really need advice someone help who knows ducks!!!!

[Kendell]

i have seven ducks two mallords {one male, one female} , two pekin ducks {one male, one female} , three cayuga ducks {one male, two female}... just yesterday one of the female ducks layed one egg, i went and bought a incubator to help with hatching some eggs... my concern was should i of got the egg for incubator or left it alone for the momma duck to take care if the egg??? all day long she never showed interest in the egg so me being first time to get the oppertunit to hatch a egg i thought momma duck would never sit on the egg so i put it in the incubator and researched what all to do for incubation.... i read a post that most ducks will not go sit on any eggs until they have around 12-15 eggs together so now im questioning putting the egg in incubator... exspecially now that i found out ducks will lay one or possibly two eggs every day and with incubation when you put eggs in first day it says your not suppose to mess with for one full day so f im putting new egg in incubator everyday then previous egg would get messed up becuse your suppose to turn it every other hour... so these are my main concerns right now... is it honestly better to hatch eggs if you just leave it up to the ducks to do the job?? or should i just take over and use incubator... its my first time at this and also all my ducks as well... and if im to keep incubating them then how does it work with the whole every day putting a new egg in the incubator??? just any advice and answers to my question would be much appreciated... thank you kendell

 

[write2caroline]

On the forum find the tab other backyard poultry and there you will find the Duck Link.

Maybe you can use fake eggs so that your duck doesn't sit on more eggs than you want to hatch. With chickens, until the broody sits on the eggs - the eggs are not developing. Then she sits and constant heat is applied so they all hatch about the same time. Poultry grow fast so you do not want to keep hatchlings that are a day old with hatchlings that are two weeks old right? Don't add eggs to the incubator until you have the total number you want to hatch. Then incubate them together. That is the miracle of poultry. The hen can even leave the nest a whole day and development suspends and then when she gets back on the nest it continues. Not that a lengthy absence is advised but poultry are really cool like that.
Hope that helps.
Caroline

 

[Kendell]

that was my biggest concern that the firt few laye eggs would have a decreased chance of hatching other than the last few layed eggs that i collect for incubation.. but you saying that the eggs dont at all start developing until they start to get that warmth answered it... so eggs can basicly sit out for a week and still be good for hatching once you put them threw incubation??? thats awesome... i believe i only have one female duck laying so far first egg was yest. and found another today.. so im going to wait for 12-15 eggs then incubate all those together... so once im incubating those 15 it takes 28 days so will the duck keep laying eggs once i collect the first 15??? how long will a egg last once layed before you incubate it???

 

[Kendell]

basically what im still asking is how long can a layed egg last and stay good for hatching if its sitting out not being layed on or in incubator??? cuz its 28 days for incubation on eggs so if my duck has been laying eggs while i already have eggs incubating will those ggs waiting on first batch to hatch last for there time to go in incubator???

 

[wafflechicken]

I believe the general rule is that eggs are fine (provided they're not refrigerated or get consistently below 40 degrees) for about 2 weeks. After 2 weeks they could still be viable but that viability drops for each day over the initial 14.

Definitely save up for a good size batch (do not refrigerate them) for the first incubation and start that off.

What you could then do is don't collect the eggs and see if your duck will go broody once she has enough. This might be nice (if she actually goes broody) because you can determine which method works for you - incubation or nature. And you can double your duckling output without having to buy another incubator.

That said, if she doesn't want to sit the nest or you don't want her to, what you'll want to do is collect the eggs and mark the date on them with a pencil. The pencil part is important, you don't want to use ink or a marker or anything as it could cause problems. Keep your eggs on the counter and after you get about 14 of them start eating the oldest ones (which you can now tell which are which because of the date marking). Then when the incubator is free you'll have a set of eggs no more than 14 days old to put right in that sucker.

If you continue to collect the eggs she will continue to lay them caveat: daylight, weather, seasonal duck-magic senses providing. Some ducks will stop laying after a certain time of the year, my scovies were laying all summer but are now tapering off.

If it were me I would leave the additional eggs, after you fill the incubator, with the duck and see if she wants to sit on them. If it turns out after 15 or 16 eggs that she doesn't show signs of going broody they'll still perfectly fine for eating, anyway. Gather those up and eat them, then let her lay 14 more and by that time your incubator will be free to accomodate them.

 

[Kendell]

I believe the general rule is that eggs are fine (provided they're not refrigerated or get consistently below 40 degrees) for about 2 weeks.  After 2 weeks they could still be viable but that viability drops for each day over the initial 14.

Definitely save up for a good size batch (do not refrigerate them) for the first incubation and start that off.

What you could then do is don't collect the eggs and see if your duck will go broody once she has enough.  This might be nice (if she actually goes broody) because you can determine which method works for you - incubation or nature.  And you can double your duckling output without having to buy another incubator.

That said, if she doesn't want to sit the nest or you don't want her to, what you'll want to do is collect the eggs and mark the date on them with a pencil.  The pencil part is important, you don't want to use ink or a marker or anything as it could cause problems.  Keep your eggs on the counter and after you get about 14 of them start eating the oldest ones (which you can now tell which are which because of the date marking).  Then when the incubator is free you'll have a set of eggs no more than 14 days old to put right in that sucker.

If you continue to collect the eggs she will continue to lay them caveat: daylight, weather, seasonal duck-magic senses providing.  Some ducks will stop laying after a certain time of the year, my scovies were laying all summer but are now tapering off.

If it were me I would leave the additional eggs, after you fill the incubator, with the duck and see if she wants to sit on them.  If it turns out after 15 or 16 eggs that she doesn't show signs of going broody they'll still perfectly fine for eating, anyway.  Gather those up and eat them, then let her lay 14 more and by that time your incubator will be free to accomodate them.