I've been trying for the last two months to hatch eggs that my pekins have laid. I have a male mallard, and I see him on top of the female pekins . . . and the next day, I grab her eggs, crack one open to see if it's fertile . . . and it is, then I put the other ones in my incubator, wait a couple days-a week . . . Candle them, AND THEY HAVEN'T GROWN. This has happened about four times. Is it to early in the year for ducks to hatch or what?? HELP, PLEASE!
Do you know anyone else with an incubator? If so, if they would try and hatch some of your eggs and the eggs hatched, then it could be your incubator. Conversely, if they didn't, it might be the fault of the eggs or either parent. Or if you could get someone else's fertile eggs, even chicken and see if they would hatch in your incubator, then that could tell you if the fault is the incubator's or the eggs'.
I think Dekel may be onto something. Have you calibrated your bator? What kind is it? The cheaper styrofoam ones often don't do their jobs all that well and a lot of eggs incubated in them end up quitting. If your ducks aren't broody yet, that may be the problem. If they ARE broody, have you tried that method?
My ducks aren't broody . . . sadly, and I have hatched guineas and chickens with this incubator . . . although it is a little older . . . we got it in 2009 . . . but I hatched guineas with it last year, and that's why I am confused.
A six-year old incubator...yeah, I think it might be past due for an upgrade. It may have worked fine for you before, perhaps something happened between then and now. Or another issue could be that it wasn't disinfected properly. Bacteria can persist for years on a smooth surface and then when you put those nice, porous eggs in a warm, moist environment, it's an automatic death sentence.
Yes. True. Sad, but true. I was thinking of getting a new one . . . they're just so expensive . . . Got any ideas?
Not really, sadly...I'm a "go big or go home" kinda gal and after losing my first clutch I dropped the cash on an expensive, high-end bator. Lots of people here have built their own with good results, I'm hoping some of them can weigh in!