Incubating Muscovy Duck Eggs -- Questions

[dreamgirl]

Hi,

I am incubating for the first time. 8 Muscovy eggs collected from a friend's duck. I put them in last night.

1. I read that Muscovey's can take longer to hatch than anything else--does anyone know how long?

2. I am using a borrowed Hovo-Bator (?) (styrofoam, no turner or fan)--for ducks, what temp should I be at? One thing I read said 98-100, another 95.

3. I saw a bunch of posts about spritzing duck eggs--how often should this be done? The instructions w/ the bator said fill one water well and spray 2x/week, but I thought I read 2-3x/day on here recently.

Any other tips? (I know about turning them 3-5x/day)

Thanks!

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

I think it takes 35 days for them to hatch.

100F for still air I believe.

I spritz with warm water twice a day after day 7.

humidity should be over 60% but I could be wrong

 

[dreamgirl]

Thanks. Possibly a stupid question, but, is there anyway to determine the humidity with out a humidostat (right word?)?

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

I dont think so. I have one just in case I mess up.

 

[shmooborp]

i think its called a hygrometer. you can get a thermometer\\hygrometer all in one at walmart for like 10 bucks.

 

[dreamgirl]

I found one and while my temp is a steady 99-100 (except when I open to turn), the humidity averages 33%! I have the small resevior filled. I started spritzing with water at the turnings and it goes to 60%+ for a while, but I dont know if I should be doing this this early. Should I put a humidifier in the room? Argh, ony day 2 and I may already have killed them all

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

I wonder why your humidity is so low? I've found that keeping it around 80% is best...anything lower than 60% and you probably won't get a hatch.

I live in a deserty area (think sagebrush). I have a humidity/temp gauge in mine and I try to keep my eggs at 99 degrees with 80% humidity, but it's very hard to do. I have found that a still air incubator works best for the eggs which need higher humidity, rather than a forced air (or Turbo Fan) model.

I make sure the bottom of the 'bator is filled with water. Then, I put my eggs in deli cups with paper towels around them. I then layer wet paper towels over the grate in there. In addition, I use a brand new sponge--wet it to soaking & then put it in a shallow dish in the incubator. If that still doesn't bring the humidity up, I'd suggest putting a humidifier in the room, as well....

Good luck!

 

[dreamgirl]

Are they already ruined b/c of the low humidity? I'm on day 3 and I haven't gotten it over 50% steadily.

I candled a few last night jsut to see what was going on and other than the air sack I saw nothing. I air sack was very small, the other two were a little larger. Since these are 35 days, is it OK to not see anything yet?

 

[chickenlisa]

I was just reading the online directions for the Hovabator I ordered last night- they have a chart with all those details for all the different breeds of birds one can incubate. They say 35-37 days for incubation, 99.5 degrees for temp, and 84-86% humidity (wet bulb?),stop turning eggs on day 31, temp during last 3 days of inc. 98.5 F, and humidity during last 3 days to be 90-94% for Muscovy Ducks. Hope you can get the humidity issue worked out. Good Luck!
Lisa

 

[dreamgirl]

Wow, thanks so much! I was looking all over on line, but never thought to check their site (it is a borrowed bator...).