[Eastling]

We were give some duck eggs today. Could someone give me some advice please as only every incubated one set of chicken eggs.


We have a Brinsea Octagon 20 they are recommending a setting of 37.4 - 37.6 c and humidity of 45 to 55%
I have read on the web that you don't need to worry about humidity until the last 3 days of incubation, then the humidity needs to be 70% all very conflicting.
Also when would you stop them being  turned.


thanks
Jackie

[Beeducked]

Relax!


I worry less and less about humidity and the temp you have been recommended is fine.


I have used the brinsea for the first time with my last hatch and had the best results I've had in a long time. I am in a pretty damp area and run the incubator dry for the first 25 days and just add water for the final 3 days when I also stop turning.

[Eastling]

Thank you will give that a go. Just wanted to give them a fighting chance.

[HesterF]

Yep to the above - that's what I've heard as well anyway. The slightly complex thing is to lose enough water so they can internally pip OK a couple of days before hatch but then to keep the humidity up while they're trying to externally pip so they don't get shrink wrapped inside the egg. What I was told with the ducks and geese was to run the incubator dry but to spray with warm water once a day (or more) when manually turning (the goose eggs have to be turned end over end hence the manual bit even with a cradle). Then have a really high humidity for the last couple of days. If you read the books, they are graphs to follow so you can plot the weight loss and check they're losing the right amount of water over the first three weeks.

I was following this with broodies and four out of five still failed to hatch so I've clearly not perfected the technique - I think they were too dry (they lost too much weight). I now have an incubator full of goose and duck eggs so I'll be trying this in parallel with you. I'm not quite running it dry at the moment - I have it at 30% humidity (I think I'm in a dry area, certainly at the moment) and I'm spraying them once a day (and according to the controls, it takes hours after spraying for the humidity to drop right back down again).

H

[Eastling]

My OH has set  the humidity at 35% interesting re weighing them. Out incubator is automatic and turns the eggs.


When we had chicken eggs we used a damp sponge to give slight humidity but guess that would replace spraying with water.


I don't think you are far from us Hester, we are near Dover and today is a wet day!
We will have to compare notes!


Good luck


Jackie

[graham-j]

Hi,I hatch lots of geese and duck eggs,I would sagest you set your humidity to 45-50%,I always like to turn duck and goose eggs buy hand as I have far higher hatch rates buy doing so,I think your average small incy is designed to turn a small egg from a chicken not a large egg such as a goose.I turn the eggs 3 times a day end over end only don't rotate them as you can wind up the elasticy bits that hold the yolk in place.When I turn the eggs I then spray them with luke warm water until it runs off them.
As soon as the eggs start to pip,stop turning them and raise the humidity as high as you get it at least 70%.
Below is a picture of the best hatch I ever had from my octagon 20, 9 from 9 goose eggs.In the picture I have all ready removed the shells it was so tight in there at first I thought they were dead.I am in canterbury so not far from you either.

Graham.

[Eastling]

Hi Graham


Thanks for the reply, lots to think about. Silly question but.. do you still let the incubator turn the eggs as well as turning them yourself?


We will have to get together with Hester to compare notes

[Eastling]

Lovely pics

[graham-j]

Hi,when I turn buy hand I take the incy off the turning cradle and only do it buy hand.I had great difficulty hatching goose eggs until I started doing this.
Its what works for me.


Graham.

[Eastling]

Just candled the eggs. Looks like all 7 are fertile. Have a slight problem OH has cracked one doesn't appear
To have gone all the way through, would it be an idea to leave for a couple of days to see if all ok. Have read that you can use glue think it would be a pva type glue.

[HesterF]

100% is great! I'm really annoyed with one of our broodies who has her head away with the fairies and is rapidly losing fertile eggs as she forgets to cover them. We had eight out of nine fertile of our own eggs (after having had loads of infertile eggs before). She kicked out two early on which I transferred to the incubator and although they'd gone cold, they survived. Then she kicked one out a couple of days ago and that's not made it. Then I went in this morning and she'd pooed all over one, left it where it was, moved three across but left a further three to go cold as well. So now she's down to sitting on three and I've put the four she'd left to go cold in the incubator and am waiting with baited breath to see if they're going to make it. Suspect not  . Grrrr - so much for broodies being more reliable than incubators.

As for your cracked egg, I've not put any cracked eggs in but I guess you've nothing to lose. Just keep a close eye on it - I imagine the danger is it's more open to infection so be very careful with how you handle it,

H

[graham-j]

Hi,I have herd of people sealing a crack with nail varnish.Not something I have tried myself but the person who told me swear it was true.
Good news about the fertility.

Graham.

[Eastling]

That's interesting will see if the egg is still viable and may well try, but OH thinks it is too big a dent/crack.

[graham-j]

Hi,I doubt it will work if the egg is actually damaged,its more for sealing up cracks.But you have nothing to loose

Graham.

[Eastling]

hi graham will check again and them make a decision.