Egg Incubation Info: Waterfowl

1. General Tips About Egg Incubation
2. Waterfowl Considerations
3. Incubating with Surehatch Egg Incubators
4. Incubation Facilities
5. Incubation Temperature
6. Weight Loss During Incubation
7. Turning of the Eggs
8. Ventilation of the Egg Incubator
9. Monitoring Egg Development
10. Hatching Facilities
11. Keeping Records
12. Incubation and Embryology Frequently Asked Questions
13. Incubating Your Eggs
14. Frequently Asked Questions on Candling

Waterfowl Consideration

• As with other birds, parent incubation should provide the optimum conditions for the developing embryos.

• In mixed-species enclosures there may be competition for nest sites and also dumping of eggs by some birds into the nests of other birds. In general, a pair of waterfowl occupying their own pen are less likely to be disturbed by other birds and more likely to sit successfully.

• Both predation (of eggs and of the sitting female) and disturbance may be major problems, particularly for birds that have chosen sites which cannot be described as ideal.

• Swans and geese frequently are good at sitting their own eggs, and ducks may also sit tightly if not disturbed excessively. Swans and many geese are commonly left to sit their own eggs, and to rear the young. Their larger size, well-defined territories and continuing strong pair bond reduces the chance of losses from predation of eggs.

• With species such as the Cape Barren goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae - Cape Barren goose), which lay their eggs during the winter, consideration must be given to the practicalities of incubation in winter conditions and the additional stress placed on the birds, unless they are in sheltered winter accommodation.

• Most species of waterfowl can be stimulated to lay a second clutch of eggs if the first clutch is removed. However, females commonly change their nesting site due to the "predation" of the eggs and may stop laying if eggs are removed from all nesting sites. It may be advantageous to allow birds to sit and hatch eggs of their own or another more common species after a second clutch has been laid.

• Birds which are sitting may leave the nest for only a short time each day. In species in which only one parent incubates the bird may lose a considerable amount of weight over the period of incubation and it is important to ensure that food is freely available at whatever time the bird leaves the nest to feed.

• Waterfowl species vary in their response to disturbance at the nest site. Some are quite tolerant but others will desert the nest if subject to any disturbance. This makes regular inspection of the eggs for fertility and development difficult.

• N.B. in allowing waterfowl to sit, hatch and rear their own offspring consideration should be made as to the likelihood of predation of the downies, whether or not suitable food will be available or can be provided, and the ease or otherwise of catching the downies to pinion them, if this is required. Leaving non-native species full-winged in open enclosures may be detrimental to local species and may also be illegal.

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