The eggs have arrived!!!!

The mail lady couldn't get here fast enough to deliver my duck eggs. Surprisingly she was gentle with the package. Normally our mail gets man handled quite a bit. Here is our much awaited package. I really loved all the written warnings on it :)

I opened the box carefully and let them get a little fresh air and let them reach room temp after their journey. I'm new to this and I wanted to take my time and get it right. I have 14, possible, lives depending on me. Here they are all snuggled into their packaging. You can't see in this picture but half of them are blue which is a signature of the Magpie breed. How cool is that?

 I couldn't help but candle a couple to see what was going on inside. It is way too early to see anything productive but it was fun none the less. You can see the yolk at the top. Ducks like to be wet and sloppy so many times their eggs aren't the cleanest. You just make sure there isn't too much dirt on them for safety sake.

Now onto making final adjustments on the heat and humidity in the incubator. Believe it or not this thing is styro-foam! I kind of felt ripped off for paying money for something that resembled a cheap cooler. haha. Take a look at it.

Duck eggs do need to be turned a few times a day. You want to do it in odd numbers like 3 times a day or 5 times a day. This way the ducklings don't sleep threw the night on the same side each night. This can cause disabilities in the developing duckling. They do sell an automatic egg turner that is set onto the floor of the incubator and is simply plugged in. I'll be using one of these my first time around. The egg turner I bought turns them every 4 hours. Some "hatchers" prefer to hand turn the eggs. I'll be paying close attention to the pro's and con's of the automatic turner and I'll decide if I'll be using it again or selling it. You must stop turning the eggs around day 26, right before they hatch. Obviously it's very important for people using the automatic turner so the ducklings aren't injured.

Not all eggs have the same incubating length. My Magpie eggs will need incubation for 28 days. The 28 days starts when the eggs are put into the incubator and does not start the day they are born. I'm glad I found that out or I'd be 1 week off on my hatch dates. So my eggs will be due to hatch on or around June 22nd.
Here is a list of birds and their incubation lengths:
Chicken- 21 days                                           Duck- 28 to 35 days
Quail- 23 days                                                Parakeet- 18 days
Cortunix- 17 to 18 days                                  Parrots- 28 days
Pheasant- 23 days                                           Dove- 14 days
Chukar- 23 days                                             Mynah- 14 days
Turkey- 28 days                                              Finch- 14 days
Swan- 30 to 37 days                                       Button Quail- 16 days
Goose- 28 to 30 days                                     Valley Quail- 21 to 22 days

There's your hatching lesson for the day :) Thanks everyone for taking the time to read my blog. Feel free to leave comments or questions for me in the space below. Thanks!