Is it 2 Cold for the Eggs?

[1234duck]

Is 30 too Cold for Duck Eggs to be sitting in the Nest Every Night? Wont they Freeze to Death? This is my first time raising Ducks and tending to their Eggs. I am going to look for an incubator this weekend. Does any body have advice on what type or what I should be looking for when buying an incubator? Are they difficult to work? Aprox. how much do they cost? Thanks a lot for your help, Julie

 

[jack & mommy's duckies]

I'm not sure about the temp question for eggs. I live in Ontario Canada and right now what is laid in the duck house at night is still ok when I go let them out in the morning. But the ones that are laid during the day outside are frozen. I candle them to tell if they are frozen. When I see big cracks in the shell I know.

As for the incubator....I'd say think about what your goals are first. If you only want to hatch a few eggs a year....then a small foam one I guess would do just great....I've never used one but others have and seem to do just fine with them. But if your thoughts are to be able incubate lots of eggs or lots of rotating hatches then a bigger sportsman would be the best choice. I bought mine used for $300. and they are new about $1000. But I wanted to have more then one hatch on the go...I wanted to buy eggs from all over Canada and introduce new blood lines. And trust me when you start incubating...it is a horrible addiction and you won't stop there...lol I'd incubate store bought chicken eggs if I even thought they would be fertile...lol

 

[FenDruadin]

The eggs will be fine as long as they don't actually freeze. And, as mentioned above, you can check that by candling (use a bright flashlight in a very dark room--search the forums for "candling" to get pics and more details). Ducks usually lay their eggs in the early morning hours, so the earlier you can collect the eggs, the better chance they will not freeze.

As for incubators, if you've never done it before I recommend you start with an inexpensive but decent quality foam incubator, or one of the nicer plastic sort, that hatch between 10 and 50 eggs. For foam incubators, I like the Hovabator because it is affordable (under $200 with the turner--less than that if you can find one used), effective, widely available, and lets you hatch up to 42 eggs (and trust me, it is an addiction--you will want to hatch more than a few eventually). For plastic, the Brinseas get really good reviews. They are extremely reliable, easy to use, and easy to clean plus durable, but they will also cost more--a 20-egg Brinsea costs a little more than the 42-egg Hovabator. So it comes down to priorities.

Once you're addicted, you may find you need something like a Sportsman or Dickey (cabinet incubators that can hold hundreds of eggs), but unless you find an exceptional deal (like the $300 one--I would jump on that if I could find a deal like it), it's a pretty enormous investment for something you may or may not get excited about.

Okay, who am I kidding? You WILL get excited about it. But practicalities being what they are, you may never need the extra capacity of a large incubator and by the time you do, the cost will seem unimportant.

 

[1234duck]

Thank You Very Much for your advice and info. Was very helpful.... lol..@ iamcuriositycat, I'm sure your right, I'll get excited and want even more eggs..I hear this gets real addicting.. lol Thanks again, Julie

 

[jack & mommy's duckies]

Addicting.......addicting.....that is the understatement of the day. there is no 12 step program to help us quack addicted folk. But none the less we are all good and happy.

As for the large capacity incubators.....that was an amazing deal I got, and I don't often fill it. But I offer space to close friends, and sell space to contact from the feed store. People with just a small flock and want to hatch are happy to pay $10 for a egg carton space or $30 to fill a whole try. And I find it also helps cover the cost of running it. I find it costs me about $8 a month on hydro.