Enter your Incubation Start Date, Duck Species, and Number of Eggs to get your Expected Hatch Date, Lockdown Date (when to stop turning eggs), First Candling Date, and Days Remaining — everything you need to track your duck eggs from first set to hatch day.
Expected Hatch Date
--
Incubation Period
--
Lockdown Date (Stop Turning)
--
Days Remaining
--
First Candling Date
--
Second Candling Date
--
Most duck breeds take 28 days to hatch, except Muscovy ducks which take 35 days. Wood ducks typically hatch in 30 days. The exact timing depends on the specific breed and incubation conditions.
Stop turning duck eggs 3 days before the expected hatch date. This is called 'lockdown' and allows the ducklings to position themselves properly for hatching.
Candle duck eggs on day 7 to check for development and again on day 14 to assess viability. Remove any clear or non-developing eggs to prevent contamination.
An incubation calculator helps you stay on schedule, know exactly when to stop turning eggs, and prepare for hatch day. It ensures proper timing for temperature and humidity adjustments.
Maintain 99.5°F (37.5°C) for forced-air incubators or 101-102°F (38.3-38.9°C) for still-air incubators throughout the incubation period.
Keep humidity at 55-58% for the first 25 days, then increase to 65-70% during lockdown (last 3 days) to help with hatching.
Turn duck eggs at least 3 times per day, ideally 5-7 times, until day 25. Turning prevents the developing duckling from sticking to the shell membrane.
You can hatch different duck breeds with the same incubation period together. However, don't mix breeds with different incubation times like Muscovy (35 days) with Mallards (28 days).