I've got a dozen ducks about a month or so from laying. Should I let them do the hatching or take them and incubate them in my cabinet incubator? What do you do?
Personally- I don't think anyone can hatch or brood better than a momma and waaaay less of a headache and worry! No egg turning, no constantly monitoring temps or humidity, no oops power outages, no stinky brooder boxes.... And broodies are so heartwarming to watch!
If this year's hatch, Muscovies may not start to lay until next spring. At least, that's what all mine do. Muscovies do NOT steadily lay like egg laying breeds... You won't find an egg a day. A muscovy will only lay when they want to start building a nest. You'll begin to see the hen leaving with the drake on individual 'dates'... soon after, you'll find an egg in the corner of the coop. If you want, you can move the first eggs to a better part of the coop and make a nest - she's more likely to lay in one spot or a 'good' spot that way. She won't build the nest until a couple days before she starts to set the nest - usually pulling breast feathers for additional fluff a day or so before incubation. If the ducks are laying in a good, dry, safe place, let them set. I've never had any luck at all trying to artificially hatch muscovies. However, with muscovies expect a VERY high hatch out, LOL!
My Muscovy hen laid 17 eggs and hatched them all herself! Not a single dud egg in the nest! I was very impressed! At first I thought there was 16 but I miss counted. 17 was a pleasant surprise!
If they lay this year (which they may not)....I say let the mothers do the hatching. I use to let a muscovy hatch mandarin eggs and they do a great job.
