Incubating Duck eggs -- did you spray them?

[Kontessa]

 We just rented an incubator and got 18 duck eggs. We are reading the directions and other print outs the farm lady who does the program gave us. However she said not to follow a few things and I can't remember if spraying them was one of the things she said not to bother with. She is a very "figure it out" type of lady and while I adore that, as this is a science project for us, I would love some other opinions on this and anything else you might know about incubating duck eggs! While we are far from a homestead family we dream of it someday and for now will get what little we can of farm life however we can. LOL You all inspire!

[BeckyBird]

Ducks! You are going to love hatching them :o)

I've incubated duck eggs many times, and I've tried spraying the eggs before. I honestly do not know if it made a difference. I've also tried opening the incubator and letting the eggs cool for 15 minutes each day, and then spraying them before closing the lid (to mimic a mother duck leaving the nest for a swim, then getting the eggs wet when she returns.)  I haven't noticed any real change in hatch rate from either method.

As long as you have a quality incubator, turn the eggs several times a day, and keep water in it, you should be just fine. Little ducklings are sooooo cute, but be prepared for a huge mess! They grow up so quick, and they really know how to get the brooder dirty.

If you have any other duck questions, I would love to help!

[Kontessa]

Sadly our adventure with ducklings will be rather short! We plan on keeping them for the first week and then returning them to the farm and their farm Mama to raise as we live on a military post and are not allowed to have farm animals. We figure it is for science at this point so no one will say much. I need to figure out a good make shift brooder for that first week and get some food for them as well. The farm lady says most people can't deal with the messy little things for a full week even. We shall see! :)  Thank you for the advice! My children are so so excited!

[annethcz]

I have incubated any ducks (yet!) but a friend of mine raises tons of ducks each year.  She doesn't have a fancy incubator, just a heat lamp.  She turns the eggs once or twice a day, and that's it.