to 28 days for all of the breeds except the Muscovy. In this breed it
takes from 33 to 36 days for the eggs to hatch. Inasmuch as most of the
commonly kept breeds are not very broody and therefore do not make
reliable hatchers and mothers it is necessary to resort either to the
use of chicken hens for this purpose or else to utilize incubators.
Either one of these methods can be used with good success. With the
small farm flock it is very common to utilize hens. The ordinary hen
will be able to cover 9 to 11 duck eggs to advantage depending on her
size and upon the season of the year. In cold weather the smaller number
should be used rather than the larger number. Before setting the hen she
should be thoroughly dusted with insect powder to free her from lice.
Several hens can be set in the same room but they should be confined on
their nests allowing them to come off only once a day for feed and
water. Cracked corn makes an excellent feed for sitting hens. If desired
Muscovy, Call, East India, Mallard, Wood or Mandarin ducks can be
allowed to make their nests and to hatch their eggs as they are reliable
sitters and good mothers.
After the duck eggs first pip there usually elapses a longer period of
time before the ducklings get out of the shell than is the case with
chicks. For this reason it is well to take the hens off for feed and
water when the first eggs are pipped returning them to the nest as
quickly as possible and confining them there until the hatch is over.
During the last week of incubation it is desirable to sprinkle the eggs
daily with water using quite a liberal amount as duck eggs seem to
require more moisture than hens' eggs in order to hatch well.
All duck eggs which are at all badly soiled should be washed before they
are set. Washing does not seem to injure their hatching qualities. In
fact, some breeders prefer to wash all duck eggs whether dirty or not,
feeling that this opens up the pores and causes a better hatch. This
belief is based upon the idea that when ducks hatch their own eggs under
natural conditions they have access to water in which they swim and in
coming back on the nest their wet feathers serve to wash the eggs.
Where an incubator is used for hatching the eggs are placed in the
machine just as hens' eggs. For the first week the temperature is kept
about 102 degrees and for the rest of the period is maintained as close
to 103 degrees as possible, the bulb of the thermometer being on a level
with the tops of the egg