Hatching Welsh Harlequin eggs—-advice

[nmr]

Tomorrow I’m picking up WH eggs from a local breeder and I wanted to ask advice about incubating etc. I have an NR360 and I’ve hatched silkie eggs, but never duck.

I’m looking for advice on temp, humidity, etc anything that will help me have a successful hatch.

thank you!

 

[Crazy Duck Lover]

Hi there! I'm not the most experienced person on here, but I'm sure I could give you some tips. I hatch duck eggs as well and it it so much fun!! I use the NR360 as well and it’s a very stable incubator, and just all around great! If your eggs are shipped, or experiencing a long drive let them sit on your counter for at least 6 hours point end down in a carton. This allows everything to settle in the egg and warm up the eggs a bit. If you put them straight in, the embryos will go into shock and most likely wont hatch. Make sure you run your incubator for at least 12 hours prior to getting your eggs, shipped or not. This allows it time to stabilize and warm up. I like to run mine 24-48 hours. I personally keep my humidity at 55% and the temp at 99.5 for the first 25 days. Once I go into lockdown I bump it up to 60%, and then once I spot a pip, I raise it to 70-75%. Once in lockdown, I drop the temp to 99.0 degrees farenheit. A member on here, MGG informed me all it does is slow down the hatching process and i find it to be true. Besides, ducks are the slowest hatching bird so I don't like to slow it down anymore! One final tip is to make sure you have a reliable, calibrated thermometer AND hygrometer in you incubator to make sure the temp and humidity inside the incubator matches what your incubator is actually reading. Anyway, best of luck with your hatch and let me know if you have any questions, I'll try to help the most I can!

- Zach

 

[Crazy Duck Lover]

How do I get everything to read the same?

If you’re talking about the Govee and the incubator to read the same, I don’t know if that’s possible. If both of your Govees are calibrated just trust those. I find my NR360’s temp gauge is off by a little.

I keep reading about misting, is that something I should do daily?

I don’t do that. Many members I’ve talked to on BYC say the same thing, they don’t do it but it’s up to you. I also called Meyer Hatchery, Metzer Farms, and The TAMU AgriScience Extension Line, and they advised against it. I think the purpose of it is for the incubation to be more natural.

Here’s a quote from an article about duck eggs:
“You can mist and cool the eggs once a day after day 10 (cooling for 10 to 15 minutes a day) if the air cells are in good shape.. however misting them will also cause more evaporation from the eggs (though it is minimal).. so if the air cells (or weight) is too great hold off on the misting.. the misting is more important during the last two weeks”


Last thing, make sure you keep the vent OPEN throughout the whole incubation! The embryos need oxygen, or you will discover a TON of quitters. I made this mistake last month and only had 4/12 hatch. I forgot to open the air vent. Once I realized, I was already on day 13.

 

[nmr]

If you’re talking about the Govee and the incubator to read the same, I don’t know if that’s possible. If both of your Govees are calibrated just trust those. I find my NR360’s temp gauge is off by a little.

I don’t do that. Many members I’ve talked to on BYC say the same thing, they don’t do it but it’s up to you. I also called Meyer Hatchery, Metzer Farms, and The TAMU AgriScience Extension Line, and they advised against it. I think the purpose of it is for the incubation to be more natural.

Here’s a quote from an article about duck eggs:
“You can mist and cool the eggs once a day after day 10 (cooling for 10 to 15 minutes a day) if the air cells are in good shape.. however misting them will also cause more evaporation from the eggs (though it is minimal).. so if the air cells (or weight) is too great hold off on the misting.. the misting is more important during the last two weeks”


Last thing, make sure you keep the vent OPEN throughout the whole incubation! The embryos need oxygen, or you will discover a TON of quitters. I made this mistake last month and only had 4/12 hatch. I forgot to open the air vent. Once I realized, I was already on day 13.

That’s the other thing that’s popping up, cooling, like take the lid off the incubator for 10-15 minutes a day or actually take the eggs out?

 

[Crazy Duck Lover]

That’s the other thing that’s popping up, cooling, like take the lid off the incubator for 10-15 minutes a day or actually take the eggs out?

I don’t think it really matters how you do it, as long as your eggs get down to 86degrees (i believe that’s the target for duck eggs)

 

[Crazy Duck Lover]

Let me tag some people that will know some more about hatching and ducks than me

@MGG @Kiki @DuckLady @fatty and friends @CaliFarmsAR

 

[nmr]

I don’t think it really matters how you do it, as long as your eggs get down to 86degrees (i believe that’s the target for duck eggs)

Oh man, what happens if I miss a day?

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

Tomorrow I’m picking up WH eggs from a local breeder and I wanted to ask advice about incubating etc. I have an NR360 and I’ve hatched silkie eggs, but never duck.

I’m looking for advice on temp, humidity, etc anything that will help me have a successful hatch.

thank you!

I don’t gage my humility at all. And I keep my eggs at 37.5 °C and have had great hatches.

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

Let me tag some people that will know some more about hatching and ducks than me

@MGG @Kiki @DuckLady @fatty and friends @CaliFarmsAR

Thanks for the tagging!!

 

[Crazy Duck Lover]

Oh man, what happens if I miss a day?

I’m not sure, because I don’t do the misting or cooling