markp1313
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Hi Gorignak.
On June 1st I got a total of 27 Muscovy eggs off ebay. I filled the incubator up with water, closed all the vents and started searching for information about hatching Muscovy eggs. LOL
I found your post using a Google search the next day. After that I took all the water out and opened the vents. Went to Walmart got a cheep gram scale and a candling light. Recorded there weights and tracked air cell size with a light.
I live in central CA and have trouble keeping the humidity low enough. It ranges around 20 to 25% ambient in the house. If the eggs were a little heaver I guess I would have to put the incubator outside.
Thanks for your post, most likely saved some duck eggs.
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karenbrat1
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Gorignak, thank you so much for all your incubation info!
Any places you can point me for refurbishing an old wood incubator? I bought one that is a large square and has a J.C. Penney brass nameplate on the side :-) The previous owners used it as a coffee table.
Karen B in northern Idaho
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Gorignak
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Reply to both of the last posts.....
ART not Science.....watch that weight loss closely as you get set up and adjust accordingly....you will eventually find your balance for your area, and the room that they are in. ANOTHER POINT....do not put ANY incubator in a place that has a fluctuation in temperature....STABILITY OUTSIDE THE BOX is as important as inside. Most incubators do not have the recovery power to maintain in a windy spot or changing temperature.
Okay....with the wooden incubator.....Contrary to dogma...I am operating one of mine with the original setup, a pair of brass/ether disc thermostats....and it is pumping out the ducks. The other I put a new GQF electronic thermostat.....get the one that is adjustable, not the fixed setting. That one is backed up by a brass disc thermostat. I replaced the nicrome wire in the heat tray with new, heavier wire. And the fan was good in one, and I replaced the fan in the other with a 8" muffin fan....250 CFM....from Burdens Surplus. It came out of computer server racks. There are lots of old electronic fans on the surplus market. Do an Amazon search for "Freezer thermometers" and near the beginning of the results, you will see a small black digital thermometer with a 18" lead and probe. It costs all of $2.95 or so. It only reads in Centigrade.....BUT IT IS ACCURATE........ CHEEEEP ........ DEPENDABLE...... They are shipped from Hong Kong Get several
Send or post pictures..... I can walk you through a refurb on the unit....THEY ARE FABULOUS UNITS, AND EVERYONE NEEDS ONE. Yours sounds like the best of the best...... bigger than a household unit, but not so big (mine are 300 & 400 egg units) that you get swamped keeping up. There are lots of them in barn, junk shops, and old hardware store attics and basements.
Burning up here in Arkansas 105F plus every day this week.
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markp1313
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Problem developing.
I should have paid more attention. The eggs stopped loosing weight. (I weigh about every 4 days) So one time they didn't loose weight I though the scale might be off. Next time I had a problem. I figured it out that day when my GF told me that I was going to kill the ducks if I keep forgetting to put water in the incubator. She had "Helped me out" I never checked because I though there was no water in it. The humidity was around 55% for 8 days. The weight loss had been perfect at around 21% before that.
Right now the humidity out side is 41% the humidity in my Incubator which is in an air conditioned room is 21%. I am about 5 to 7 days behind on weight loss. Hatch date is July 5th. Problem is I don't know how to make the eggs loose more weight.
If I get the humidity below 10% for the next 6 to 7 days I should be OK. Also I understand that the eggs have a coating on them if I destroy this the eggs will loosed weight faster?
I have considered floor sweep in the water trays. Getting a room dehumidifier and putting it in a closet. Sanding the egg shells.
Ideas?
Thanks.
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« Last Edit: June 27, 2012, 03:16:29 am by markp1313 »
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Gorignak
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DON"T DO ANYTHING DRASTIC....It can cause development problems.....twisted beaks, slipped wings, lameness, twisted necks.
Just keep them as dry as possible for the last period until the pre-hatch when the humidity will need to be increased somewhat.
Relax, and watch the temp closely.....I think you will be all right.
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Gorignak
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Okay....I need to prep you for possible failure. I hate the idea of buying eggs from Ebay....SO.... have you candled them and seen that they have been developing???
Here is a ....MAYBE THIS ..... moment, that I had recently. I had a person tell me that the old redwood incubators worked better than the GQF because of vibration. How many duck nests have vibrations from a 1700 RPM FAN in them . The person said that when the first, minute blood vessels were developing, the vibrations disrupted them....
HMMMMM ....maybe something to that ..... Because another pro hatcher of very expensive exotics said that he put his eggs under Cochins, Brahmas, and other "hard to stop setting" hens for the first week. He would rotate 4-5-6 clutches under a broody hen, then into the incubator after a week..... AFTER THE EARLY, MOST SENSITIVE DEVELOPMENT TOOK PLACE. He also had a room with 20 of the old redwood incubators like mine. He said that he never used incubators with automatic turners , AND HE NEVER STOOD EGGS ON THEIR ENDS.
So, even if you fail......... YOU WILL STILL NOT KNOW WHY. The best advice I can give is for you to hatch anything anybody will give you to hatch......PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Get the book "Guide to Better Hatching". Follow your developing instincts. AND REMEMBER, you are a "farmer". It requires eternal optimism, certainty of success, and resilience at failure.
GOOD LUCK !!!!!
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markp1313
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I bought them off two auctions. With extras I ended up with 27 eggs. I had no Idea what I was doing (Still don't) at first. I candled them real close after about 15 days and had about 9 clear and one flat out rotten. I had about 4 red rings and two that were liquid. I don't know which ones were my fault? The clears and the rotten one I think I got that way. The red rings might have been developing then shipped. A few more I threw away that turned liquid. I was raising quail but not to many people liked the meat so I read that Muscovy's taste better. Below is a YouTube of my garage when we had quail in it. I hatched all the quail in a styrofoam Hova-Bator (Muscovy killer) I have two of them and that is what the Duck eggs are in. I have 10 left that look good. Sometimes I can see movement in them although they are getting very dark and soon I don't think the light will go through. I have pretty much followed the development process as I learned on the way. I know FAR more about what I am looking at than I did the first day. If I don't get any to hatch the next batch will be in far better hands than this one was (Same hands but more experience.) Also I will be more selective as to egg source, can't hatch it if it ain't fertile.
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Gorignak
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We keep our "waiting" eggs at 55 degrees in cartons. AND, we turn 1 x each day. Here is a trick in hot weather....If you have a chest freezer, invert a styrofoam cooler on TOP of the freezer lid and put an accurate thermometer under it.....surprise, it is a great way to keep several cartons of eggs cool. Eggs shipped in this weather are developing in transit.....NIGHTMARE.... A professional setup would be in styrofoam & sawdust with cool packs sent priority or faster.....AND MARKED FOR SPECIAL HANDLING.....and then that does not account for the severe handling that ALL (and I know, I ship all the time) freight gets. BUY MUSCOVY DUCKLINGS FROM JM Hatchery in Penna. http://www.jmhatchery.com/ducks/white-muscovy-ducks/prod_4.htmlRaise them and get your own eggs..... I started with 50 from them. Your video looks great.....better room than I live in !!!!!
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markp1313
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Thanks for the advice Gorignak.
Makes sense to collect my own, chicks would be infinitely cheaper. Thing was I got curious about the hatch rate problem. I guess Muscovy's are more sensitive to vibration than other types of eggs. I did read in another forum about vibrations, altitude and shock affecting them.
I assume that if the weather was much cooler the egg would ship better because the chick would not have started to develop so it would not have the blood vessels and nerves to be damaged?
Anyway ill post my results...
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markp1313
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Another note here: You have to be right about the eggs incubating in transit. Below is a vedio of my GF'S button quail that hatched fourteen days after we got them. It's supposed to take 18. IMHO there is NO WAY they hatched in 14 days with out starting to incubate before we got them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VvpmkSt-rc&feature=relmfuMakes me wounder now if my Muscovy's will be early?(If they hatch at all) It took four days for them to get here. Which would mean I am way behind on weight loss.... Oww well, first try, ill scratch it off to lesson learned. That would put hatch date as early as Sunday. Haven't seen any beaks in the air cell yet,,,,,
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markp1313
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July 5th will be 35 days. Today is the 3rd.
I have 12 eggs in the incubator 6 are in the air cell moving one I think is trying to pip. One is orange I presume dead. The others I cant tell.
I have humidity 50% with vents wide open temp is 99.5
Any advice
Thanks.
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Gorignak
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Whatever will happen....will happen with no change, no matter what you do now.
Make sure that you don't jump the gun and try and "help" them out....kills a lot of hatchlings. That can wait until there is no hope, and as a last resort.
Make notes on EVERY egg....learn from mistakes. "Guide to Better Hatching" is a good book. Make sure to crack out EVERY non-hatched egg and note when the embryo/duckling died. That is your best guide for the future.
Keep us posted on the success/failure....
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markp1313
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Thank you very much, got my fingers crossed 35 days is tomorrow!
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markp1313
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Egg # 21 is chirping! inside the egg.I can hear piping attempts. Respiration's look rapid. Appx 2 per second. Beginning weight was 2.7 oz current is 2.2 So that's about 18.5% weight loss.
This is day 34.
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