Should I put eggs in incubator?

[New Dreamz]

I've recently became to proud slave to geese and ducks. I have a pr of roman tuffteds pr brown chinese and a white chinese (think a she?) Ive got a mixture of ducks, runner mixs rouens and 4 pekin ducklings. The adults have been laying eggs like crazy! They are in a fenced in pond, however the roman decided to make her nest a couple feet from the edge of the pond and the grass. We are in Mid-Michigan and the weather has been a bit unstable and lots of rain. That poor girl sits rain or shine, even the hail we had. I thought she would have went in the little houses we have around the pond, but no.... I really didnt want to upset her, but I couldnt stand seeing her in the elements, so I gently put one of the huts that didnt have a floor over her for shelter, she didnt seem to mind a bit. She actually let me pet her and reach in and handle her eggs. She has been sitting on these eggs for around a month/ give or take, i forgot to mark down the date....uggg!

A couple of the ducks decided to drop some eggs in front of the gate and the brown chinese girl decided she would add to the pile and make that her nesting spot. Well in front of the gate she was in danger of being stepped on so i moved her nest over a few feet. She seemed confused and didnt want to go and lay on them so i gave her eggs to the roman. Well i think the roman has way to many eggs now, and of course i didnt mark them. I am new to raising geese/ducks and all the excitement just totally slipped my mind.

The ducks have started a nest in the bottom of a rose bush that is growing on the fence, and I found a couple goose eggs in there too. A few days ago i saw the white chinese sitting on the eggs. Does this mean its a female? Do the males sit on nests also? This nest keeps growing and growing... my duck will try to sit it but she can only cover half. I will find the 2 pekin ducklings sitting the nest too. Seems to be a community nest....lol

I pulled the romans eggs today and candled them. Some of them are so dark you cant see anything but the air pocket, some you can see half dark, so they are looking like the have babies growing, but not sure roman mom can handle all those eggs, and are they overdue? alive? There were a couple duck eggs in there too, there was one that was all dark except for the air pocket. it has a little crack in it so i broke it open to see if it were good or not. It was all just pale yellow inside. Didnt smell but just watery.

I have a homemade incubator i made from styro cooler, just plugged it in to see about getting the temp/humidity stable. Im scared if i leave these eggs with the roman and they do hatch that they will fall in the pond and drowned or one of the other pond mates kill them. I was thinking i would pull the ones that looked closer to hatching and put them in the incubator, but im not sure at this stage what the temp and humidity should be?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

God Bless,
Honnie

 

[pete55]

Well you need to stablise your incubator at 37.2Cand run without water to try to get a humidity of 25-30%. Turn the eggs at least 3 times daily until internal pipping and only increase humidity when the eggs externally pip. Have a read of the sticky at the top of the Geese section and all the details are there.

Good luck - Pete

 

[New Dreamz]

Thanks Pete! Yes I did read the sticky prior to my post. Awesome post. Love the pictures and the explanations! Great Job. People that dont know the hatching process take for granted the miracle of life and how complex a "simple" egg is. So many friends and family think its getting nice outside in the 40- 60...lol they should be fine.


I was thinking i should only pull the ones that look like the stage just before internal pipping. If i get so lucky to get external pipping, what humidity should it be increased to? You said 37.2C That is 99F right? Sorry mine only read F. Also i thought i read in the sticky that the temp should be dropped during external pipping. Could you tell me that temp in F? I dont want to get anything confused.


I just LOVE your giant dewlaps! I think that is going to be my next addition when i get more things situated and can actually find some closer to home.

Thanks Again!

God Bless,
Honnie

 

[pete55]

Hi Honnie

Yes we love the Giant Dewlaps too and are just thankful the old gander has produced some youngsters we can run on

If you click below my Avatar on View My BYC Page you'll find links to other incubation threads that may help you.

So; I incubate in a fan incubator at 37.2C which is 99F. At external pipping I transfer the eggs to the hatcher set at just under 37C which is 98.5F. However if your hatcher is still air then simply make sure you are recording 99F at a level which is equal to the centre of the egg.

You'll be fine with those temperatures, the principle being a core egg temp of 99F. As for humidity try for 65-75% in the hatcher.

Good luck

Pete

 

[New Dreamz]

Thanks so much Pete! Im hoping i get to hatch some little babies to follow me around this summer

 

[New Dreamz]

I'm soooooo excited, was just checking my eggs and I have one that internal pipped..... What a way to make my day hearing the little chirp inside is soooo awesome. I have a bigger bator set up so i can change humidity for when it hatches. How long after it hatches will i need to feed it?

Ok, I got to go back and check the rest of them....

 

[New Dreamz]

Just checked the rest, I have a total of 3 internal pipped.. This is so cool, now im not going to be able to sleep.... I cant believe they are still alive. I forget to turn them all the time. Sometimes they only get moved when i candle them at night...lol




Is there a way to tell the sex when they are just hatched? These eggs are roman tufted, brown chinese, or maybe a cross?