Incubators Anonymous

I have about the same question....about ducks. My DD surprised me last night and confessed that not only did she order me some hatching chicken eggs as an Easter present, she also sent me some Indian Runner duck eggs!!!! My DH is going to literally "have a duck!" If he doesn't shoot the both of us, we will have ducks. But, can you incubate them at the same time. I believe ducks take an additional week (28 days). If they are shipping the eggs all at the same time....that will be a problem. Ideally, I think, you would want the duck eggs in the bator for a week and then add the chicken eggs and then let them all hatch together, right??? But, I don't think I would want to risk sitting on the chicken eggs for an additional 8 days! I don't know anything about hatching ducks. Can anyone tell me how to do this with chicken eggs????? Help! They will be here soon.!!! Advise please!
 
I have about the same question....about ducks. My DD surprised me last night and confessed that not only did she order me some hatching chicken eggs as an Easter present, she also sent me some Indian Runner duck eggs!!!! My DH is going to literally "have a duck!" If he doesn't shoot the both of us, we will have ducks. But, can you incubate them at the same time. I believe ducks take an additional week (28 days). If they are shipping the eggs all at the same time....that will be a problem. Ideally, I think, you would want the duck eggs in the bator for a week and then add the chicken eggs and then let them all hatch together, right??? But, I don't think I would want to risk sitting on the chicken eggs for an additional 8 days! I don't know anything about hatching ducks. Can anyone tell me how to do this with chicken eggs????? Help! They will be here soon.!!! Advise please!

I am new at ducks too, just set my first Cayugas that I got on a swap. I couldn't find anything definitive about whether it's ok to incubate them dry or if they definitely need higher humidity - people have had success with both, much like the info you will find about incubating chicken eggs. They definitely do need 7 more days, and I think there are some kinds of ducks (such as Muscovys) that need even longer. You can brood them at the same time, so if you are able to do a staggered hatch, I would probably set them at the same time, and then when the ducks hatch a week later it shouldn't be a problem since they start out much bigger than the chicks anyway...caveat being that you of course need to be able to transfer your chicken eggs from the incubator to a hatcher for lockdown, while leaving the duck eggs in the bator for the remaining week. If you weren't dealing with shipped eggs of course the ideal way to do it if you wanted them to hatch at the same time would be set the ducks a week early, like you said. If you brood them together make sure you do not give them medicated chick starter, it will kill the ducklings...
 
Question for hatching egg pros. I ordered Buff Rock eggs and a black chick hatched. The person advertises Lavender Orpingtons, Black orpingtons, Barred Rocks, Blue wyandottes and Blue Marans. Can anyone tell me what I have and how to tell? I only had 2 make it to lockdown after two broke in shipping that caused the white and yolk to leak all over 8 eggs. They were wrapped in napkins. any thoughts would be helpful.
 
Question for hatching egg pros. I ordered Buff Rock eggs and a black chick hatched. The person advertises Lavender Orpingtons, Black orpingtons, Barred Rocks, Blue wyandottes and Blue Marans. Can anyone tell me what I have and how to tell? I only had 2 make it to lockdown after two broke in shipping that caused the white and yolk to leak all over 8 eggs. They were wrapped in napkins. any thoughts would be helpful.

If you can post a pic that would be helpful. Regardless, sounds like it is not a buff Rock
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Just a guess I would think it's a black Orp.
 
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I will post when I get home. It doesn't look like it has any yellow so that would rule out Barred rock.
 
Actually as a person who loves chickens I would think it would be difficult to support the commercial chicken industry, where they live horrible, short, miserable lives. When you buy chicken from the supermarket you're essentially supporting that. Every time I process one of my own birds I think about how they have had a great life, living like a chicken should. I never name the birds I know I will eventually process, which makes it easier for me. I will never buy chicken from the supermarket again, simply because I don't want to be part of that machine. You're not alone though, most people simply don't want to know where their food comes from, or they don't care.

I saw a video on you tube yesterday.. I was googling for a chicken catcher (meaning a net) and i found this huge machine that was vacuuming up a warehouse full of chickens and
putting them into transport cages. It didn't appear to hurt them, and may be better than being yanked by humans and thrown into a box, but there was just something about this
huge machine that gave me the creeps. It looked like war of the worlds!!! it really made me think harder about eating my own chickens..
 


My "getting the flock out of here" eggs I shipped to the Philippines and set on Easter Sunday

197 eggs 18 Pekins, the rest Chickens.
i'm curious how you're shipping the eggs? and what kind of hatch rates are you getting with that type of shipping?
 

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