Then mist each one and replace them in the incubator.Įggs should be cooled and misted from day 10 to day 25. You should leave the lid of the incubator off (or the eggs out of the incubator) until they feel just about room temperature. While lowering the temperature of a hatching egg merely slows down the embryo's growth, raising the temperature just a few degrees for even a few minutes can kill the embryo, so if you do forget to put the cover back on, don't give up hope of your ducks hatching. (The drawback to this of course is having to remember to replace the lid because if the eggs cool down too much you can delay the hatching by a day or two.) It is recommended that before misting your duck eggs, you remove the lid of the incubator (or remove the eggs from the incubator) for 10-30 minutes every day starting at about day 10 of the incubation period to let the eggs cool slightly - again mimicking a mother duck leaving the nest daily to feed and drink. It is, in fact, recommended by the leading waterfowl expert, John Metzer. Periodic cooling of waterfowl eggs has been studied and is thought to have beneficial effects on hatch rates. When you mist your duck eggs, the cooling effect of the evaporating water also serves to cool the egg down. This is thought to mimic the wet mother duck returning to the nest after getting something to eat and drink and maybe going for a quick swim. Just a regular spray bottle filled with warm water and a quick spritz once a day is sufficient. I did heat some water in my teakettle and then let it cool down to 100 degrees my first few times misting the eggs, but discovered that if I let our tap run long enough the water does get up to 100 degrees, so in the future, I will just use hot tap water to mist the eggs. So it's very important to use warm water when misting your eggs. Misting has the potential to draw bacteria from the outside of the shell (since the hatching eggs aren't washed) to the inside which can kill the embryo. Using warm water ensures that any bacteria is drawn out of the egg also. Misting the eggs with warm water (about 100 degrees) draws out moisture from the eggs and promotes the growth of the air sac which gives the growing embryo room to expand and also prevents the duckling from drowning when it is time to hatch
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