TIPS on LOCKDOWN with DUCK eggs?

[kare21162]

Lockdown is Monday night at 6:45! I have an LG styrofoam incubator with fan installed. My questions are:



Is putting the eggs in the egg turner a good idea for lockdown? (not plugged in of course)

Is putting a towel or washcloth, layed out, on the bottom a good way to boost humidity up?

How will I add water during lockdown if I can't open up the incubator?

Will adding a straw through the vent holes over the top of the washcloth be a good way to add more water if needed?



Anything else I might be missing? A website I've went to on hatching duck eggs also says from day 25-28 it's 99 degrees and 65% but then you boost the humidity up to 80% when Piping starts. Then at the end of the hatch you bring the temp down to 97 and humidity to 70%. Is this accurate to the exp. duck hatcher? Thanks a bunch guys!

 

[Little Ameraucana Mom]

Hope someone answers, I just put my daughters duck eggs in lockdown, but I don't seem to have very good luck with the ducks.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

How did lockdown go? Have not hatched ducks in the bator yet, but I do have to open mine during lockdown to add water. We are so dry here, that humidity can be a challenge.


I, personally, would not hatch in the turner -- can be too messy to clean up.

Hopefully someone with more duck hatching experience will see this.

 

[Sweetfolly]

Quote:
Sounds pretty good - but complicated. I use a separate hatcher with the temperature set at 98 degrees and I keep the humidity at 70-75% the entire time - which is pretty easy for me to maintain if I have wet washcloths stretched over the entire bottom of the incubator (I incubate and hatch in Brinsea Octagon 20's). That way I'm not messing around trying to adjust the humidity from 65%-80%-70% throughout lockdown. Once the hatch is done, and they're all hatched but still wet, I take the washcloths out and open all the vent to let the humidity go down so that they'll dry out faster.

I hatch the eggs upright in egg cartons - very easy to clean up, you just toss the whole thing.

What breed duck are your eggs? And hows the hatch going? If lockdown started Monday, they should be due today or tomorrow, right?

 

[kare21162]

Lockdown is going good. I have 5 beautiful Khaki Campbell or possibly some Khaki Campbell/Rouen crosses in there too

. I have a Chocolate Call duck hatching right now

. I stick a straw down one of the vent holes and I have this little funnel that I put into the straw and I add water that way. I also have a wet washcloth in the bottom that I made sure was under the vent hole so I could pour water onto it. If you have low humidity where you are, if you lay that washcloth out completely it will give you tons of humidity. When I do it, it was in the 90's so I had to fold it smaller to bring it down. Anyways, that's what I did!

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I keep the humidity around 70-75% for hatching. But I have had it go up to 85% and had them all hatch with no problems. Just had a batch of chicks hatch with 85% humidity, cause I couldnt get it down.

Anyway...

I keep one of the vent holes open, once they are all hatched I open the other one so they can dry off. I add water to the wells and if it isnt high enough I use a sponge soaked with hot water. If the humidity drops during the hatch, I open the incuabtor and dump some more water in and/or add a sponge.

 

[kare21162]

Quote:
Sounds pretty good - but complicated. I use a separate hatcher with the temperature set at 98 degrees and I keep the humidity at 70-75% the entire time - which is pretty easy for me to maintain if I have wet washcloths stretched over the entire bottom of the incubator (I incubate and hatch in Brinsea Octagon 20's). That way I'm not messing around trying to adjust the humidity from 65%-80%-70% throughout lockdown. Once the hatch is done, and they're all hatched but still wet, I take the washcloths out and open all the vent to let the humidity go down so that they'll dry out faster.

I hatch the eggs upright in egg cartons - very easy to clean up, you just toss the whole thing.

What breed duck are your eggs? And hows the hatch going? If lockdown started Monday, they should be due today or tomorrow, right?

There are 5 Chocolate Calls and then 6 Khaki Campbell and Khaki Campbell/Rouen crosses. There was 3 KC hens and 1 Rouen hen to a KC drake. I actually opened the incubator up on Monday afternoon to turn them because locdown wasn't until the evening and I had 3 pips already so I freaked out and had to rush to get it set up! LOL

 

[kikijung]

My incubator doesn't seem to have any vents. How do i do lockdown and still add water? Also I have three mallard duck eggs and they seem to be developing at very different rates. I only have one incubator. How do I do a lockdown in this case?

 

[Destocameron]

How did lockdown go? Have not hatched ducks in the bator yet, but I do have to open mine during lockdown to add water. We are so dry here, that humidity can be a challenge.


I, personally, would not hatch in the turner -- can be too messy to clean up.

Hopefully someone with more duck hatching experience will see this.

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