Duck farming: how to hatch duck eggs

Preparing the incubator for duck eggs:

24 hours before it is ready, the incubator must be set up. The incubator must be clean and sterilized. Never use an incubator that has not been sterilized. Styrofoam incubators are especially susceptible to fungi and mold. Incubators operate in warm, humid areas where mold and mildew thrive, cleanliness is very important, I can’t stress it enough. The eggs are porous, they have small holes for inhaling and exhaling. Bacteria thrive in the incubator due to the high humidity and heat. If the incubator is contaminated, the eggs will also be contaminated. The bacteria will settle inside the egg and consume important vitamins and nutrients that are crucial for the ducks’ growth. The bacteria are terrible, it could easily become toxic or make duck eggs infertile, among many other bad things.

Preparing duck eggs for incubation:

Duck eggs should be at room temperature before placing them inside the incubator. This means leaving them at room temperature for at least 8 hours after taking them out of the fridge. Time to inspect the duck eggs. Check your eggs for cracks, remove them and any abnormally large eggs. Believe me, you DO NOT want an egg to burst in the incubator. It stinks, it’s gross, and it will mess up your other eggs. Abnormally large eggs could mean multiple yolks and they wouldn’t hatch anyway. Remove dirt or feces from the eggs if you haven’t already. Egg shells act like a uterus, allowing harmful gases to escape and oxygen inside. Mud, feces, or any other contaminant in the shell will clog the small holes that allow the duck egg to breathe. If you need to use water, make it lukewarm, cold contracts, heat expands. The warm water will kill the bacteria from the holes, while the cold water will shrink the egg’s contents and absorb the bad stuff.

Place the duck eggs in the incubator.

Place the small end of the duck egg on the incubator tray. It is important to place the eggs large side up. The egg has an air cell inside it and letting it stay on the larger side of the egg allows less evaporation of the liquid and a higher hatchability rate. After placing the duck eggs in the incubator, setting the proper temperature and humidity, check that the incubator is working properly a few times during the day for the first day and then periodically for the next few days and the duration of the incubation process. Even small hiccups seriously affect hatchability, too much heat or too little humidity means fewer ducklings. Different breeds vary in temperature and humidity settings, but generally starting at 99.5 (84.5 degrees Fahrenheit if you’re using a wet bulb) degrees Fahrenheit and 55% relative humidity.

Remove the rotten eggs from the incubator.

Day 7 will be the day to put candles in the duck eggs and check if the eggs are in bad condition to remove them. Remove any eggs that have “dead germ” or eggs that are infertile. Clear or cloudy eggs are the first sign of a bad egg. On day 7 you should see the embryo forming chick-like characteristics. Identifying bad eggs is very important, you don’t want a broken or exploding egg to ruin the incubator and good eggs. Check the eggs again on day 14 to make sure you have all the good eggs. You should already know the best ducks for eggs.

Day 25 Move your duck eggs to the incubator.

An incubator is similar to the incubator, except that the eggs are no longer turned and there is enough room for the duckling to hatch. While the incubator turns the eggs and there is no room for the baby to hatch. Set the hatcher temperature to 98.5 degrees Fahrenheit and increase the humidity to 94%. During the next 2 to 5 days, the young ducklings will begin to hatch from their eggs. Once you see that the egg breaks, it is normal that you want to help them and take them out, do not do it. “Helping” the duckling has many disastrous consequences, even causing the poor thing to bleed to death. It usually takes about 24 hours for your baby to be fully born. So don’t help him unless you’ve done it too.

The breeder:

Once the duck eggs have hatched and hatched, move them to the hatchery box. The rearing box must be clean and have a source of heat. Food and water are not needed until 24 hours after hatching. The duck is still absorbing the nutrients from the egg and needs time to adjust.