Silver mandarin eggs

Hi Destin. I enjoyed reading this post and your post on GBWF regarding hatching successes from day 1. Apparently you're pretty doubtful about consistently high hatch rates in an incubator. No...I don't work for R-Com!
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I just find them to be the most reliable incubators for the price.

Here's what I'm doing:
  • I check the temperature and humidity calibrations before I set any eggs. I make sure that the readings are dead on and holding correctly.
  • I only used distilled water. Tap water is full of minerals than can build up inside the incubator as the water evaporates
  • I'm meticulous about cleaning the incubators. I thoroughly wipe down the entire incubator - top, bottom, inside and outside with disinfecting wipes before and after each clutch.
  • I candle eggs daily. I remove any embryo that has died or shows signs of bacterial growth as soon as it's apparent. I don't pick them up to candle either. I just do it in place so I don't jostle them.
  • Really dirty eggs get thrown away. I don't even attempt to wash them. I once read an advertisement that said "clean nests make clean eggs" and I've lived by that.
  • I use a separate incubator for hatching. As soon as I see an egg internally pip I move it into a dedicated hatcher. This keeps the incubator very clean and free of chick "dust".
  • I make no changes to the settings during incubation. The eggs are automatically turned.

I got on the R-Com bandwagon back in 2007-2008 with the original 20s they produced. Since then I've toyed with the newer 20s and the 50s and have had great success. The R-Coms are no secret though, I'm surprised you've not learnt of them yet. Several of the more serious pheasant and waterfowl breeders have been using them (as do many zoos) for several years. This is pure speculation but I think Brinsea stopped selling them because they made Brinsea incubators look bad!

Of course this all goes without saying that I would always prefer to keep the rarest of eggs under live birds. Are live birds more reliable? Of course! You can't beat nature! Is a live bird incubated egg easier to hatch than one incubated from scratch in a machine. Sure. Is it impossible to have great success in an incubator...nope.

I think a more lively debate stems from the health (genetic and physical), conditions in which breeding birds are kept and the diet. I am a firm believer that all of these contribute to the vigor and hatchability of eggs.

I hope this is helpful.

Danny
 
I have however, never heard of or had this kind of success with  starting any wild duck aggs from day 1` with exact same hatching parameters  and yes with mutiple thermometers and hydrometer in using ONLY an incubator.


I've hatched northern pintails and ring teals from day one in a brinsea. I have pics from the whole process with the pintails (three out of four hatched). Or are you talking about something a bit more exotic/harder to hatch?
 
some pictures of my fertile silver mandarin eggs.
5/8 fertile using incubator from day 1.

 

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