Incubation of duck eggs can be a good help for those who grow poultry for meat at home, and for farmers who do this for business. Various types of incubators make this process easier, but their use must take into account a number of important factors, such as temperature and humidity inside the device.
Incubator selection
Incubators of various sizes and with different functions are on sale, which affects their value. 
With the help of an incubator you can also breed quails, chickens, turkeys, turkeys.
To select the appropriate, it is worth considering the following points:
- The number of birds to breed. Incubators have different capacities: from a few to a few thousand.
- The presence or absence of a fan. He is responsible for the distribution of warm air throughout the chamber. He is better, but more expensive.
- Automatic control or manual. The automatic mechanism keeps the desired temperature and humidity inside the incubation cabinet and even periodically turns the trays upside down, which saves you time and effort. With manual control, you need to do all this yourself.
Breeds for breeding
The purpose of growing ducks - getting meat, eggs or fluff. At home, meat breeds are most often bred:
- Peking duck: the most popular in the rural yard, it grows fast and gains weight 3-4 kg, but the meat is fat.
- Muscovy duckgrows up to 3-5 kg. Meat more lean and healthy. Resistant to most duck diseases.
- Duck Mulard, or "broiler" duck - It is a hybrid of Peking and musk breeds. It quickly grows, as Peking, and reaches 6 kg. And her meat is better, like an indout. From males get healthy liver foie gras.
Did you know? Traditionally, goose liver was used to prepare foie gras. But since the 1960s, they successfully use the liver obtained from Mulard ducks.
How to choose eggs for incubator
You need to select only the best specimens: fresh and clean, medium size, regular shape, smooth, without damage and irregularities. To wash or not to wash them is a moot point. The main thing - do not clean that can damage the shell. A dirty egg can be dipped in an antiseptic solution or gently cleaned with emery paper. 
Important! To keep the eggs clean, you need to keep the nest clean and change litter every day.For a thorough inspection, you can spend scanning. This will help to see all the defects: microcracks in the shell, the absence of the embryo, spilled yolk and mold stains. In a good egg, it is clear that the yolk is strictly centered, the albumen is transparent, the air chamber is under the blunt end or near it.
For an incubator, suitable copies are not older than 7 days, and they should not be stored in the refrigerator, but at a temperature of 12-18 degrees.We grow ducklings
When incubating eggs, you must strictly follow the instructions used incubator. But there are general principles that must be followed in any model of the incubation chamber.
Egg laying
Before making a bookmark, trays need to be washed and dried. The air in the chamber should be humidified. For home-made designs for this, banks with water are placed in the corners. 
Eggs in a tray are laid out horizontally or with a sharp end down. This arrangement contributes to the rapid development of the embryo. It is not recommended to stack them too close so as not to complicate turning.
Familiarize yourself with the nuances of tangerine duck breeding, Blue Favorite and Bashkir breed ducks.
Conditions for incubation
- Room: The incubator should be in a warm, dry room without drafts.
- Temperature: in the first week - 37.8 ... 38.3 ° C, and from the eighth day - 37.8 ° C.
- Humidity: 65-68%
- Cooling: 2 times a day. To do this, open the incubator for 15-30 minutes and spray eggs with warm water or a solution of potassium permanganate.
- Turning over: several times a day for even heating.
Important! In the eggshell there are pores through which moisture evaporates from the inside. Therefore, it is very important to monitor the temperature and prevent overheating so that this does not kill the fetus.
When to expect chicks
The incubation period for birds of different species differ, for duck eggs, it is 26-28 days. In the 26th day, you no longer need to splash and turn. From this day begins naklev. The first ducklings begin to hatch on the 27th day. The process lasts 24 hours. The withdrawal stops by the 29th day. 
Hatching ducklings remain in the "hospital" until they dry out. Then you need to move them to a dry and clean box, in which the temperature will be maintained at 26-28 ° C for the first time.
Did you know? In the first week of incubation, the embryo begins to develop internal organs and beat the heart, and the embryo itself grows up to 2 cm. From the 8th day a skeleton is formed.
Popular mistakes beginners
Frequent errors:
- Lay untested eggs in the incubation chamber.
- Do not comply with the incubation regime.
- incubate dirty specimens: the dirtier, the more likely the infection is under the shell;
- forget to turn over;
- allow sudden changes in temperature: this can lead to the death of chicks;
- open the incubator during the withdrawal on the 27th and 28th day;
- pull out only hatched ducklings before they are completely dry.
Incubator ducks: advantages and disadvantages of the method
Benefits:
- You can breed birds at any time of the year.
- The incubator holds more eggs than a hen can sit.
- If the device is automatic, then a person will need a minimum of effort.
- It turns out the desired number of healthy chicks.
TO disadvantages You can count only that, if the camera is on manual control, it takes a lot of time and effort to follow all the rules exactly. Otherwise, the effort will be wasted.As you can see, duck eggs can be successfully grown not only under the hen, but also in the incubator, and even at home this occupation can be both joyful and profitable.
