I have a lot of questions about incubating duck eggs

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PoultryLover1012

PoultryLover1012

Chirping
Jun 10, 2021
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Hi everybody! I just got a kebbonixs 12 egg incubator and I am attempting to hatch duck eggs. I put 2 eggs in yesterday morning and hopefully two more this morning. (If both ducks lay.) So 4 eggs total. The incubator temp says 101 and my other thermometer says 100.6. The humidity says 54%. I live in northern California if that means anything. The eggs do not fit in the automatic turner so I will have to turn them by hand. So some of my many questions are-

#1 How do I hand turn eggs? How often etc.

#2 What humidity and temp do I need?

#3 I would prefer if my eggs hatched a little bit early due to scheduling things. I know this might not be possible and if it isn't I'll figure something out, but is their a way I can make them hatch early on purpose?/ Is 100-101 degrees too hot?

#4 One of the eggs has a small crack, not really a crack but like a tiny indentation. It hasn't gone through the membrane so it should probably be fine right? Or will it dry out or get bad bacteria in it or something? I don't want to try to hatch it if there is not a good chance it can live.

#5 I have heard that you need to spray and cool the eggs. Is this true? If so, how? Is it necessary? Will it help my hatch rates?

#6 Actually that's all the questions I can think of right now. I will probably end up posting more in the comments though
 
PoultryLover1012 said:
Hi everybody! I just got a kebbonixs 12 egg incubator and I am attempting to hatch duck eggs. I put 2 eggs in yesterday morning and hopefully two more this morning. (If both ducks lay.) So 4 eggs total. The incubator temp says 101 and my other thermometer says 100.6. The humidity says 54%. I live in northern California if that means anything. The eggs do not fit in the automatic turner so I will have to turn them by hand. So some of my many questions are-

#1 How do I hand turn eggs? How often etc.

#2 What humidity and temp do I need?

#3 I would prefer if my eggs hatched a little bit early due to scheduling things. I know this might not be possible and if it isn't I'll figure something out, but is their a way I can make them hatch early on purpose?/ Is 100-101 degrees too hot?

#4 One of the eggs has a small crack, not really a crack but like a tiny indentation. It hasn't gone through the membrane so it should probably be fine right? Or will it dry out or get bad bacteria in it or something? I don't want to try to hatch it if there is not a good chance it can live.

#5 I have heard that you need to spray and cool the eggs. Is this true? If so, how? Is it necessary? Will it help my hatch rates?

#6 Actually that's all the questions I can think of right now. I will probably end up posting more in the comments though
Click to expand...
Turning is very important, especially the first week. Since hand turning, turn as frequently as possible. At least 3 times a day but 7 or more will yield stronger embryos. Most species of birds in nature turn an average of twice an hour the first 10 days.
IF your thermometer and hygrometer are accurate, your temperature is too high. As with most species, 99.5 F is the correct incubation temperature. Embryos are harmed more by high temperature than low.
54% is a good humidity.
Raising temperature in an attempt to get eggs to hatch early is counter productive. High temperature does tend to speed things up a bit but only by 12 hours or so. I would avoid anything over 100F Trying to speed them up will cause all sorts of problems. High temperature can cause death at any point in incubation. Anything over 104 is deadly and even 102 could be just as bad if the measurement is inaccurate.
The dented egg will dry out and allow bacteria to enter. The best repair is to apply liquid skin bandage to seal all cracks completely. You may need a few coats.
I personally don't think misting eggs is really necessary if humidity is in the 55-60 RH range. If you do spray, do so after day 10 and stop by day 25.
 
1. I used the auto egg turner so I’m not sure about hand turning so follow others advice

2. I kept mine at 45-55% humidity until lockdown then 60-70% for lockdown/hatch

3. I would not try to make them hatch early… (if hatch date isn’t good I would have either set eggs earlier or later to accommodate needed schedule)

4. Again follow others’ advice on how to seal the crack

5. I wouldn’t worry about trying to cool/mist. I found that when I tried to mist it just made the humidity too high once I put them back in

6. Good luck
 
Another question -candling, How often and on what days should I candle the eggs? Is it bad if I candle them once a day? When will I be able to see embryos?
 
PoultryLover1012 said:
Another question -candling, How often and on what days should I candle the eggs? Is it bad if I candle them once a day? When will I be able to see embryos?
Click to expand...
I generally candle eggs once or twice every week since I put the eggs in the incubator. I don't candle them everyday, just because I don't want to handle them too much, and it affects the humidity and heat of the incubator. You can see embryos in about a week since they started development.
 
citymeetscountry said:
Right?!? I’m pretty sure I candles almost every day 🙈(until lockdown) but I did it super quickly. I also found towards the end I could “candle” through the bator with the flashlight (when the room was dark) to see the air cell and shadowing.
Click to expand...
Me too! I just didn't want to be a bad influence to PoultryLover1012!!!:gig
 

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