I'm NEW to ducks - hatching 15 Ancona eggs [help]

[AlienChick]

I am incubating Ancona duck eggs. FIRST TIMER with duck eggs (I’ve only ever hatched chickens and guineas). My auto-turner broke and I’m hand-turning ever few hours. I purchased another auto-turner, but it has not arrived yet. Now I’m reading that hand-turning is better for duck eggs. True?

I’m reading as much as I can (a LOT of info conflicts –but I keep reading/learning). I really need a good answer on humidity. I normally hatch my chickens on the "dry" side of the scale –adding water the first day and re-filling when the humidity drops down to the 20’s or 30’s. Not sure what to do with duck eggs (humidity) since I keep reading so many different opinions.

I plan to candle the eggs tomorrow and mark on them where the air cell is located (I have not done that yet).

Here are some specifics:

What day were they set: April 24th
What type of incubator: Genesis Hovabator 1588 fan
What temp?: 97
What humidity?: +-47% (because that’s what I read online)
Are they set pointy end down or on their side?: on side
Turning manually or auto?: manually
How many turns per day?: about every 3 hours (too much?/too litter?)
Is your incubator clean?: yes
Are your eggs clean?: yes (not washed; just clean)

Are duck eggs REALLY more difficult to hatch than chicken eggs, or am I over-reading and over-stressing???

 

[DUCKOBSESSED]

Hello this is my second hatch with duck and i have temp at 99 and humidity at 50. I found my first duck hatch was harder then chickens. Set four eggs they all made it to lock down but only one hatched. But that could have been my last incubator. Good Luck!