![]() When you mist your duck eggs, the cooling effect of the evaporating water also serves to cool the egg down. This is thought to mimic the wet mother duck returning to the nest after getting something to eat and drink and maybe going for a quick swim. Just a regular spray bottle filled with warm water and a quick spritz once a day is sufficient. I did heat some water in my teakettle and then let it cool down to 100 degrees my first few times misting the eggs, but discovered that if I let our tap run long enough the water does get up to 100 degrees, so in the future, I will just use hot tap water to mist the eggs. So it's very important to use warm water when misting your eggs. Misting has the potential to draw bacteria from the outside of the shell (since the hatching eggs aren't washed) to the inside which can kill the embryo. Using warm water ensures that any bacteria is drawn out of the egg also. Tray type, egg position, and manual turning along the long axis (to reach all sides of the egg) only matter if spraying is done.Misting the eggs with warm water (about 100 degrees) draws out moisture from the eggs and promotes the growth of the air sac which gives the growing embryo room to expand and also prevents the duckling from drowning when it is time to hatch.Spraying seems to help microflora to “consume” the cuticle. Microflora apparently play an important role in destroying the cuticle.Chemically washed eggs hatch well without spraying. The cooling effect of spraying is most likely not relevant.The cuticle can be gradually destroyed by spraying, creating specific microclimate conditions, or removed by using a chemical wash. The main problem when incubating waterfowl eggs is controlling cuticle status.Although not very common, this system leads to surprisingly good hatch results. As long the ventilation remains closed, humidity stays at 80% or higher, and the CO 2 concentration can rise as high as 1%. Eggs must be clean, fresh and good quality, but not disinfected. These extra requirements are balanced by the elimination of spraying and make incubation of waterfowl eggs as simple as for chicken eggs.Īnother possible option – used by some hatcheries – is a single-stage incubation, where setter inlets, outlets and door are fully sealed for the first 14-17 days. Hygiene in the hatchery therefore needs to be perfect and should include early removal of “clears” and early deads, absorption of contaminated air at transfer, and good control of fluff at hatch. However, washing makes the “naked” eggs much more vulnerable to infections. This can be done by washing the eggs with a sodium hypochlorite solution in a specialised washer under strictly controlled conditions. We can override nature by removing the cuticle in advance. Its structure must become open early enough to provide the growing embryo with sufficient oxygen and create an air cell big enough to facilitate hatching. ![]() However, this “tight packing” impedes the exchange of gases and evaporation of water. This coating protects them from infections. To cope with the humid environment, they have a strong waxy coating – a cuticle. Waterfowl eggs differ physically from hen eggs. The fundamental questions are: what is the actual effect of the spraying? Does it simply cool the eggs down? Or does it have another function? And is it necessary? Not surprisingly, the waterfowl branch is looking for shortcuts. However, this requires a lot of manual work, which can be a problem as hatcheries are getting bigger and labour costs higher. Some goose hatcheries claim that combining spraying with turning the eggs manually an extra time each day along their long axis also has a positive impact. Generally, two types of trays are in use: plastic trays, where the eggs stand upright, and metal-wire trays where the eggs lie flat or are half-tilted. A single-stage machine needs much more time for the settings to be restored. In a multistage setter, the effect on the other eggs in the machine is only temporary. Trolleys must be moved out of the setter the eggs are sprayed with lukewarm or cold water and then returned to the setter. This begins somewhere between day 10 and 14, and is continued until the eggs are transferred. As a result, spraying eggs during incubation became a standard procedure.
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