Is it possible to hatch duck eggs without an incubator

Then allow them to air dry and place them in the egg carton to wait until your clutch is ready to set. This will ensure that the eggs loose enough fluid during development so that their is a good sized air bubble at the end of the shell for them to pip in to and breath through later. If the humidity is too high for the first 18 days, the chicks can drown when it comes time to hatch. Incubators need to have holes or vents that allow fresh air to circulate so the embryos can breathe.

The incubator should be set to maintain the temperature at Any fluctuations in this temperature can kill the developing chick. We have found that covering the top of the incubator with a folded towel helps increase the insulation and decrease the temperature fluctuations. A mother hen is constantly jostling and turning her eggs. They need to be turned at least 3 times every 24 hours. Some of the better incubators will automatically turn the eggs.

This is the best option for two reasons:. On day 14 I always check for signs of growth and remove any eggs that have not developed. This reduces the risk of them exploding in the incubator! Eggs that are developing will have visible veins in the shell and eventually just go dark as the light cannot shine through a chicken. Eggs that have not developed just glow when you shine a light on them.

To candle fertile eggs you need a bright light, I use one of these torches, and a dark room. Keep the other eggs in the incubator and try and keep them all as warm as you can, and move gently but swiftly. There are some great pictures here. After day 18 everything goes in to lockdown. This is when you remove the auto turning trays and lay the eggs down on their side and increase the humidity.

These last few days are crucial for the chick to get itself in to the best position for hatching. So you just leave them be, no more egg turning. Keep the humidity high and the temperature even. Generally speaking eggs will take 21 days to hatch. If the incubator is too warm they may start hatching on day 19 or 20, if the incubator is too cold, they may not start until day 22 or It is important not to panic if your chick pips at day 19 and then does nothing much else for a day or two.

Chicks need to absorb their yolk sack before they come out of their shell. With the humidity under control, the next step is maintaining temperature of around 90 degrees. Our incubator fan worked, but it produced no heat, so it merely served to increase temperature fluctuations and muck things up. I unplugged it and maintained heat by boiling water and placing it in mason jars with tight lids.

I laid these down on opposite sides of the incubator and closed the lid. Using the cooking thermometer, I continued to monitor the temperature. Earlier in the day when the room temperature was lower, I wrapped the incubator with blankets to help hold in heat, leaving the top air hole open. To maintain the temperature we were aiming for, we filled one quart and one pint mason jar with boiling water and placed them in the incubator.

After the ducks began hatching, we covered these with rags to keep the ducklings from getting burned on the jars. During the day, those jars needed to be refreshed with boiling water every hours. To do this, boil the water first, then quickly open the hatching box, pull out the jars, close the lid, refill and then replace.

Our temperature ranged from , because I was mistakenly thinking I needed to still aim for Overnight we went about 7 hours between heating. The lowest temperature we ended up with was 88 overnight during hatching. Morning room temperature then was 62, so the styrofoam and blankets did a good job of insulating and keeping the hatching box warm. From the first pip to the first hatch was about 36 hours, but we still had pips starting 48 hours after the first.

Based on this, I imagine mother raised ducks would have a higher hatch rate if we brought in the unhatched eggs when mom leaves the nest. The 9th duckling hatched about half an hour ago.

Mom would surely have moved off the nest by now and left some unhatched. I bring out some treats when I go to check on them as well and added a small bowl of whey from cheese making. After the ducklings were fully dry, I moved them out in pairs and set them up under the heat lamp, showing them food and water. Brooding birds are birds that are incubating their own eggs.

If you do not already have a brooding bird on your farm, you can purchase one from another farm, or a local farm animal distributor. Duck eggs should incubate in days, depending on the species. Select a nesting spot for the brooding bird. The bird needs a nest at least 16 square inches. The nest needs to be in a dark area, which is safe and free of pests or parasites. A box full of straw or dried grass, placed at ground level is an ideal option for a nest.

If the bird already has chosen a nest, it is best to leave it be, unless the conditions of the nest aren't ideal.