Muscovy duck eggs and hatching quesitons

[duchicguin21]

Does anyone have muscovy duck eggs for sale?

What is the secret to hatching them? I haven't had the best luck, and desperately want to hatch some!
Do you soak them daily in water?

 

[Bleenie]

I should have some for sale soon. The dozen I have now are already spoken for, but the girls started laying early and they're all still in the same pen so it'll be mixed colors.

I've had good luck hatching them, they're pretty hardy. but i did lose quite a few last year because of wind storms & a cruddy bator.

 

[MDC]

Muscovy eggs are incredibly difficult to artificially incubate successfully. Shipping eggs just decreases the possibility of success. Your best bet would be to put them under a broody & let her and mother nature do the work. Some people report great success but I'm skeptical of a lot of those reports. You can have great fertility & get your ducklings to 33, 34 days and they'll die in the shell after pipping.

If you can at the very least start eggs under a bird for a week to ten days the odds of a successful hatch increase. I've had outstanding luck putting eggs in the incubator that have already been started by the bird whether it be because she abandoned the nest or in cases where there were eggs of varying stages of incubation in a nest & the duck took her clutch off leaving a few viable eggs in the nest, whatever.

I have and will ship Muscovy eggs occasionally but I always warn the buyer that I feel it's very risky & I include on average 3 extra eggs in each order, more if I can fit them in the box.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Just over 5 weeks ago I was given a dozen eggs when I bought two half grown ducks. The breeds were unknown as all the ducks were free ranging together and laying in the same boxes. It turned out one egg was a muscovy- And it hatched!! I was surprised as I had heard they are more difficult to hatch. I didnt do anything different with it in the incubator for the first week until I candled and realised one egg had slower developement. I then also realised the waxy feel to the egg. I did a bit more reading on Muscovies- and did finid a lot of people stated they had more success with the eggs if placed under a broody for the first week or so. Anyway- after I realised it was a muscovy- I misted that egg a little more often than the others, and daily for the last week. I dont know if it helped or not. All i know is that I have only ever incubated one Muscovy egg- and now have a very cute little baby duck!

Soaking probably isnt the right way to go about it- thats if you mean fully imersing the eggs into water. The shell of eggs are very porous, and it may result in not enough moisture loss for the egg to hatch. I mist my eggs with a very fine spray of water that is at about the same temp as the incubator temp.

 

[MDC]

DFO brings up a good point. Eggs naturally lose moisture throughout incubation so that by the time they're ready to hatch they're able to rotate in the shell to break free. Too much moisture can lead to them drowning after they pip.

 

[duchicguin21]

Thank you everyone...I appreciate the advice.

 

[sandspoultry]

We have muscovy eggs for sale. Here is a link to the Ebay auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320477191882&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

If you do not do ebay then send me a PM.

As far as hatching goes, humidty has to be high and wet. Your best bet is to find a broody hen. We have had mixed chicken hens sit and hatch out ducks. It is too funny to watch the chicken hen try to teach them to scratch....LOL.

Good luck with your search and hatch!
Sharon