To Incubate or Not to Incubate

[KingD]

I need some advice. My female, Goldie has finished laying her first clutch; she has 20 in her nest, which is a little doggie bed, and she’s laid every one in there. She removed 7 of them, so she laid a total of 27 eggs. I placed my grandbabies video camera monitor in the Quack House for a few days to see if she was sitting on them at night, which turns out she would for a few hours till the males begin squawking and she gets up to see what’s going on and doesn’t return to sit on the eggs. The last 3 nights she has sat on them but at the slightest hint of daybreak she’s up and squawking to get out the house with the others. I have even tried removing the bed and bringing it outside to see if she would sit on them and nada, she’s more interested in foraging, swimming in the pool with the other ducks, or playing in their mud pit. Today, I broke down and purchased an incubator, my issue is do I just incubate the eggs since she doesn’t seem to have any interest in hatching them naturally? If so, what impact will it have on her if I remove the eggs? These may seem like crazy questions and I’m sure someone has asked them somewhere along the line in a thread but I’m wondering whether to begin setting up the incubator. She only began sitting on the eggs late at night after the male was trying to sit on them LOL.

Change text to black. Thanks!

 

[Carter Martin]

True but only once the eggs have been laid. Once the egg has started developing sticking them in the fridge would be the end of the eggs.
Also most fridges run cold, the fridge should be set to the minimum cooling level so it does not go below 7 degrees C. Also humidity needs to be monitored, humidity can rise to 90% in fridges and I don't know if that is a problem but I would stick to 60-80% humidity

Yeah right I know it wouldn't work once the egg has started to develop. I meant only after it has been laid. And I don't know about temperature and humidity.

 

[NatJ]

do I just incubate the eggs since she doesn’t seem to have any interest in hatching them naturally? If so, what impact will it have on her if I remove the eggs?

Impact on her: amost none.

You could take all the real eggs to incubate, and put a few fake eggs in the nest in case she wants to sit on them.

If she does go broody, she can sit just as happily on the fake eggs, or on any real eggs she laid after you clean out the nest.

 

[nolamimi504]

id leave her 2 or 3 if she changes her mind, incubate the rest. if the temps are below 55 degrees fertility will die if shes off them for a long period of time. Take what you want to incubate, place them in a bowl or container at room temp inside your home until you Bring the incubator up to 99.5 for 24-48 hrs. as far is it having an impact on her, if she was broody and ready to hatch those chicks she wouldnt leave them for long.

I did as you suggested we left her with 3 eggs and it’s been unusually cold lately and I believe two of them froze and she removed them from the nest, so we removed them from the house. She’s continuing to lay eggs daily LOL. I’ve read a duck will usually wait until they have a big enough clutch before sitting on them. She has 4 new eggs in her nest. They’ve all been inside the past few nights because of the weather. If we wanted to incubate the ones she’s currently laying how would we do that? Would we collect them after she has a large enough clutch and then place them? Or do we remove them daily and keep them until there’s enough to incubate?

 

[nolamimi504]

Laying regularly does not always equal broody. Leaving eggs can encourage it, but does not guarantee it. What species is Goldie? Sometimes ducks sit only at night when they first start to go broody. 20 eggs may be to many eggs for a hen to brood. I would take at least a few to an incubator.

She’s a Pekin

 

[nolamimi504]

Change text to black. Thanks!
nolamimi504 said:
I need some advice. My female, Goldie has finished laying her first clutch; she has 20 in her nest, which is a little doggie bed, and she’s laid every one in there. She removed 7 of them, so she laid a total of 27 eggs. I placed my grandbabies video camera monitor in the Quack House for a few days to see if she was sitting on them at night, which turns out she would for a few hours till the males begin squawking and she gets up to see what’s going on and doesn’t return to sit on the eggs. The last 3 nights she has sat on them but at the slightest hint of daybreak she’s up and squawking to get out the house with the others. I have even tried removing the bed and bringing it outside to see if she would sit on them and nada, she’s more interested in foraging, swimming in the pool with the other ducks, or playing in their mud pit. Today, I broke down and purchased an incubator, my issue is do I just incubate the eggs since she doesn’t seem to have any interest in hatching them naturally? If so, what impact will it have on her if I remove the eggs? These may seem like crazy questions and I’m sure someone has asked them somewhere along the line in a thread but I’m wondering whether to begin setting up the incubator. She only began sitting on the eggs late at night after the male was trying to sit on them LOL.

 

[nolamimi504]

So, I should refrigerate any new eggs that we want to incubate? I’m so confused lol. My female is a Pekin, I’ve read they’re not really broody. Still learning here.

 

[NatJ]

If we wanted to incubate the ones she’s currently laying how would we do that? Would we collect them after she has a large enough clutch and then place them? Or do we remove them daily and keep them until there’s enough to incubate?

I would remove them daily, and store them out of the refrigerator for no more than a week before putting them in an incubator. If you've got a place that is 50-60 degrees farenheit (maybe a basement or garage), I would store them there. Otherwise I would just keep them in the house, at room temperature.

If you leave them in the nest, they are exposed to whatever cold or heat the weather happens to produce.

I got some of those ideas from this page:
https://www.brinsea.com/articles/advice/EggStorage.aspx
It's on the website of an incubator manufacturer

 

[nolamimi504]

I would remove them daily, and store them out of the refrigerator for no more than a week before putting them in an incubator. If you've got a place that is 50-60 degrees farenheit (maybe a basement or garage), I would store them there. Otherwise I would just keep them in the house, at room temperature.

If you leave them in the nest, they are exposed to whatever cold or heat the weather happens to produce.

I got some of those ideas from this page:
https://www.brinsea.com/articles/advice/EggStorage.aspx
It's on the website of an incubator manufacturer

Thank you for that site. That answered pretty much every question I was thinking about LOL. I asked cuz Goldie has been laying an egg a day for over a month. She’s laid a total of 35 eggs but only had 4 in her nest

 

[Jp617]

I did as you suggested we left her with 3 eggs and it’s been unusually cold lately and I believe two of them froze and she removed them from the nest, so we removed them from the house. She’s continuing to lay eggs daily LOL. I’ve read a duck will usually wait until they have a big enough clutch before sitting on them. She has 4 new eggs in her nest. They’ve all been inside the past few nights because of the weather. If we wanted to incubate the ones she’s currently laying how would we do that? Would we collect them after she has a large enough clutch and then place them? Or do we remove them daily and keep them until there’s enough to incubate?

Yes collect everyday. And on day 5 or 7 at the latest start the incubation period