Ducks 101

HOW TO Hatch

Use these practical tips to create more quackers.

- BY LISA STEELE

Looking for a fun way to add to your flock? Consider hatching the eggs yourself. Whether you have fertile eggs of your own, buy some from a local farm or order eggs online, the experience of watching the ducklings develop and hatch is truly awe-inspiring.

If you opt to hatch your own eggs, choose the most perfectly shaped ones — neither those too small nor too large (double yolkers rarely hatch, and if they do, both ducklings rarely survive), as well as very clean ones. In my experience, the eggs shouldn’t be washed or refrigerat­ed; instead, gently brush off dirt with a dry sponge or paper towel to keep the bloom intact. Store the eggs in an egg carton in a cool location, such as a basement, garage or mudroom, preferably around 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Eggs should be positioned pointy end down, at a 45-degree angle, and rotated several times a day to keep the yolk centered. Fertile eggs will remain viable for about a week. After that, fertility starts to decline.

Shipped hatching eggs often have a lower hatch rate, due to jostling during shipping, temperatur­e and humidity changes, and the time factor. Hatchabili­ty declines every day after an egg is laid. Buying from a nearby and reputable breeder who has a good fertility rate, packages securely and ships quickly becomes the first step to ensuring a successful hatch from shipped eggs.

When you’re ready to start, set the eggs out at room temperatur­e for several hours to let them warm up and for the yolks to settle. It’s important to “candle” each egg to check for hairline cracks. You can use a commercial candler or a small flashlight, cupping your hand around its beam and setting the egg on top of the bulb. If you see small cracks, you can seal them with softened beeswax to prevent bacteria from entering through the crack and killing the embryo.

It’s important to wash your hands before and after handling the eggs. Because eggshells are porous, bacteria is easily introduced through them.

INSIDE AN INCUBATOR

An incubator involves more work but allows you to hatch eggs when you don’t have a “broody” duck compelled by hormones to sit on a nest of eggs. Duck eggs incubate at a temperatur­e between 99.3 and 99.6 degrees for 28 days. The humidity in the incubator should stay between 45 percent to 55 percent for the first 25 days, increasing to 65 percent

for the last three days. Humidity is controlled by placing a small container of water inside the incubator, which likely comes equipped with a hygrometer to measure humidity. If not, you can buy a hygrometer at a feed store or online.

Once your incubator has come up to temperatur­e, wash your hands, and then number each egg on one side with a pencil. This will help you tell them apart and also serve as a reference for the daily rotations. Place the eggs in the incubator — pointed ends facing downward and numbered sides up — on a piece of rubber shelf liner. The shelf liner prevents the eggs from rolling while being rotated and also provides a textured surface for the hatched ducklings’ feet to grip. Place the incubator in a quiet location that stays a fairly consistent temperatur­e, away from a sunny window and safe from children and pets.

The next morning, rotate the eggs 180 degrees so the numbers are now on the bottom. Turn each egg 180 degrees several times a day

— minimum five times, maximum hourly. An odd number of daily turns ensures that the egg spends every other night on the opposite side. This is important so that the developing embryo doesn’t stick to the membrane and

shell. Embryos float and will rise to the top each time an egg is rotated.

Five days into the incubation period, candle the eggs to see which ones are developing.

From my observatio­ns, it’s easiest to candle in the evening, leaving the lights off and working quickly. Raising the temperatur­e a few degrees for even a few minutes can kill the embryos, so take care not to leave the light against the shell for too long. On day five, you are looking for the telltale “spider” and veining. The air sac at the wide end also should have begun to expand. Check for a blood ring inside the egg, which indicates bacteria. If you detect a blood ring at any point during the incubation period, discard that egg.

By day five, the digestive tract, and nervous and circulator­y systems have formed. The eyes, ears and brain have begun to form, and the heart has started beating. The embryo has leg buds; the tail and bill are developing.

Over the course of the following days, the legs, toes and foot webbing, wings and beak will begin to form, as will the reproducti­ve organs. The bones will begin to harden. Then feathers will begin to grow. The egg tooth, which will help the duckling to crack the eggshell and hatch, will begin to grow on the bill.

Another candling on day ten should reveal significan­t growth inside the egg. At this point, any eggs not showing developmen­t should be removed from the incubator and discarded in case they are contaminat­ed with bacteria, which could cause the egg to explode and contaminat­e other eggs.

On day 10, begin misting the eggs once a day. Misting with room-temperatur­e water in a spray bottle draws out moisture from the eggs and promotes the growth of the air sac, which gives the embryo room to expand and also prevents the duckling from drowning when it comes time to hatch. In my experience, roomtemper­ature water ensures that any bacteria is drawn out instead of into the egg. A quick spritz once a day is sufficient.

The misting is thought to mimic a wet hen returning to the nest after getting something to eat and drink and taking a quick swim. The cooling effect of the evaporatin­g water also serves to lower the surface temperatur­e of the egg. Periodic cooling of waterfowl eggs has been studied and is thought to have beneficial effects on hatch rates. Removing the lid of the incubator (or removing the eggs) for 20 to 30 minutes to let the eggs cool slightly — again mimicking a hen leaving the nest to feed and drink — is recommende­d around day 10. The eggs should be cooled once a day to about 86 degrees, so they feel neither warm nor cold to the touch.

By day 19, the expanding air sac should take up between one-quarter to one-third of the space inside the egg. This is the air that the duckling will breathe before it successful­ly “pips” through the shell and breathes outside air.

On day 24, the duckling embryos will be almost completely formed but will continue to grow inside the shells. The egg yolks are absorbed as nourishmen­t. Candling the eggs at this point should reveal significan­t movement inside them.

Day 26 is lockdown. The eggs will get one final rotation, misting and cooling period, and then more humidity. The temperatur­e should be reduced to 98.6 degrees. Within the eggs, the ducklings get into “hatch position”; turning an egg after lockdown could disorient the duckling and result in it not being able to break out of the shell. The incubator should remain closed until the ducklings hatch, have dried off and are ready to be transferre­d to the brooder.

On day 28, the eggs should start showing signs of “pipping.” After a duckling has broken through the membrane and shell and is breathing the outside air, it often will take a break and rest before finally “zipping” the top off the egg and completing its hatch. This can take up to 48 hours from the first pip. Avoid helping a duckling out of the shell; attempt it only if the duckling is obviously wrapped in

the membrane or otherwise unable to hatch on its own. If a pip has been made but no further progress is seen for 12 hours, you can carefully break away small pieces of the shell, but this needs to be done slowly and stopped immediatel­y if you see any bleeding.

Newly hatched ducklings don’t need food or water for at least 48 hours after they hatch. Avoid opening the incubator to remove hatched ducklings; this reduces the humidity, which can be detrimenta­l to the eggs. It’s better to let the ducklings recover from the hatching process and dry off inside the incubator while you wait for the rest to hatch. Then you can give each duckling a drink of sugar water — 3 tablespoon­s of sugar per quart of water — and then transfer it to a warm brooder equipped with a heat lamp set at 90 degrees. (After a few days, change the sugar-water ratio to one-third cup sugar per gallon of water.)

UNDER A DUCK

Hatching eggs under a duck is far less complicate­d because the hen will do most of the work. If you are fortunate enough to have a broody duck, make sure that she has soft bedding in her nest (straw works well) and plenty of feed and clean water nearby. She will handle turning the eggs. She should kick any nondevelop­ing eggs out of the nest and also stop sitting on the eggs once all the eggs have hatched that she thinks will hatch.

Candling the eggs is not necessary when working with a broody duck. Check that her nest is safe from predators, including rats and snakes that steal and eat eggs, as well as other ducks so they don’t lay eggs in her nest alongside those you want to hatch. Other ducks also might fight your broody hen for the nest and end up breaking the eggs.

Regardless of your hens’ hormones, you have the option of adding ducklings to your flock by hatching eggs with an incubator. With today’s technology, you don’t even need to rely on your ducks to provide the eggs, so explore your options and then have fun watching and learning from the hatching eggs. ■

With her poultry-keeping website Fresh Eggs Daily, Lisa Steele — a fifth-generation chicken keeper — inspires both the newcomer onto the scene and the seasoned chicken keeper. She focuses on old-timers’ tried-and-true methods to raise chickens and ducks as naturally as possible on her farm in Virginia.

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 ??  ?? A hygrometer will help you measure humidity within an incubator.
A hygrometer will help you measure humidity within an incubator.
 ??  ?? Newly hatched ducklings don’t need food or water for at least 48 hours after they hatch.
Newly hatched ducklings don’t need food or water for at least 48 hours after they hatch.
 ??  ?? Candling helps you check for hairline cracks and gauge developmen­t of a fertile egg.
Candling helps you check for hairline cracks and gauge developmen­t of a fertile egg.
 ??  ?? If you are fortunate enough to have a broody duck, make sure that she has soft bedding in her nest (straw works well) and plenty of feed and clean water nearby. She will handle turning the eggs.
If you are fortunate enough to have a broody duck, make sure that she has soft bedding in her nest (straw works well) and plenty of feed and clean water nearby. She will handle turning the eggs.

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