I have had chickens for 3 years and have a good mix of breeds. We are just getting into ducks now having 2 adult indian runner ducks, a 10 day old offspring of theirs with his mandarin duckling buddy the same age.
I am hoping to incubate call ducks which I understand are quite difficult to hatch so I am really looking for a mentor on here to help.
I live on the Isle of Lewis so have to get all of our eggs sent via the post sadly.
Incubating Calls is a little more challenging than most breeds since they have a shorter bill it's sometimes hard for them to pip through the shell, this is especially true with Calls that are true to type. Before I set I write down there starting weight so I can track there weight through the incubation period which helps tell me if I need to lower or raise the humidity, Calls lose on average 13% of their weight over a 26 day period. If you don't have a turner in your incubator, you should also write X on one side of the egg and O on the other, I turn an odd number of time's a day so they don't repeatedly lay on the same spot, so I turn around 3 or 5 times a day. Automatic turners work well with calls as long as it's not on upright turner.
In my forced air, I keep my temp around 99.5F and my humidity levels at 35-45% for the first 23 days and then during lockdown, I'll up it to 60%. Of course that works well for me and many other's, but humidity will vary in different locations, how long the eggs have been kept, quality, climate and where you incubator is kept, that's why it's important to either track the Aircell through incubation period or weigh the eggs weekly, so you can make adjustments.
Around day 22/23 of incubation, you may start to see shadows appearing along the aircell, this is the duckling getting ready to internally pip through the inner membrane separating it from the Aircell, usually, after 12-24 hours after the shadows appear the internal pip occurs, after this point the duckling rest and learn to breathe air for the first time, after 12-24 hours after the internal pip the duckling starts hitting the shell so it can make a small hole so it can breathe air as its air supply starts to run out after around 24 hours of making the internal pip.
Calls have such short bills sometimes they are not able to externally pip and end up suffocating, That's why around 12-18 hours after the internal pip I like to make a small safety hole on top of the egg using a screw or a brad point drill bit, twist gently until you make a very small hole, there is no need to widen the hole or you risk premature drying out of the membrane, after this, the chicks are able to breathe freely and can be left alone, most of the time mine are able to get out after making the safety hole, If they make no progress 48 hours or so of making the external pip or safety hole, It'd be a good idea to start chipping away on the Aircell side of where you made the first hole, slowly start peeling away the shell as much as you can, if you see any veins or the duckling is still yawing set the duckling back into the incubator and check back in a couple of hours and further widen the hole as needed.
