DUCKS AND GEESE 



and to clean up the machines, it is necessary to fig- 

 ure on 30 days between hatches. To take care of 

 the flush production at this time there would be re- 

 quired an incubator capacity of from 20 to 25 eggs 

 per head of breeding ducks. The latter figure is a 

 safer estimate than the former. Of, course, eggs 

 sufiicient to fill the entire incubator capacity are not 

 put in the machines at any one time but different 

 lots are put in as soon as a sufficient number is ob- 

 tained to make it worth while. There will be, there- 

 fore, eggs in various stages of incubation in differ- 

 ent sections of the machines at the same time. While 

 Pekin duck eggs will run about i heavier in weight 

 than hens' eggs they do not take up a proportion- 

 ately greater amount of space in the incubator. An 

 incubator tray will accommodate about % as many 

 Pekin duck eggs as it will hens' eggs. 



Age of Hatching Eggs. Duck eggs should be set 

 as often as enough are secured to fill one or more 

 trays in the incubator or enough to produce a suffi- 

 cient number of ducklings to utilize brooding space 

 to advantage. Since duck eggs deteriorate more 

 rapidly than hens' eggs they cannot be kept so long 

 before they are set. It is best not to save them for 

 longer than one week. During the season of flush 

 production it is not, of course, necessary to save 

 them that long since enough eggs will be secured 

 to set each day if desired. The usual practice at 

 this time is to set twice a week. During the early 

 part of the season when the production of eggs is 



72 



