Alright, I candled the 13 mandarin eggs that I gave to my broody cochin hen last week. Out of 13 eggs, 11 of them are developing. That's an 85% fertility rate... far better that the first batch which were started artificially in an incubator. Those 6 eggs are still developing and are scheduled to hatch in about a week. I transferred the other 13 eggs from the cochin hens to an incubator.
So once again...
eggs started in an incubator: 6 out of 11 developing = 55% developing rate
eggs started under broody hens: 11 out of 13 developing = 85% developing rate
From here on out, I'll be starting my mandarin duck eggs under broody hens for the first week or so.
