Hatching Welsh Harlequin eggs—-advice

[Crazy Duck Lover]

That’s great! Did you decide if your going to mist and cool? Did you sterilize your eggs? Hoping for 12 ducklings!

 

[nmr]

I sterilized half (and marked them), I haven’t decided on the misting and cooling. I did read in Story’s Guide to Raising Ducks that it isn’t really necessary with a forced air incubator.

 

[Crazy Duck Lover]

I sterilized half (and marked them), I haven’t decided on the misting and cooling. I did read in Story’s Guide to Raising Ducks that it isn’t really necessary with a forced air incubator.

Yeah I have the same book and read the same thing! Good luck with the rest of your incubation!

 

[nmr]

Thank you!

 

[Whititania]

How is it going? I am a few weeks out from picking up my duck eggs for hatching.

 

[nmr]

How is it going? I am a few weeks out from picking up my duck eggs for hatching.

So far so good I think. They eggs all seem heavy and dark except for the air sacs and I can see lots of veining. Today is day 20, so we’re getting close!

 

[Crazy Duck Lover]

So far so good I think. They eggs all seem heavy and dark except for the air sacs and I can see lots of veining. Today is day 20, so we’re getting close!

Super exciting!

 

[nmr]

2 days til lockdown! Should I lower the temp to 98.5 during lockdown? What about humidity? I’ve had a rough time keeping the humidity at 50% or lower, it’s generally about 55%.

 

[nmr]

Hi there! I'm not the most experienced person on here, but I'm sure I could give you some tips. I hatch duck eggs as well and it it so much fun!! I use the NR360 as well and it’s a very stable incubator, and just all around great! If your eggs are shipped, or experiencing a long drive let them sit on your counter for at least 6 hours point end down in a carton. This allows everything to settle in the egg and warm up the eggs a bit. If you put them straight in, the embryos will go into shock and most likely wont hatch. Make sure you run your incubator for at least 12 hours prior to getting your eggs, shipped or not. This allows it time to stabilize and warm up. I like to run mine 24-48 hours. I personally keep my humidity at 55% and the temp at 99.5 for the first 25 days. Once I go into lockdown I bump it up to 60%, and then once I spot a pip, I raise it to 70-75%. Once in lockdown, I drop the temp to 99.0 degrees farenheit. A member on here, MGG informed me all it does is slow down the hatching process and i find it to be true. Besides, ducks are the slowest hatching bird so I don't like to slow it down anymore! One final tip is to make sure you have a reliable, calibrated thermometer AND hygrometer in you incubator to make sure the temp and humidity inside the incubator matches what your incubator is actually reading. Anyway, best of luck with your hatch and let me know if you have any questions, I'll try to help the most I can!

- Zach

Just re-read this. I‘ll lower to 99

 

[Crazy Duck Lover]

2 days til lockdown! Should I lower the temp to 98.5 during lockdown? What about humidity? I’ve had a rough time keeping the humidity at 50% or lower, it’s generally about 55%.

55% if perfect in my opinion! I wouldn’t lower the temp, maybe only by .5 degrees.