Cleaning eggs before incubating

[Anonymous]

My beautiful Aylesbury ducks are in full egg production mode at the moment (I live in Australia). Please could someone advise me on the best way to clean eggs before I put them into my incubators. I have been washing gently with warm water. Should I use a detergent or disinfectant? I only managed 12 ducklings hatching out of my last batch of 42 eggs and wondered if this might have been part of reason why I got such a dismal hatch rate. All suggestions very welcome.

 

[Davidd]

Hello, if possible, do not clean the eggs- you can try putting clean straw/shavings in the places they lay- that way the eggs should stay fairly clean- only wash the eggs if they are very dirty- use warm water and you can get egg washing fluid ( Brinsea do one- don't know if it's available in OZ ) Do not use detergents and try not to get the eggs too wet- they have a protective film on them and washing can remove this allowing bacteria to enter the egg.Are you candling the eggs after 7/10 days? if so, what is fertility like? how many drakes to ducks do you have? are they pure bred Aylesbury or commercial? Pure breds are big and can have mating/fertility problems
regards, David

 

[Anonymous]

I presently use straw in the breeders pen and change it twice a week, even so, the eggs still get a bit pooey.
I am going to have a look and see if I can get some of the Brinsea solution online.
I have always steered away from wood shavings because I have been a bit worried about the chemicals that are used for treating timber - is that a concern?
I candle all my eggs at 7days and find that I am running at about 75% fertility. The problem appears to be that the ducklings just don't hatch properly. They are fully formed and sadly are dead in the shell after they have just started to pip the egg. I am wondering if the problem lies in the high level of humidity we have here - usually at least 70% and above at this time of year. Perhaps I should try not adding water to the incubator?
My Aylesburys are purebred, all are large birds with big keels and pale pink bills . They have free access to a deep dam so that they can mate in the water if necessary. Thanks for your thoughts - all help is gratefully received.

 

[Davidd]

hi, if you are getting lots of dis -it may be down to the breed- Dewlap toulouse suffer the same fate in incubators- you get lots of DIS - you could try incubating under muskovy ducks- that's what i do- start them off in the incy- once i know fertility, transfer under broody muskovy- nearly always 100% hatch rate
As for wood shavings- no problems there
regards, David