# How to incubate duck eggs



## Brisket (Sep 29, 2007)

I know that duck eggs take about 25-28 days but that is about it and we are not sure that is correct. I have read the stickys on this site but just need to know a few things. 
How long do duck eggs take to hatch. 
When do you take them out of the automatic turner if you do.
Humidity range and temperature range
Any other help will be appreciated.
We are doing this for a brother in the Lord and for fun, I just want to see if we can hatch duck eggs.


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## tallpines (Apr 9, 2003)

My 12 year old son (he's now 37) use to have almost 100% success rate in hatching his duck eggs.

He had to turn them by hand twice a day and stopped turning on day 25.

The eggs hatched on day 28.

He always kept a bowl of water inside the incubator, and when it needed more water added, he would make sure he added WARM water so as not to cool the incubator.

In addition to the bowl of warm water, on day 25 (until hatching) he would begin misting the eggs with WARM water twice a day.

As the ducklings hatched, he would talk softly to them and cuddle them.

Those babys were sure that DS was their mother!
Once the baby's graduated to outdoor activity, they would follow DS all over the farm. It was the cutest thing to watch.

His rate of success was so much higher than the norm that he had nearby Menonites and Amish contacting him for advice on hatching ducklings!

Good luck with your hatch!


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

I don't have those rates of success, but I do have pretty good luck with duck eggs. I agree with the 28 days, turn them three times a day (unless I forget one) and watch humidity carefully. It's very dry here, so I run a humidifier in the room with the incubator, keep the little trays full inside of it and also add wet sponges - my best trick there is to buy the smallest tin foil bread pans and cut the bottoms off short enough to fit under the wire mesh and put the wet sponges in them. It's all I can do to keep 50% humidity most of the time! Also Storey's Guide to Ducks recommends cooling the eggs for a few minutes a day after about day 9 and leaving them alone the last couple of days to hatch. 

I agree - all water added is warm water. 

The best thing is that if you are close to right, you will most likely hatch some of the eggs at any rate - they are pretty forgiving! 

You are using an automatic turner - I'd take them out on day 25. I'm not sure what type of incubator you are using, that affects the temperature. I'm using a still air Little Giant (pretty basic) and keeping it about 99 degrees. I've got eggs in now - I put in 19 eggs and several of them just weren't fertile. We've had a late spring and very cold winter and they just started laying again, so I'm not surprised at that! After the 10 day candling I have 12 that look great and one I'm not sure of in there (which reminds me to check that one again tonight before I go to bed). 

I love watching them grow.  It's so cool to realize they breathe through their shells - take in air and exhale CO2. Having eggs is like having a whole 'nother pet!


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## NEfarmgirl (Jan 27, 2009)

Candle them at about a week to see if they are viable or not. You should see a spider like red veins coming from a little red mass. If not throw the eggs out--they will smell after a while.

28 days to hatch--stop turning on day 25

It is easier to put a bowl of water in the incubator and make sure there is water in it the whole time. warm water

Temperature needs to be at 99.5 degrees and you can let the temp drop a degree the day of the hatch.

Turn at least 3 times a day if not more if they are on a turner take them off at day 25.

If you have plugs for air circulation make sure both are removed on the 25th day.

The ducks we hatched did have problems hatching and we had to help them out. If they start and do not seem to make progress you may need to help them out. Wait 24 hours before trying to help them out of their shells.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Unless you are hatching Muscovy eggs. Those can take up to 37 days.


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## Brisket (Sep 29, 2007)

thank you all for the tips, I wrapped the incubator with a little extra insulation, its cold here still, checked the incubator this morning at 5:30 eggs were 120 degrees, I know I'm suppose to hatch them not cook them, I was just experimenting, experiment failed. Will bring incubator in the house. A friend had just called and asked if I could incubate some eggs for him I said no problem and he brought them over they were filthy, had been stored cold not warmed up and old, so he did learn a thing also.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

You can store eggs cold before hatch - sometimes even in the fridge (but not frozen of course!). They should be cool, about 50 degrees, for best storage. I've stored eggs up to 10 days and had them hatch. If his eggs are laid dirty, he could try to wash them ALL very gently in warm water so that they are treated the same, then to store them. Then you pay close attention to their weight as they incubate. They should lose weight slowly as the air pocket gets larger - if they lose weight too fast they are too dry. You can also mark the air pocket - it should slowly get larger, if it changes quickly you need more humidity. My duck eggs seem to lose about 0.1 or 0.05 oz in the first week - don't remember much more than that as I'm at 11 days right now..  

Misting the eggs is supposed to actually cause them to dry out more, I never figured that out as it seems counter intuitive, but that's what the book says! Just remember they breathe through the shells and must have some fresh air and can't really sit wet or they will suffocate. 

As far as the incubator goes, BEFORE you put the eggs in it, be sure its running steadily at the right temperature for a day or so. The eggs are better off in a cool room for an extra day or two than they are being overheated. Unfortunately 120 would almost certainly kill them. Wrapping it in insulation may be ok as long as you are careful that air circulation can get to the little holes in the bottom of it and the plugs in the top are available to put in or to remove to control air movement and humidity. (They need more air and a bit less heat when hatching, by then they want to actually breathe and generate some of their own heat.) If you can find a room where the temperature doesn't change much (I use a spare bedroom) and the sun doesn't hit the incubator, you will have an easier time regulating temps consistantly. 

I made a table out of some boards on sawhorses and found an old tray that the incubator can sit on. It keeps me from getting water all over when I fill the trays inside. I've got room for notes on the eggs - which I tend to write on with pencils. Each one is numbered and weighed and notes kept on candling and turning. We have a simple form we print out to put X's and O's on and times when we turn. Helps me to keep track of what I have done. Each egg has an X on one side and an O on the other and its number for the forms. I don't need to do this, I just find it fun.  I go in and talk to them too, what can I say?? hehe

I took out the questionable one last night and am down to one dozen nice growing ducklings. I hope most of them will hatch - from now til hatching things usually go fine for me. 



Well, that's my advice for the morning.


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## danny1984 (Aug 18, 2009)

You need to pre-warm the eggs for about 8 hours prior to incubation, this is done in any room to the bring the egg temperature up to room temperature. Once this is achieved you place the eggs onto the turner trolleys in the incubator for 24 days ensuring humidity and temperature are running fine. I find for best results to set the incubator temperature at 37.4 degrees so that the outside egg temperature is at around 42.0 degrees, humidity should be around 84-88 degrees or 27-29.5 wet bulb. After 24 days transfer the eggs onto flat trays and place in a hatcher room or the incubator depending on if you want alot of fluff and mess in the incubator for 4 days ie: transfer on a Monday and the eggs would have hatched by the Thursday, transfer quickly as you don't want the egg temperature to drop to low. I hope this helps in your process of hatching some high quality ducks.


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