![]() ![]() ![]() Equalize moisture loss between different batches by washing all eggs in sodium hypochlorite solution to remove the cuticle.Place eggs in a prewarming room 18-20 ☌ (64.5 – 68.0 ☏) for at least 12 h to avoid condensation (sweating) on the eggs.The best-recorded hatchability of fertile, unwashed eggs has been recorded at 60% RH for eggs from young flock (25-35 wk), 65% RH for flock 36-55 wks of age and 70% for the older flock (56-65 wks) (figure 1). ![]() Late mortality can be reduced by using different incubation programs for different flock ages (El-Hanoun et al, 2012). However, despite oxygen entering the eggs more easily, the variability between eggshell porosity and thus late mortality persists, as an intrinsic characteristic of duck eggs. Increased conductance facilitates oxygen uptake by the late embryo. The mobilization of calcium carbonate from the inside of egg shell reduces shell thickness and frees pores previously blocked by calcium carbonate crystals. This process increases the risk of excessive evaporation and thus dehydration, which is easily overcome by increasing relative humidity (RH) during incubation.Įgg shell conductance also increases during incubation, because the shell becomes thinner and the number of pores increase during mineralization of the bones. It is essential that this process thoroughly removes the cuticle from every egg, to avoid variation in the batch. To equalize shell conductance within a batch of eggs, the cuticle is often removed by washing the eggs in a hypochlorite solution. In commercial duck incubation, variable cuticle thickness negatively influences hatchability. The cuticle - thicker on duck eggs than on those of the chicken - is a waxy, protein-rich layer that covers the pores of the egg shell, limiting the diffusion of water (= weight loss) and the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen. These features, the shell, porosity and cuticle depth of Peking duck eggs vary not only between flocks, but also within batches of eggs from a single flock. ![]() The porosity or conductance of the shell depends on the structure and density of the pores and shell thickness, including the cuticle. Peking duck eggs that weigh more than 100g are not exceptional. Finally, fully grown duck embryos suffocate due to an inadequate supply of oxygen.ĭuck eggs differ from chicken eggs in size and shell porosity. These embryos die during the fourth week of incubation as a result of insufficient water evaporation (= egg weight loss) from the eggs. In duck incubation, the most common challenge is the high number of so-called ‘drowned’ or ‘wet-embryos’. If you still run into difficulty, then a great way to check you have the right humidity for duck eggs is to use the Egg Weight Loss Method.The incubation of Peking duck eggs is often thought more complicated than that of chicken eggs, primarily because of unfamiliarity with the specific properties of duck eggs that have an impact on incubation. Humidity is crucial when incubating duck eggs. If, like me, you had reasonable success hatching chicken eggs, then poor results hatching ducklings, I suggest you start by reading my article concerning Incubation Humidity. I will be publishing a guide to incubators after completing my evaluation this summer. In most cases, you get what you pay for with incubators. I tested several different incubators, measuring them with a FLIR Infra-Red camera for temperature distribution. It can indeed be more difficult to hatch ducklings, but I have found the difficulty is mostly cheap incubators with temperature variations between eggs and incorrect humidity settings. When I first started incubating duck eggs, I had terrible hatch rates. Many back garden poultry keepers, like me, start by hatching chicks and then find an interest in keeping ducks, so they incubate some duck eggs. Incubating duck eggs isn’t that different from chicken eggs. ![]()
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