A couple of ducks lay an occasional egg which quickly gets eaten by whatever...

Since I'd like to increase my dwindling duck population, does anybody have any suggestions on incubators?

I went to a local feed store but the clerks were clueless and a "still air" incubator was about $50 plus another $50 for an "air generator" plus another $50 for an "egg turner". That seems like a lot and I don't know what I'm getting or if I need it. It was a "Little Giant" brand.

None of my internet searches have turned up much info.

Also, a dumb question....how do you know if an egg is fertile or not?

TIA

-- texan (bullseye@ranch.com), July 07, 1999

Answers

Use a cat scan....no no.......The process is called candeling....put a box (with a small hole cut in top) over a light. Have very low lighting in the room. Place an end of the egg into the hole and you will see the inside of the egg.

-- rb (ronbanks_2000@yahoo.com), July 07, 1999.

try a banty hen- they set very well- will raise your ducks too- well til they have heart failure when the "chicks" take their first swim..........tee hee

but seriously- try a broody banty- effortless on your part and it's the way to go-

-- farmer (hillsidefarm@drbs.com), July 07, 1999.

Check around at some of the feed stores. There are folks out there with the hatchers (and experience) who will hatch for you on the halves. There is a guy in Boyd, TX who does this and I've seen several others in other areas.

Course if you only get one egg at a time you'll have to make the arrangements to wait for the duck to grow up to make the division :)

If you don't find a hatcher, try eating the duck eggs. We love them. Moma Bear has used them very sucessfully in baking. Sub 1 duck egg for about every 1.5-2 hen eggs.

-Greybear

-- Got ham?

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), July 09, 1999.

Murray McMurray hatcheries offer a number of incubators - there would probably be one in their catalog to meet your needs. I can't lay my hands on their catalog at the moment, but I think they are in Webster City, Iowa.(515 area code)

-- Beckie (sunshine_horses@yahoo.com), July 10, 1999.

Amazingly I found mine Beckie. They offer a Incubator, turner and turbo fan combination for 109.67. Just the incubator and turner is 95.29.

Another model, a picture window, is 88.87, incubator and turner, and 116.20 when you add the fan.

They also offer a mini-dome, like the kids use in school, that holds 3 chicken or two duck eggs for 16.65. Shipping is included in all of these prices.

Murray McMurray Web site

Southern States Farm Supply Catalog is available to order on line. They offer a picture window incubator for 57.95, the mini for 12.49.

They have a Square incubator for 37.39, a turner for it is 37.95, and a fan is 26.49. These prices do not include shipping.

Southern States

-- Lilly (homesteader145@yahoo.com), July 10, 1999.