Is this a safe way to stagger my duck eggs?

[Shoebox]

Hi all, This is my first time hatching. I have a Nurture Right 360 set up and ready to go.

I ordered some shipped duck eggs and also bought some other duck eggs locally to fill the rest of my incubator. I had carefully tried to avoid this exact situation, but unfortunately my shipment is delayed until 5-6 days from now, and the eggs I have are already as old as 7 days. I had planned to be able to set them all together, especially since it's my first hatch. What can I do?

From what I've gathered reading other threads and researching online, I shouldn't wait much longer to set the eggs I have or else risk dropping the hatch rate with old eggs, but also that a second batch in the same incubator should be fine going into lockdown a couple of days early.

Should I wait 3 more days (until the 10-day-old egg maximum I've seen recommended) before setting these eggs, and then add the shipped eggs later? Accounting for an extra day to let the shipped eggs rest after they arrive, would setting the batches 3-4 days apart still be okay for them to go into lockdown together?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[pozees2]

Doubtless you've set your eggs already, I just noticed your question, and while I am not a duck hatcher, as a general rule it's okay to put eggs into lockdown a few days early, the main worry is when the first eggs hatch they can boot the others around. They usually manage to hatch anyway if they're going to. Have you candled your eggs at this point to see what is developing?