Mallard duck eggs questions

[Eggaholic]

first of all.. Where is a good place to get fertile mallard eggs? Which is better, getting then from a farm or getting them online an having them shipped to you? Is it better to hand turn the eggs or to buy an automatic turner? Does spraying them with water everyday increase their survival rate? How many days does it take them to hatch because online it says 28 but most peoples eggs seem to hatch earlier such as the 25 or 26 day of incubation.. And one last question.. What should the humidity be during the incubation period and then during the lock down period ?

Please feel free to answer any of the questions above that you are able to ! All help, advice, and opinions are welcome! I'm hoping to make my next hatch as successful as possible since non of my last dozen made it thanks in advance !

-Eggaholic

 

[Kevin565]

Metzer sells them and has okay quality ones. However, if you want true mallards you will need to buy from a breeder. I think shipping eggs can have quite a factor on eggs and if you can find them locally I would suggest trying that route. I can't answer the rest because I always just let the mallards hatch their own eggs,

 

[Eggaholic]

Okay but couldn't the mother have been sitting on the eggs for a few days without the farmer knowing and with shipping, do they sell the eggs so that 100% of them at fertile ? Thanks a bunch !

 

[weimarmama]

Shipping can do a number on eggs, and a lot of that damage isn't always obvious (as in, it's not always cracked or broken eggs). So, even if all the eggs are fertile that doesn't necessarily mean that all of those eggs will hatch. Honestly, if I get a 50-60% hatch rate from shipped eggs, then I'm happy. I completely agree with Kevin that if you can find them locally that's usually the best way to go. As far as incubating duck eggs, everyone has different ways that they prefer to do it. I hand turn all waterfowl eggs just because I've had better results doing it that way. I also start doing a cool down period and misting after the first week. But what will work for you may be completely different. Most people don't have great hatches to begin with, but you just have to keep trying and with trial and error it gets better.
Good luck with your next hatch