Help! first time hatching!

[CedarCrestFarm]

My experience with duck eggs is that they are hardy little guys. Make sure your temp is correct and keep humidity at the proper level. Any idea how long they have been growing? If they are only a week or so in, I would make sure to keep them in the turner; otherwise, the yolk will separate. Remember also, duck eggs take longer to incubate than chicken eggs. Depending on the breed of duck, can be up to 28 days.
You are a good mama hen for saving the eggs!!

 

[CedarCrestFarm]

Pointy side down---always

 

[Amykins]

Pointy side down---always

Well, when you're setting them, anyway. I know it's a debatable topic but most people have the best results when the eggs are laying on their side for incubation and hatch. If they have a rolling or detached air cell I'll keep them upright for the first week, then lay them down, cuz by hen the growing network of veins has encapsulated the cell membrane and is enough to keep it in place. Worked for chickens, and worked for my ducks!

Some breeds are just plain delicate, though. Like a lot of bantam breeds. It's unfortunate, but I guess they don't call it the "call duck challenge" for nothing!

 

[casportpony]

While some BYC members have better luck incubating eggs on their sides, *all* commercial duck hatcheries do them stood up until the day they raise humidity. At that point they are placed on their sides in hatching trays and moved to hatchers.

Note that the op of this thread incubated for the first 20 days upright, but did so upsidedown at too high a humidity and still managed to get a decent hatch rate.

-Kathy

 

[Amykins]

Most commercial hatcheries also aren't terribly concerned about whether or not all their birds make it out alive, either. Pretty sure they're all upright just to maximize the number of eggs they can cram onto one tray. Mind you I'm used to hatching silkies, and call ducks, neither of which are known for their hardiness. So that's just my advice to novice hatchers, like I said, it's a hotly debated topic.

 

[casportpony]

I like hot debates, lol. True that they expect some not to hatch, but I'd be willing to bet that their hatch rates are better than ours.

-Kathy

 

[rcrisantos]

This is how they were (upside-down)

It sure was quite the experience! 14 out of 17 made it, although each one needed to be assisted. It was a long 72hrs!

 

[casportpony]

This is how they were (upside-down)

It sure was quite the experience! 14 out of 17 made it, although each one needed to be assisted. It was a long 72hrs!

You did a wonderful job!

-Kathy

 

[rcrisantos]

You did a wonderful job!

-Kathy

Thanks Kathy

 

[Amykins]

It sure was quite the experience! 14 out of 17 made it, although each one needed to be assisted. It was a long 72hrs!

Tell me about it...hatch day is one of the most nerve-racking things in my life, and I've been doing this since I was a kid!