eggs. Overall I started with 49 eggs and ended up with 17 live ducklings. One dead in incubator, one pipped no hatch.
I’m planning to try again the end of next week with 2 dozen shipped eggs. That hatch I’m also planning to do shipped chicken eggs, but start them a week later so the hatch is at the same time.
Round 2 I upgraded to a borotto 49 automatic incubator. I started with 15 shipped ancona eggs, 11 green eggs, and 23 white eggs. Most of the white eggs were from white star hybrids. My drakes are Ancona and blue Swedish. Green eggs are probably from welsh harlequin, black runner, Rouen, and possibly my very old Dutch hookbill.
When I went into lockdown I had 13 Ancona eggs developed, 11 green eggs, and 18 white eggs. I had 6 Ancona hatch, 7 green eggs, and 5 white eggs. The rest I left a couple extra days and they did not hatch. One duckling died in the incubator, I had helped it out as it had been stuck after zipping. I also had an additional white egg pip but die before zipping.
The first pip happened day 25, first hatch day 26, most hatches day 27-28, and last one day 29.
My question is why the low hatch rate? The eggs were all set within 5 days of lay and if anything the green eggs were older than the white ones- I only get 3 green eggs per day at the most. I set all the green eggs and only the fresher white ones. All eggs were clean and unwashed.
The temperature and humidity were spot on the whole hatch according to the incubator. The hygrometer I use did say 97.5 for temp but I decided to trust the incubator. Might have been a mistake. I rearranged the eggs three times (inner to outer on turning tray). The only thing I’m not sure about is if the turner worked the whole time. After 10ish days it seemed to stick to one side. I did manually turn them when it wasn’t turning. But not as often, and days I worked it wasn’t 3 times a day. I followed the misting and cooling per incubator instructions- turn it off and open for 15 minutes, mist with warm water, close and turn back on. Days 8-24.
Is my issue with my breeding stock or my method? I was hoping for a lot more success with a high end incubator. I’m not surprised with the low hatch rate for shipped eggs, just my home eggs. Overall I started with 49 eggs and ended up with 17 live ducklings. One dead in incubator, one pipped no hatch.
I’m planning to try again the end of next week with 2 dozen shipped eggs. That hatch I’m also planning to do shipped chicken eggs, but start them a week later so the hatch is at the same time.
